"Groucho & Release": A Barber With a Giant Mustache, in Erzurum

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Milliyet Newspaper, 4 August 2026)

                 He'll shave yours but not his own!

Hacı Kırmaç, a resident of Horasan district in Erzurum, who has 

5 children and 43 grandchildren, has been maintaining his love for 

mustaches, inherited from his grandfather and father, since his youth.

Living in the district center, Kırmaç is known for his mustache, which 

he has been growing since his youth and which once reached up to 1.5 

meters in length. Continuing his love for mustaches, passed down from 

his grandfather to his father and then to himself, Kırmaç decided to 

grow his mustache even longer after watching a mustache competition 

on television in the 1980s.

Kırmaç, who became one of the well-known figures of the district over 

the years and came to be known by the nickname "Horasanlı Pala," 

continues his barbering profession, which he has been practicing for 

70 years, in the shop he runs with his son.

Kırmaç, who is known to be over 80 years old and keeps his age and 

the secret of his mustache maintenance secret from everyone, 

occasionally attracts the attention of citizens with the poems and folk 

songs he recites in front of his workplace.

Advice to customers: "keep your eyes closed".

Hacı Kırmaç said that growing a mustache was a more common and 

beloved tradition in the past. Kırmaç, stating that his grandfather and 

father had long mustaches and that he has been passionate about 

mustaches ever since, said, "There was a mustache competition in Ankara. 

I watched it on television. His mustache wasn't even as long as mine. 

That man won the competition. I said, 'I wish I had been there, that I 

had participated in the competition.' I think I would have won. It came 

to my mind day and night. Then I started to grow it even longer."

Kırmaç, emphasizing how much he loves his mustache, noted:

"People come and take pictures with me. Maintaining my mustache is 

very difficult. I do very secret treatments. I won't tell anyone my secret; 

I have rivals. Most of my rivals have passed away. There's a secret to 

how long it stays, but I won't tell. I won't reveal my exact age or the 

treatments I use. It's become easier for me now, but the maintenance is 

very difficult. I will continue to take care of my mustache. I've been a 

barber for 70 years, and I've been growing my mustache for 70 years. 

There are also people who want to grow theirs after seeing me, but it's 

very difficult."

"What's not to like!?"

Kırmaç stated that in previous years his mustache reached up to 1.5 

meters, and although he sometimes trimmed the ends, its length still 

exceeds 1 meter.

Muhammet Kırmaç, son of Horasanlı Pala, also expressed his 

satisfaction with the attention his father has received.  Explaining that 

his grandfather also had a fondness for mustaches, Kırmaç said, 

"Over time, the media and public interest have kept my father's love 

for his mustache alive. I also wanted to grow my mustache, but it 

didn't happen. Mustaches are beautiful; Anatolian people love 

mustaches. People come to the shop to see my father. Children 

especially love them. My father doesn't refuse any of them. He has 

no intention of cutting it. We've registered him for Hajj for 10 years. 

He hasn't been selected yet. He says he will cut it in the name of God 

if he gets selected."

"Misspell & Release": Driver Changed License Plate Letters to Avoid Detection, in Gaziantep

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(DHA News Agency, 3 September 2026)

               A little kid could make a better "U"!

In Gaziantep, a driver who changed the letter 'L' on her car's license 

plate to 'U' using black tape was fined 140,000 Turkish lira, and her 

vehicle was impounded for 30 days.

Gaziantep Highway Gendarmerie teams, on patrol duty on the Tarsus-

Adana-Gaziantep (TAG) highway, detected that a car's license plate 

had been altered in a way that prevented it from being read.

Gendarmerie applied high-tech "peeling method" to 

solve the crime.

The investigation revealed that the letter ‘L’ on the license plate had 

been changed to ‘U’. The female driver was fined 140,000 TL (nearly

$3,000) and the car was impounded for 30 days.

Those letters look expensive now...

"Impound & Release": Stray Donkey Freed After Tow Truck Ride, in Ankara

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Yeni Şafak newspaper, 2 September 2026)

"Failure to yield" fine - so stubborn!

A donkey that got lost in Ankara and ended up on the Protocol Road 

was found by the police and taken to a secure parking lot by a tow 

truck. The owner, who was reunited with his donkey after paying a 

fine of 1,246 lira, created some colorful scenes.

A donkey that went missing in Ankara's Altındağ district was found 

by police teams following a tip-off from citizens and taken to a 

secure parking lot by a tow truck. The owner, Orhan Figan, who 

learned the donkey's location thanks to a video he saw on social 

media, was reunited with his animal after paying a fine of 1,246 TL 

(about $25).

Figan stated that he learned about his donkey being in the impound 

lot through social media, saying, "My friend messaged me late at 

night saying, 'I found your donkey.' I asked, 'Where did you find it?' 

He said, 'In the impound lot,' but I didn't believe him. My friend told 

me he found it on social media and sent me a link. After clicking the l

ink, I learned that a citizen had found my donkey on Protocol Road. 

After finding the donkey, the citizen called 112. When the police 

couldn't reach anyone, they called a tow truck. They loaded the donkey 

onto the tow truck like a normal vehicle. They tied it tightly without 

harming it. Then they took the donkey to the impound lot."

Reunited: a boy and his mule.

Figan stated that he went to the parking lot at night to retrieve his 

donkey, saying, "After seeing the video, I immediately called 112 and 

spoke with the police. The staff there said, 'Your donkey is in the 

impound lot, but you won't find anyone there at night.' I said, 'I've 

found my donkey, I need to get it.' I went to the impound lot around 

2:30 AM. Thankfully, the police officers had already given the donkey 

food and water. The police said, 'Take your donkey, but we need to fine 

you for this.' They issued a fine receipt and handed my donkey back 

to me."

"Corpse & Release": Thieves Found Dead Body in Vacant Building and Alerted Police, in Istanbul

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Hürriyet Newspaper, 1 September 2026)

     They found the one thing they didn't want to steal.

In Istanbul's Bahçelievler district, thieves found a three-month-old 

corpse in the elevator shaft of an empty building they had broken into.

The building's owner, despite completing construction, ended up in 

court due to a dispute with the owner of the adjacent vacant plot. 

Construction of the building, which was found to be encroaching on 

the boundaries of the neighboring plot, was halted by a court order.

The incident occurred on Monday, August 24th, at approximately 

10:35 PM in an empty building located in the Siyavuşpaşa 

neighborhood. Entering the empty building to steal whatever he could

find, A.E. (29) noticed a person lying face down and motionless in a 

puddle of water in the elevator shaft (!). A.E. informed his friend İ. A. 

(41) about the situation and then called the 112 Emergency Call Center 

to report the incident. Upon the report, police, fire and medical teams 

were dispatched to the scene.

Medical teams arriving at the building determined that the person 

found in the elevator shaft had died. To prevent the body from 

decomposing, the teams first drained the water that had accumulated 

in the elevator shaft with the help of the fire department. The deceased's 

body was removed from the shaft hours later.

Robbers rewarded by police with t-shirts

Following the work of the crime scene investigation teams and the 

examination by the on-duty Public Prosecutor, the body was taken to 

the Forensic Medicine Institute morgue to determine the exact cause 

of death and identity. A.E., who found the body, and his friend İ.A. 

were released after their statements were taken (!). It was learned that 

the police teams are continuing their investigations into the matter.

Gülay Gündüz, who lives on the street where the incident occurred, 

said, "The police arrived at 11 PM. Teams worked until 2:30 AM. 

There was a water accumulation in the basement. They drained it, 

and then the body was recovered. There have been problems with 

this building for a long time. At one point, homeless people came 

and stayed here. Neither can anyone live here, nor is the building 

being demolished. A solution needs to be found to prevent these 

kinds of problems from happening again. The problems will 

continue as long as the building remains in this state. Whoever 

has the authority to help, a solution needs to be found."

"Betroth & (No) Release": Two Armenian Couples Get Engaged on Windswept Mt. Ararat, in Turkey

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Ensonhaber website, 31 August 2026)

He promised, "It's all downhill from here, sweetheart!"

Armenian youth proposes marriage on Mount Ararat

Two Armenian mountaineers climbed Mount Ararat and proposed 

to their girlfriends at the summit in the presence of 30 mountaineers 

from 5 countries. After the proposals were accepted, the young men

took out rings from their pockets and placed them on their girlfriends' 

fingers.

A group of Armenian mountaineers, accompanied by guide Nursin 

Ceylan, climbed to the summit of Mount Ararat, which stands at 5,138 

meters. The team stayed at camps at altitudes of 3,200 and 4,200 meters 

before reaching the summit along with mountaineers from other countries.

Quick! Before frostbite sets in!

Armenian mountaineer Ararat Yeganyan proposed to his girlfriend 

Maria Jivilikyan, and Hovik Chatinyan proposed to Zhanna Harutunyan 

at the summit.

Despite strong winds, the proposals were successful, and the young 

women said "yes," bringing great joy to the mountaineers. Yeganyan 

and Chatinyan placed the solitaire rings they had taken from their 

pockets onto their girlfriends' fingers.

"Epilation & Release": Women Were Secretly Recorded During Hair-removal Treatments, in Istanbul

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Hürriyet Newspaper, 30 August 2026)

             Hidden camera got a bit too candid.

Beauty salon owner Fatma Özçalışkan, who secretly recorded her 

customers and sold these videos on social media for a fee, and 

Emrah Selim Cansever, who installed the camera recording system, 

were arrested.

Four women, A.K.Ş., M.Y., B.M.A., and F.C.K., filed a complaint 

with the Istanbul Bakırköy Chief Public Prosecutor's Office, stating 

that their images were secretly recorded during treatments at a beauty 

center called ‘Fatma Özçalışkan Özel Metfa Polikliniği’ in Bakırköy, 

and that these recordings were published and distributed for a fee 

via Telegram and X platforms. 

During an operation at the business premises as part of the probe, 

digital materials were seized, along with six hidden camera devices 

disguised as PIR sensors found disassembled in the storage area, 

a hidden camera device in the archive room, and an accounting camera. 

Initial findings determined that 14,000 video recordings were published 

via a Telegram account called ‘Secret Tv +18’. (!)

"What? Just trying to make them secretly famous."

The business owner, Fatma Özçalışkan, and Emrah Selim Cansever, 

who installed the camera recording system, were detained on charges 

of "disclosing images and sounds related to private life," "illegally 

obtaining or disseminating personal data," and "obscenity." Fatma 

Özçalışkan denied the charges, claiming in her statement that the 

camera recordings were installed by the other suspect, Cansever.

Considering the complainant's statements, search warrants, the 

suspects' conflicting statements, social media screenshots, police 

reports showing the recording of images of numerous individuals, 

and the fact that Fatma Özçalışkan did not hand over the devices to 

official institutions before the judicial search but kept them in a 

warehouse, the prosecutor's office referred both suspects to the 

magistrates' court with a request for their arrest due to strong 

suspicion of guilt. The court ordered the arrest of both suspects.

"Phenom & Release": Teacher-turned-Influencer Jailed for "Obscenity", in Izmir

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Hürriyet Newspaper, 29 August 2026)

                    Her influential version of E=mc2

Fidan Atalay, a former teacher who made herself into a social

media "influencer", has been accused of committing the crime of 

"obscenity" through social media posts and earning income through 

this means, and has been detained in Izmir.

Fidan hanım made videos while working as a teacher that made her

a bit famous, and this micro-fame prompted her to become a full-time

"Instagram phenom".  She sold subscriptions to her Instagram account

for 79.99 TL (about $1.66), accumulated 12,000 subscribers, and was

making about 1 milyon TL (about $20,700) per month.

However (!), The Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor's Office has issued 

the following statement about Fidan hanım:

"The posts, videos, and photos made by the Instagram user known as 

'fidannatalay,' publicly known as 'Fidan Hoca,' constitute the crime of 

'obscenity' as defined in Article 226 of the Turkish Penal Code (TCK). 

Furthermore, the suspect's use of this method to generate income also 

constitutes the crime of money laundering, as defined in Article 282 

of the TCK. Therefore, our Chief Public Prosecutor's Office has 

initiated an investigation ex officio, and in accordance with our request, 

the suspect Fidan Atalay has been taken into custody in İzmir. The 

investigation is continuing meticulously."

"Spending the whole night dealing with 2nd generation panel 

cointegration is taxing my mental health."