"Beat & Release": Another Road Rage Incident Results in Murder, in Istanbul

türkçe links to original Turkish article

"Hürriyet Newpaper, 18 February 2026)

                   Deadly failure to yield right of way.

On February 13th, in Beşiktaş, Istanbul, Erdoğan Şengönül (67) was 

unable to pass through the road with his car because of a parked 

motorcycle. As a result, a verbal argument broke out between him 

and the motorcycle courier.

Passerby Ferşat Tellioğlu (70) intervened in the incident. Following 

an argument, Şengönül shot Tellioğlu twice (!). Tellioğlu's relatives 

pulled Şengönül out of the car and beat him severely. Both Şengönül 

and Tellioğlu were taken to the hospital. Tellioğlu died, while 

Şengönül was arrested on charges of 'intentional homicide'.

After the incident, a search was conducted at Erdoğan Şengönül's 

house. During the search, one unlicensed handgun and a total of 390 

rounds of ammunition were seized (!). The court ordered Şengönül's 

arrest not only for 'intentional homicide' but also for 'purchasing, 

carrying, or possessing unlicensed firearms and ammunition'.

Adnan Bayraktar (28), Volkan Arslan (32), and Cenk Arslan (39), 

who were among the suspects who beat Erdoğan Şengönül nearly

to death, were also arrested on charges of 'intentional injury'. H.A. 

was released under judicial supervision.

Road rage: a worldwide plague...

"Insult to Injury": Gouged for Simple Meal at Café and Then Fined for No Receipt (!), in Antalya

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Hürriyet Newspaper, 17 February 2026)

                                    Fiscal indigestion.

Murat Ş., who was forced to pay a bill of 22,800 TL (about $ 520) for 

a meal of meatballs, a cheese plate, two salads, and a soft drink at a 

café in Antalya, applied to the Consumer Arbitration Board. 

However (!),the board stated that it was a "free market" and even 

fined Murat Ş. 7,000 Turkish Lira for "not obtaining a receipt."

Murat Ş's meal at The BBQ Grill Cafe in Antalya, resulted in a  bill for 

22,850 TL that arrived about an hour later. Realizing it wasn't a joke, 

he paid the bill and filed a complaint with the Kepez District Consumer 

Arbitration Board. However, he experienced a second shock with the 

board's decision. (!)  

He lamented that "I was expecting a refund, but I was faced with a 

completely unexpected decision. The Consumer Arbitration Board first 

fined me 7,000 TL for not getting a receipt. Now they have rejected my 

application for relief, citing 'free market conditions'. For God's sake, is 

this what a free market looks like?!"

Don't bring your appetite...

"Attack & Release": Estranged Hubby's Teenage Hitmen Botch Hits on His Jeweler Wife, in Istanbul

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Hürriyet Newspaper, 16 February 2026)

M.A.A., with chiseled good looks (!), is bad with alibis.

The jewelry shop of Duygu G., which had been shot at six times (!)

previously, was targeted twice more by attackers on motorcycles 

wearing helmets, within a day of each other. Police arrested 

18-year-old M.A.A., who both drove the motorcycle and fired the 

gun in the second incident.

On December 5th, in Istanbul's Kağıthane district, two suspects wearing 

helmets arrived on a motorcycle in front of a jewelry store. They fired 

shots at the store with a handgun before fleeing. The following day, two 

more suspects, also wearing helmets, arrived on a motorcycle and one 

of them opened fire on the same jewelry store. No one was killed or 

injured in this attack.

It was determined that the suspect who was driving the motorcycle in 

the first incident was the assailant who opened fire in the second 

incident. The suspect, whose identity was learned to be M.A.A. (18), 

was caught. Judicial proceedings were initiated against M.A.A. for the 

crimes of 'intentionally endangering public safety' and 'damaging 

property', and he was arrested.

Duygu hanım's estranged hubby hired the teenage hitmen.

M.A.A. stated in his testimony, "I don't remember exactly where I was 

on the day of the incident. I may have been at home or at a hotel 

because I was drunk. I did not commit this act. Although my father 

identified me, I was not the one driving the motorcycle." (!!)

It was learned that the jewelry store that was attacked with a gun had 

been shot at 6 more times in the past months, and that 8 suspects 

who carried out the incident were arrested, while 2 suspects, aged 14, 

(!) were released on judicial control. It was revealed that the attacks 

were carried out by Özkan G. (43), the husband of Duygu G. (40), 

who is abroad and wants to divorce her, by hiring a hitman.

"Heist & Release": Thieves Stole "Unneeded" (!) $30 Million in Cash, in Istanbul

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Hürriyet Newspaper, 15 February 2026)

                    "Might as well put it to good use."

It has been determined that the $30 million stolen from two vehicles 

in an apartment complex's parking lot belongs to the son of Atilla 

Durmaz, the owner of Taç Döviz, whose name appears as a 'custodian' 

in the corruption indictment against the Istanbul Metropolitan 

Municipality (IMM). Durmaz stated, "These funds had been sitting 

in the vehicles for three months because I didn't need them." (!)

Details of the theft that occurred on February 11th have emerged. 

According to the allegations, Bilal Durmaz, who runs a currency 

exchange office in the Grand Bazaar, placed 30 million dollars he 

had taken from his workplace into sacks and loaded them into two 

cars in the parking lot of the residential complex where he lives. 

Later, four people entered the complex in a car and went down to 

the parking lot. The suspects allegedly broke the trunks and windows 

of the two vehicles, stole the sacks containing the dollars, and fled.

Bilal Durmaz, who went down to the parking lot late at night, noticed 

that the doors and windows of his vehicles were broken and the sacks 

had been stolen, so he reported it to the police. He told the police 

officers who arrived at the scene that the sacks contained 30 million 

dollars. Police, after inspecting the site and the parking lot, launched 

an operation to apprehend four suspects.

An extra $30 million in "chump change" lying around (!) ...

Durmaz, giving his statement to the police, said: “I moved my 

workplace in Laleli, Istanbul, about 3 months ago. Upon moving to 

the new address, I brought the 30 million US dollars in cash from the

currency exchange office to my residence. There is an electric automatic 

barrier at the entrance to the parking lot. Only residents and their guests 

can enter. I didn't go to the currency exchange office at all during the 

day. I came home around 9 PM, and around 1 AM, as I was about to 

go to sleep, I checked the vehicles. I saw that the right rear window of 

one vehicle was broken. When I checked my other vehicle, I realized 

that the back compartment had been opened with an object. I noticed 

that all the money was missing. Because of my job, depositing and 

withdrawing money from the bank is troublesome. Since I hadn't 

needed this money for 3 months, it was sitting in the vehicles. I last 

checked the money 2 days ago.”

Police teams examining the parking lot camera footage determined 

that 4 suspects entered the site in Florya by car, broke the car windows, 

opened the trunks, and stole 30 million dollars, contained in 10 sacks 

of 100-dollar bills, in just 10 minutes before fleeing.

                  OK, but where's the other $28 million?!

Police teams, after reviewing security camera footage from the parking 

lot and surrounding areas, apprehended the suspects who fled the 

parking lot in their car in simultaneous operations conducted in Istanbul, 

Antalya, and Kocaeli the previous evening. Searches conducted at the 

addresses of the 7 suspects, who were taken to the police station, 

yielded $1,670,500, 13,200 Turkish Lira, 860 narcotic pills, 2 unlicensed 

handguns, and 1 blank-firing pistol.

"Steam & Release": Phtographers' Delight - Horses and Buffaloes Enjoying a Hot Spring Bath, in Freezing Bitlis

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Anatolia News Agency website, 14 February 2026)

                                Everyone into the pool!

Photography enthusiasts from various provinces of Türkiye are coming 

to Güroymak district of Bitlis to photograph the buffaloes and horses 

entering the hot springs in Budaklı village, where air temperatures 

can drop to -20 degrees Celsius. The buffaloes and horses, unable to 

leave their stables due to the harsh winter conditions, are brought to 

the hot springs by their owners at regular intervals to be washed in the

40 degree Celsius water.

Rıdvan Süslü, a photographer from Van, told an AA reporter that the 

hot springs are a popular destination for tourists in both summer and 

winter.  Süslü explained that villagers bring their animals to the hot 

springs to clean them after they have been kept in barns for long 

periods in winter, and continued:

"Every year, we visit this place during periods of heavy snowfall to 

take photographs. We have come here many times, but we never get 

enough. We know that many photographs taken here have won awards 

not only in our country but also worldwide. It is very valuable for the 

people of the region. We travel hundreds of kilometers to get here.

Although the conditions are difficult, we always enjoy this place 

immensely. This is a place that could become a popular destination 

for photography enthusiasts and those interested in photography."

Mustafa Kılıç, a photographer from Mardin, stated that the region 

has beauties that will attract photography enthusiasts.  He explained 

that they captured an unparalleled event in this unique region, saying,

"We are in a place where animals enter the water, and children and 

young people have fun jumping into the water from the backs of 

horses.  

With the photos we take here, we are both enriching our 

archive and capturing unique photographic moments. I invite all 

photographers from Turkey and abroad to come here. A unique 

visual spectacle is created in the hot springs where horses and 

buffaloes enter. Photographers from all over Türkiye are capturing 

the beauties of this place in their photographs."

"Dismember & Release": Uzbek House of Horrors, in Ümraniye

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Hürriyet Newspaper, 13 February 2026)

                     They're not in Taşken anymore...

The scale of the brutality in Ümraniye has escalated to a series of 

murders. Two perpetrators, who killed their Uzbek girlfriends in the 

same house on consecutive days, dismembered their bodies, transported 

them by taxi, and dumped them in garbage containers in different 

districts, were released from prison and questioned again.

It has been revealed that Dilshod Turdimurotov (30) and his roommate 

Gofurjon Kamalkhodaev, who murdered Durdona Khakimova (37), an 

Uzbek national, with a knife on January 24th in Ümraniye, Istanbul, 

and left her body parts in garbage containers in Şişli, had also 

murdered Ergashalieva Seyyare (32), an Uzbek national, in the same 

manner one day before this murder and left her body parts in garbage 

containers in different districts of Istanbul.

In the horrific incident that occurred on January 24, 2026, in 

Kuyulubağ Street, Şişli, a woman's body wrapped in sheets and bags 

was found in a garbage container by a scrap collector. As a result of 

the investigation, it was determined that the body belonged to Durdona 

Khakimova, an Uzbek national who worked at a hunting supplies shop 

in Fatih. Further investigations revealed that Khakimova was murdered 

by her boyfriend, Dilshod Turdimurotov, who had called her to his 

house in Ümraniye on the day of the incident. He then dismembered her

body with the help of her roommate, Kamalkhodaev, put the pieces in 

a suitcase, and left them in garbage containers in Şişli after taking a 

taxi there.

Following a report from her family, police teams examining security 

camera footage related to Ergashalieva Seyyare, an Uzbek national 

who was reported missing, determined that she was last seen entering 

the same house in Ümraniye on January 23, 2026, the day before 

Durdona Khakimova was murdered. As a result of police 

investigations into suspected serial murders, it was determined that 

Turdimurotov and Kamalkhodaev first killed Seyyare in the same 

house and in the same manner.

It was learned that the two perpetrators, who killed Ergashalieva 

Seyyare with a knife and dismembered her head and limbs in the 

bathroom the day before killing Durdona Khakimova, wrapped the 

body parts in sheets, placed them in suitcases, and then, using a 

rented car with a driver, dumped them in garbage containers in different 

neighborhoods of Istanbul. The two murder suspects, who were released 

from prison on the orders of the prosecutor's office, were questioned 

again.

The two murder suspects, who were released from prison and 

questioned again on the orders of the prosecutor's office, confessed

to killing Seyyare with a knife and disposing of her body in different

 containers. Turdimurotov and Kamalkhodaev, against whom a new 

investigation has been launched for 'intentional homicide', will be 

brought to court today.

"Exploit & Release": Epstein's "Lolita Express" Aircraft Flew to Turkey Nine Times

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Sözcü Newspaper, 12 February 2026)

                     

Among the files exposed concerning child-exploiter Jeffrey Epstein

are those that reflect his trips to Turkey.   In particular, Epstein's

Boing 727 aircraft, nicknamed "Lolita Express" (!), came to Istanbul

and Antalya nine times and once flew from Istanbul to Tel Aviv. 

While in Turkey, Epstein stayed at the lavish Rixos Hotel, owned

by Fettah Tamince. According to İYİ Party group chief Turhan Çömez:

"Since 2008, a total of 104, 531 children disappeared in Turkey.  It

is claimed that the $200 million transferred to Turkey from Epstein's 

bank account was used for human trafficking." 

Next stop Antalya!