Chain-Reaction Tragedies

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(HaberTürk Newspaper, 21 January 2018)


Pınar hanım, left, learned the hard way that, as they say, 
'things happen in threes'.

On 14 November 2014, Anşe Bilir had a nervous breakdown and was
taken to Karşıyaka State Hospital in Izmir.  Subsequently, the elderly
woman left the hospital wearing no shoes, only socks, and was never
heard from again.  Then, on 10 July 2015, father Remzi Bilir died of
a heart attack brought on by his wife's disappearance, at age 67.  Next,
on 31 October 2015, Pınar Bilir lost her older brother Harun Murat Bilir
(43) when he slit his wrists and committed suicide (!).

Having lost her entire family in the course of one year, Pinar Bilir held
the Ministry of Health responsible for the chain of tragedies, since her
mother was allowed to leave the state hospital unsupervised, and filed
a suit, asking for 500,000 TL (about $150,000) in compensation. 
Ultimately, the Administrative Court awarded Pınar hanım 50,000 TL.
Her lawyer, İhsan Yılmaz, objected to the small award, saying that
"The things that have happened to Pınar Bilir have never happened to
anyone else in Turkey.  She doesn't even have a grave she can visit to
pay respect to her mother.  After her mother's disappearance, the entire
family was wrecked.  Pınar hanım's sufferings have been quite severe.
That being the case, I find the 50,000 TL award to be quite insufficient."
He said they will file an appeal with the 'İstinaf' (appeals) Court to
have the award increased.