30 Nisan 2021 Cuma

COVID Collateral Damage Continues, This Time a Cesspool Drowning

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Hürriyet Newspaper, 30 April 2021)
























                   Even Batman couldn't save him.

The night before last in Selçuklu district of Konya province, police got 
a tip that a café that should have been closed because of COVID 
restrictions was open and people were smoking hookah pipes.  During
the police raid on the café, male nurse Tevfik Sevi (33), one of the 
customers, panicked and fled to the building's basement.  There, he fell
into a one-meter deep cesspool.  (!)

Police fined four people in the café for violating COVID restrictions 
and as they were leaving one of the café employees told them that 
there was someone in the basement cesspool.  The fire department was
summoned and the firefighters took Sevi out of the cesspool but he was
already dead.  The body of the father of two children, who worked at 
Necmettin Erbakan University's Meram Medical Faculty, was taken to 
the hospital's morgue for an autopsy.  

It turned out that police had raided this same café on 20 April and fined
10 people a total of 63,000 TL (about $8,000). The café owners had 
been written up and the building sealed.






28 Nisan 2021 Çarşamba

TV Star Shows TV Hubby & Son Who's The Boss

türkçe  links to original Turkish article

(Milliyet Newspaper, 28 April 2021)

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Hürriyet Newspapaer, 28 April 2021)















              Maybe it shouldn't have been such a surprise.

TV star Hülya Avşar has imposed her wrath on both her TV husband
and TV son in real life. During a scene in the "dizi" (nighttime soap
opera) "Masumiyet", Avşar slapped her "husband" Ertuğrul Postoğlu
so hard that the blow dislocated Postoğlu's chin bone. (!)

Making amends, Avşar took Postoğlu to Akademik Hospital, where
her cousin Dr. Erol Avşar works.  After treatment, Postoğlu was able
to return to the "dizi" set a few days later.

As for her TV son Serkay Tütüncü, Avşar, who has a phobia about
elevators, made Tütüncü walk up 14 flights of stairs with her to the
"dizi" set. (!)















                            Elevators are for sissies!

27 Nisan 2021 Salı

"Beat & Release": Pregnant Algerian "Fly-girl" Mugs 3 Women in Kadıköy, Istanbul

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Hürriyet Newspaper, 27 April 2021)













In Kadıköy, Istanbul, a pregnant woman with a knife stole telephones
from three women.  The pregnant mugger wore a mini-skirt and a t-shirt
and had a large spider & net tattoo on her hand.  Also, her arms were
covered with razor cuts and she wore a pitch-black wig.  She approached
her victims, saying a few strange things in a number of languages, 
and then pulled out a large knife from her waistband.  The tale of this
pregnant mugger spread around Kadıköy via the rumor mill.

Last Friday evening at about seven-thirty o'clock, Rümeyra İrez and 
Elif Öner, who are studying cinema-TV, were sitting in front of an
apartment building on Ali Kalfa Street, in the Yeldeğirmeni 
neighborhood when the pregnant mugger approached them and said
to Elif hanım "you've been dead for a long time and they buried you."

The pregnant mugger then demanded the two girls' telephones, taking
out the huge 30-centimeter knife from under her t-shirt to make her 
point.   One of the girls threw her phone on the ground, distracting 
the attacker, and the girls fled.  

























                        You go girl!


The day before yesterday, the mysterious pregnant mugger pulled out
her knife on another woman near the Bull Statue in Kadıköy.  The 
victim's screams attracted the police, who arrested the attacker.  She 
has been identified as S.N.E. K. (coincidentally or not, the Turkish 
word for a "housefly" is "sinek" !) an Algerian, 22-years-old.  

She is 8-months pregnant and after each attack, she changed her outfit 
and rented a hotel room, where police found many different outfits and 
wigs.  In her statement to police, S.N.E.K. said that "I have 'cin'" (evil
spirits).  After a court hearing, the woman was put under house arrest
but released.




 

26 Nisan 2021 Pazartesi

COVID Bars Humans From His Coffee Shop, So Cats & Dogs Replace Them

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Hürriyet Newspaper, 26 April 2021)

















             The coffee here is purrrrrrrrrrrrrrrfect!

Recep Alözkan (78) lives in Tekirdağ's Hayrabolu district.  During the 
COVID pandemic he has had to close his coffee shop to humans but has
opened it instead to 50 street cats and 5 dogs, feeding them and providing
them with shelter.

Alözkan explained that "when deaths rose because of the virus, customers
stopped coming so I opened up my coffee shop to stray cats.  I feed them
and take care of them.  The Hayrabolu municipality heard about it and 
the other day they provided some food for the cats to add to what I can
give them.  Mostly, though, I look after them with my own resources.
Sometimes dogs come, too, and I feed them.  My wife died two years ago
so since then I've passed the time looking after the stray animals."

Nedim Başaran, who lives in Umurbey village with Alözkan, praised his
neighbor's behavior, noting that " Recep spends his entire income on 
these cats.  We try to help out from time to time, as well.  He's had the
coffee shop for years and always looked after the animals.  If he didn't
they might cause us problems in the village."

Another neighbor, Birol Alagöz, said that "Recep used to look after 10-15
cats but today the number is around 40-50.  There are some people who
criticize him for this and I feel bad about that.  After his wife died, he 
dedicated himself to these animals.  He gets bread and boils bones for
the juice to make food for them.  We try to help but it's not enough. We
expect the city and the district to provide him with more support."



25 Nisan 2021 Pazar

TNT Nails Edition: Colombian Specials in Bursa and Beyoğlu Batterers in Istanbul

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Hürriyet Newspaper, 25 April 2021)

recidivist visitors click here for a 2018 TNT report 
about Colombians and others haunting Bursa.















              From across the sea, they nailed Turkey.

In Nilüfer district, Bursa, at five o'clock on the evening of 11 January, 
Osman K. and friend C.P. (49) were riding in a car headed for a bank to
deposit 1.6 million TL (about $200,000) that Osman K. had just gotten
from the sale of a plot of land.  When they came to Ata Boulevard, one
of the car's tires went flat so the two friends changed the tire.  But when
they got back in the car the bag of money was missing. (!)

Police arrived and determined that the nail that caused the flat tire was
specially made and that Osman K. and his friend C.P. had been followed,
based on MOBESE (street camera system) video.  After some research,
police identified the suspects as Z.M., L.G.O. and A.G.O.  from
Colombia (!).   The trio had previously used the same technique for 
robberies in Aydın, Adana, Samsun, Gaziantep, Izmir and Antalya. 

The three suspects were arrested in Istanbul and sent to Antalya, where
they were jailed.  They had stolen 2.5 million TL in seven different
provinces.  Osman K. learned from police that his money had been
sent by the suspects to Colombia and he lamented that "the thieves
stole the most money from me.  I don't know what I'm going to do."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Milliyet Newspaper, 25 April 2021)



One passer-by, Jerry, was heard to say derisively
"and you want to be my latex salesman?!"

In Beyoğlu, Istanbul, an argument erupted between a man and a woman
in a grassy area.  The man ripped a picket from a nearby fence and began
to beat the woman with the board and the nails sticking out of it.  

However (!), the woman was able to rest the picket from the man's hands
and began to beat him, to the point that he collapsed on the ground.  
Passers-by intervened and the injured man was taken to a hospital.  One
of them said "all of sudden they started beating each other! First the man
beat the woman and then  vice versa, causing the man to pass out."







 








                              Pickets don't beat people...

24 Nisan 2021 Cumartesi

4 Kilos of Fake Gold for $130,000 and a (Fake) Money-back Guarantee

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Milliyet Newspaper, 24 April 2021)













                                Have I got a deal for you!

In Beşiktaş, Istanbul, nine Africans who sold 4 kilograms of fake gold to
an individual for $130,000 (!) have been arrested.  The suspects' 
counterfeiting press and fake gold were seen on video footage.

The incident occurred on 17 April at a hotel in Beşiktaş.  Burhan Ö. (47)
agreed with people he met in the Aksaray section of the city to buy 4
kilograms of gold for $130,000.  Next, Burhan Ö. and his wife met 
with the suspects at a luxury hotel on Saray Avenue in the Cihannüma 
neighborhood of Beşiktaş, where the suspect turned over 4 kilograms
of fake gold to them.  

The suspects took the $130,000 from Burhan Ö. and told him that 
they put it in a strongbox in a hotel room and if a problem developed
with the gold Burhan Ö. could come and get his money back out of
the strongbox.    


















                                          Out of Africa

A day later, Burhan Ö. and his wife went to a jeweler with the gold, 
only to find out that it was fake.  Burhan Ö. called the suspects, who
readily gave him back the money in counterfeit dollars (!) and left
the hotel.  Burhan Ö. subsequently realized that, like the gold, the
dollars were fake, too, so he went to the police.   

The police determined the identities and addresses of the hoodwinkers
and arrested the nine Africans in a flat on Dalyan Street in the 
Harmantepe neighborhood of the city's Kağıthane district. The suspects
claimed that they printed "original money" with a machine they designed
and sent videos of their operation to prospective customers to establish
trust.  

At the gang's operations center, police found a large amount of 
dollars, Euros and the counterfeit money printing machine.  The police
also obtained video of Burhan Ö. entering the hotel, the suspects' 
printing machine and a large amount of fake foreign currency. 

 







 


 I'd turn back if I were you, Burhan bey.


23 Nisan 2021 Cuma

"Beat & Release": 44 Stabs Somehow Doesn't Qualify as "Monstrous Savagery"

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Hürriyet Newspaper, 23 April 2021)













          Birthday extra - one more stab wound than her age.

Ersin Kormaz (44) and Nurgül Boz (43) began living together 7 years
ago in Ümraniye, Istanbul, and their daughter is now a six-years-old. 
Korkmaz went to prison for a crime but was released on leave because
of the COVID pandemic.  

On 10 April the couple got into an argument sparked by jealousy and
Korkmaz stabbed Nurgül hanım 44 times (!) with a kitchen knife, 
killing her.  In his statement to police, Korkman said he suspected that
Nurgül hanım had cheated on him.  The public prosecutor, though, 
suspected that Korkmaz said this to try to get a reduced sentence.  So,
he charged Korkmaz with "murder with monstrous savagery" and 
asked the court for the most extreme life sentence.

Facing the court, Korkmaz explained that "I beat my wife a couple of
times before.  That day, I was suspicious of some phone messages she
received.  We fought and I began to stab her with a knife I grabbed 
from the kitchen.  I don't remember how many times I stabbed her."

The court committee decided that Kormaz had not killed Nurgül 
hanım with "monstrous savagery" and gave him a life sentence for
only "murder with intent". (!)



22 Nisan 2021 Perşembe

Alert Elon Musk! "Driverless" Car Gets Stuck on Pedestrian Overpass!

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Hürriyet Newspaper, 22 April 2021)














                        You can't get there from here.

In the Yenibaraj neighborhood of Adana's Seyhan district, the driver
of a car bearing plate number 01 ADR 763 tried to drive his vehicle
across a pedestrian overpass but he got stuck (!).   

Passers-by who noticed the situation called police, who arrived and 
asked Sefer Ş. and İbrahim S., who were in the car, which one of 
them was the driver.  They said in response that neither one of them 
was the driver. (!)


          Maybe he should have taken the long way home.

In any event, police charged both of them with violating the COVID
curfew and fined them.  After an hour of work, the car was removed
from the overpass by a tow truck.

 





21 Nisan 2021 Çarşamba

Alimony Victims Unite! Join the March on Istanbul!

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Milliyet Newspaper, 21 April 2021)

how we got here click here for the first TNT report.

















                Putting his shoe leather where his mouth is.

Mustafa Duman (32) of Pehlivan village in Kastamonu province married
A.R.B. D. in October 2017, after having met her on the internet two years 
before.  After the wedding, A.R.B.D. returned to her family in Istanbul
and Duman hasn't seen her since then.  But now Duman has to pay his
ex-wife of one day 700 TL (about $90) per month in alimony. (!)

To protest this situation, Duman is walking all the way from his village
to Istanbul.  Now in the eighth day of his trek, Duman has reached 
Sakarya, declaring that there are many alimony victims like himself and
the time has come for a solution.  

Duman, who hopes to reach Istanbul on Friday, lamented that "the 
creditors and repossessors are at my door every day.  The other family's 
lawyer is trying to scare me with various threats. They're telling me that
the total alimony has accumulated to 20,000 TL and they're sending 
enforcement orders.  I haven't been able to get a divorce for four years 
but because of her suit's judgement, I have to pay 700 TL per month
in alimony.  There are lots of victims like me.  When I see the messages
they send to me I get sad and cry."



















                       The long march against alimony!

20 Nisan 2021 Salı

"Beat & Release": Like a Broken Record

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Hürriyet Newspaper, 20 April 2021)














                          Hmmm this looks familiar.

On 9 December 2020 in Ereğli, Zonguldak, Çağla Çiçekçi (22) and her
housemate/ex-boyfriend (!) Ufuk Özel had dinner and drinks.  (Perhaps
inevitably,) an argument erupted and Özel choked Çağla hanım to the 
point of fainting.  Then, Özel got a knife from the kitchen counter and 
wounded Çağla hanım in her neck and abdomen.  

Çağla hanım (somehow) escaped through a window and was taken to a
hospital.  Özel was arrested and jailed.  Following the completion of the
investigation, Özel was charged with "murder with intent to kill" and
"insulting" (!), with an attendant jail term of from 9 to 17 years.  
However, Özel filed a suit of his own against Çağla hanım for "wounding
with intent" and "insulting". 


















Maybe a housemate/ex-boyfriend isn't the best for a 
dinner and drinks partner.

The trial will begin in the coming days in an Ereğli court.  Çağla hanım
stated that "while we were chatting an argument erupted. I wanted him
to leave so he choked me and I passed out.  When I came to I was in
the living room and he was stabbing me.  I saw the knife in his hand and
the blood.  He was crying.  That's when I jumped out the window to save
myself.  I don't remember anything else." 

Continuing, Çağla hanım explained that "I've been through a very bad
time.  My psychology isn't at all normal.  I can't stay at home alone. I'm
having panic attacks and nightmares.  Whenever I see my wounds I
relive those moments.  The trial is starting. Let justice prevail."




19 Nisan 2021 Pazartesi

Easing One-Way Travel to Germany the Municipal Grey Way

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Sözcü Newspaper, 19 April 2021)














 Courtesy of "50 Shades of Grey" Municipal Travel Agency 

A "municipal" human trafficking scandal that broke out in Malatya and
spread to Elazığ and Ordu, has turned into an international crisis.  
Germany has begun an investigation into the illicit use of Turkey's "grey 
passports" that are only given to consulate workers, officials and national 
athletes in Turkey for visa-free travel.  

Berlin has asked the Ankara via the Turkish Foreign Ministry to explain 
how grey passports were provided to unauthorized individuals. If it is 
determined that international law was violated by an arm of the state, all 
Turkish passports will come under suspicion.  

CHP (opposition party) parliamentarian Seyit Torun stated that "our
party's member on the Malatya Yeşilyurt municipal council broke this
scandal.  Many similar incidents have occurred in other AKP (ruling
party) municipalities.  For example, an investigation has started in
Elazığ's Akçakiraz, Arıcak and Baskil municipalities.  But this is only
a part of a larger scandal involving tens of municipalities that enabled
hundreds of people to flee abroad

















                                 Germany is for lovers.

An investigation has been initiated by the Hannover public prosecutor
into the firm Mega Kilit GmbH and its owner Ersin Kilit, who played 
a key role in illicitly sending 43 people from Malatya to Germany.  
Kilit is accused of  preparing false documents and forgery, violation of
German laws regarding foreigners and human trafficking.   In addition,
the matter has been taken up by the assemblies in Lower Saxony and 
Bavaria. 

Kilit cooperated not just with Malatya's Yeşilyurt municipality, but also
with other towns to send 'visitors' to Germany who never returned to 
Turkey.  Hannover Mayor Belit Onay gave a statement in the
investigation but it has been learned that Onay had no knowledge of
the issue.  

An effort is underway to determine whether Kilit, who works in the
construction, automation and gastronomy (!) sectors, was at the center of
all these illicit activities.  Most recently, most of those who went to 
Germany illegally on the grey passports were from Bingöl province, the 
home province of Mega Kilit GmbH's owners.  These individuals melted 
into the construction and gambling casino sectors in Germany.













                Learn to say "Guten tag!" before going.

18 Nisan 2021 Pazar

Coal-based Cosmetics Somehow Just Didn't Catch On

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Sözcü Newspaper, 18 April 2021)












       Models posing for TKİ product publicity campaign.

Without any experience in the cosmetic sector, the Turkey Coal 
Operations (TKİ) organization (!) decided to plunge in, spending
4.7 million TL (about $600,000) to produce a hair-removal product
and 11 other cosmetic materials under the brand name "Elegance".

Another 2.2 million TL was spent by TKİ on commercials to 
advertise its line of products.  However (!), when the TKİ products
did not catch on with consumers, TKİ had to destroy a portion of its
"Elegance" inventory and distributed 76,405 packages of the hair-
removal cream to public sector workers for free as the product's 
expiration date approached.  

CHP (opposition party) parliamentarian Levent Gök posed this question
to Energy Minister Fatih Dönmez: "what official procedures have 
begun in regard to those responsible for this waste of money?"  In his
response, Minister Dönmez stated that there had been 2,187,000 TL
spent for these products. 

However, the Sayıştay (government accounting bureau) report noted
that up to 2018, 2,186,000 TL had been spent on advertising alone and
4.7 million TL for production.   TKİ General Director Hasan Hüseyin
Erdoğan, speaking at a meeting of t the Grand National Assembly's KİT 
(public sector economic initiatives) commission, explained that "the
cosmetic products that were produced were distributed as gifts.  There
was never an intent to sell them commercially."














                          Oxymoronic brand-naming.

17 Nisan 2021 Cumartesi

"Beat & Release": Biker Gang Buddies Severed from Polite Society

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Hürriyet Newspaper, 16 April 2021)

avuncular dismemberment click here for TNT's report
from 2019.

must have been the season click here for another TNT
report from March 2019 about an Antalya
dismemberment.













                                   Gang (dis)members.

On 27 February 2019, two severed legs were found in a garbage container
in Kadıköy, Istanbul. The body's hands, head and trunk were found 
elsewhere.  The murder victim was identified as Rifat Rıza Öztürk, who
worked in the tractor parts import-export business.  

The deceased's nephew and co-worker Fahrettin Öztürk, along with his
motorcycle gang buddies Ferhat Yılmaz, Fatih Demir and Turgut 
Kundakçı were taken into custody in connection with the murder and 
jailed.  

According to the indictment, after killing his uncle, Fahrettin Öztürk
got help from his motorcycle gang buddy Ferhat Yılmaz to cut up the
body.  Subsequently, Fatih Demir and Turgut Kundakçı helped the other
two to distribute the body parts in garbage containers around Istanbul. 

The court in Bakırköy reached a decision on the case yesterday,
sentencing Fahrettin Öztürk and Ferhat Yılmas to life in prison, plus
a two-year jail term and 1,500 TL (about $200) fine for having
unlicensed guns (!).  Fatih Demir and Turgut Kundakçı received 
sentences of four years each for destroying evidence of a crime.

Rifat Rıza Öztürk's daughter Gamze Vasfiye Öztürk told reporters 
after the verdict was announced that "we've waited for 26 months
for justice to find its place.  We waited 10 days for my father's 
body parts to be found so we could bury him, but without his hands.
Thankfully, justice has been served and even though our pain cannot 
be forgotten, at least our minds are at peace."







16 Nisan 2021 Cuma

Air Conditioned Video Blackmail in Denizli

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Hürriyet Newspaper, 16 April 2021)













                    Politics and the black arts. Inseparable.


The investigation into the blackmail attempt against Teoman Sancar, a 
Denizli parliamentarian, has been completed.  Jail sentences of up to 9
years each have been requested for five suspects, one of them a 
policeman, for "blackmail" and "violation of personal privacy".  

Sancar was forced to resign from the CHP party (main opposition 
party) because of the scandal.  According to the related indictment,
Fatih Selamet (26) was an acquaintance of Sancar from some years
ago.   Taking advantage of this acquaintance, Selamet made a blackmail
plan, telling his brother-in-law Bülent Acar, a policeman in Kuşadası,
that "we'll take a video and blackmail him."

Acar agreed to the plan and brought in friends Sadık Sivri and Fatih
Kıntaş as partners.  In accordance with the plan, Selamet called 
Sancar and invited him to a flat in Denizli "to discuss a matter."  Once
Sancar accepted, Sadık Sivri and Fatih Kıntaş came from Kuşadası to
Denizli, entered the flat and put a camera inside the air conditioner in
a room.  Then they began to wait in a van parked nearby.

In the indictment, it is stated that when Sancar got drunk and passed out
Selamat took some obscene videos (!).  After a while, Sancar left the flat 
and Selamet put the videos taken by the camera in the air conditioner on 
a computer, erasing all but the obscene parts.  

Subsequently, Fatih Karakoç, a new member of the blackmail group,
demanded money from Sancar, who balked.  Thinking that the video
might be sold to someone, Sancar contacted the public prosecutor and
filed a complaint.  The five suspects taken into custody and three of them 
were jailed.  Now they each face nine years in prison.















          Kuşadası is on the Aegean coast, west of Denizli.

14 Nisan 2021 Çarşamba

Hoodwinker Taxi Driver and Cohort Overexposed

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Hürriyet Newspaper, 14 April 2021)














   Very fussy about the bills - perfers Benjamin Franklin.

On 14 March in Istanbul, Chechenistan citizen E.S. and two relatives 
got into a taxi at Eminönü and agreed to pay the driver 30 TL (about $4) 
to take them to Taksim Square.  E.S. took 30 TL from her purse and 
handed it to the driver, who objected to the "old bills" and asked E.S. to 
give him new bills instead. 

In the meantime, though, the driver with sleight of hand took $4,000
from E.S.'s purse.  E.S. noticed this and asked the driver to give the
dollars back.  As an argument broke out, an individual approached
the taxi, as if to help in some way.  

Thinking that this person would help her, E.S. and her two relatives 
got out of the taxi.  But the "good samaritan" hopped in the taxi and
took off with the driver (!).  E.S. called the police, who were 
(somehow) able to review the video images taken inside the taxi and
they determined the identities of the suspects.  Last Saturday, police
apprehended taxi driver K.P. (30) and his cohort C.D. (44) and took
them both into custody. 




















Driver K.P. and cohort C.D. seen here planning the caper.


13 Nisan 2021 Salı

"Beat & Release": Depth of Brutality That Just Scratches the Surface

türkçe  links to original Turkish article

(Hürriyet Newspaper 13 April 2021)














               The thinking man's maniac and his muse.


In Antalya, Gülsüm Demiray (22) filed a complaint against her abusive 
boyfriend Aziz Seyis and got a restraining order against him.  
Nevertheless, Seyis came to Gülsüm hanım's home with a knife in his
hand and leaned on her front door in a threatening manner.  He left but
not before scratching her door with his knife. (!)

Gülsüm hanım explained to police that Seyis would beat her on the 
slightest pretext, adding that "the violence began in the fourth month 
of our relationship. I've endured violence from him with a belt, a
knife, a gun and all sorts of other things.  He has beaten me at my home, 
his home, outside in front of other people, in the car. When I told him I
wanted to break up he beat me."

"He came to my door with a knife and the next day he came to my
workplace and he's threatened me and my family with death.  So I
filed a complaint but he violated the restraining order, called me and
messaged me.  Then he came in his car to my street. I included his
calls and messages in my complaint but he was not charged. I don't
want to die!"

















"You have 30 seconds to open this door. What happens after
that is on you!"

As for Seyis, he stated that the pictures that Gülsüm hanım posted on
social media of herself with black and blue marks around her eyes
and on her arms were old. (!):  "when we first met in 2019, she showed
me the same photographs and told me 'look what my old boyfriend did
to me!'  Now she's trying to say that I was the one who beat her in those
photos.  As for the door-scratching incident, that's true.  When we had
a fight she scratched my car so I said to her 'I'll come and we'll talk. If
you don't open the door I'll scratch it!'"

"But I also said that I wouldn't harm her.  The incident only involved the
scratch on the door.  She fooled all her social media followers with the
pictures, which are from before my time.  She's closed that account and
opened a new one to increase her followers, in my opinion."

















Everything old is new again.

12 Nisan 2021 Pazartesi

Buddhism and Taoism as Homewreckers

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Hürriyet Newspaper, 12 April 2021)











                             

                                    Three's a crowd.

According to a divorce suit filed in Istanbul, P.E. and C.E., the parents
of two children, are breaking up because of husband C.E.'s obsession 
with Buddhism and Taoism. (!)   Wife P.E. alleges that her husband has
paid  a life coach excessive amounts of money to begin lessons in the
two religions. 

P.E. stated in the divorce filing that C.E., who is the Turkey sales chief
for a famous brand, has directed all his energies and time to the religions,
participating in many 'inziva' (seclusion) events and travelling to India
and China, while declaring to P.E. that "even if you leave me I'm going!"

The latest incident, P.E. stated, has been centered on C.E., who has a 
Chinese life coach and takes lessons online from the coach's Turkey-based
representatives, engaging in mass-like rituals in front of the couple's 
children.  According to P.E., C.E. does "calligraphy health" in the air 
with his hand, while screaming meaningless chants and this has had a 
negative effect on their children's development. (!)

P.E. was crushed by her husband's confession that he had gone on the 
'inziva' trips with another woman.  In her petition to the court it is 
stated that "as time has passed, P.E. has been subjected to her husband's
physical abuse and death threats.  Their young child has begun to stutter
after seeing P.E. beaten by her husband.  P.E. wants 15,000 TL (about
$1,750) for herself and the same amount for the children as alimony
each month.  In addition, P.E. is asking for 2.5 million TL in 
compensation, 1 million of which is for mental stress."

In response, C.E. asserted that  P.E.'s allegation are baseless and he filed
a countersuit, declaring that he has never abused his wife or children. 
C.E.'s lawyer explained that "the complainant has characterized C.E.'s
efforts toward personal development as problematic.  P.E. has accused 
him of ignoring her and their children. Yet, C.E. is doing what he's doing 
in order to make his family happier. (!)  He has not neglected his family. 
He invited his wife to come on the trips with him but she refused. P.E. 
is the source of the discord."

























C.E. and friend on most recent 'inziva' excursion.