"Beat & Release": Like Father Like Son, When it Comes to Killing Women, in Kozan

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Hürriyet Newspaper, 27 January 2022) 

                                                  Ouch.

Last May in Adana's Kozan district, the bodies of Tuğçe Duman (27) 

and Melek Elşemo (24) were found 100 meters apart, both shot with a

"pompalı tüfenk" (pump-action rifle).  Finally, suspect Furkan A. (22)

has been apprehended by police.  

On the night of 23 May 2021, the Gendarmerie was informed when 

someone saw bullet holes on the window of  a parked car (plate nr.

01 AHG 364) on Müftü Mustafa Street in Kozan's Eskikabasakal

neighborhood near the canal.  When the Gendarmerie troops arrived

they found Tuğçe hanım's body in the car, with a rifle bullet in her. 

As the Gendarmerie team surveyed the area they found another 

woman's body 100 meters away, that of Melek hanım, a Syrian who was

living with Tuğçe hanım's uncle.  The prime suspect was Furkan A. but

he could not be found so his uncle İ.A., cousins Murat A.,  O.İ. and

B.Ç., along with another person, were all taken into custody on 

suspicion of having involvement in the crimes.  The court released 

all the suspects but Murat A. was taken into custody again in July 

and jailed.

Last night the Gendarmerie got a tip that Furkan A. had come to his

home in Eskikabasakal at about 4 o'clock in the morning.  Furkan A.

was captured in a raid on the house.    

It turned out that Tuğçe hanım, in the process of divorcing her husband, 

had come to live with her mother in Kozan and met Furkan A., who 

kidnapped her on 13 March and again on 23 April.  Furkan A. had 

ignored a restraining order against him and taken Tuğçe hanım to a hilly

area nearby.  On 4 May, Furkan A. and Tuğçe hanım came down from the

hills on foot.  Tuğçe hanım was able to inform police and have Furkan A.

taken into custody. 

Furkan A., though, claimed that Tuğçe hanım had encouraged him to take 

her away and her complaint now amounted to slander.  So he was

released by the police.  But Duman's mother Hatice Kır claimed that

Furkan A. had repeatedly beaten her daughter and had declared that "If

you leave me I'll kill you and your loved ones. I'll chop up your body

and throw it in a cave."

It has also been learned that Furkan A.'s father Mustafa A. killed his

girlfriend Zübeyde Ü. (42), whom he claimed had deserted him, in 

Kozan on 26 May 2016, wounding Zübeyde hanım's mother Nahide U.,

as well.  Mustafa A. was jailed for life for the murder.

 

Dead Duck Draws Dad to Death in Duck Pond, in Balıkesir

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Cumhuriyet Newspaper, 23 January 2022)

Duck hunting incident leaves one boy fatherless...

Yesterday evening in İvrindi district of Balıkesir province, Şemsettin 

Günhan, Cihan Yazıcı and Fevzi Sönmez went duck hunting at a 

nearby pond.  Günhan, the married father of one child, shot a duck. 

Günhan entered the pond to retrieve the dead duck but went underwater,

to the horror of his friends.  In an effort to save Günhan, Yazıcı and 

Sönmez went into the pond too but Sönmez suffered hypothermia and

both he and Yazıcı had to be taken to İvrindi State Hospital for treatment.

...and some other youngsters motherless. 

Meanwhile, AFAD (search & rescue) and the Balikesir municipal 

water search team reached the pond to look for Günhan, whose lifeless

body was retrieved at 1300 hours.  The body was taken to the Bursa

police forensics lab for an autopsy.  

CSI Beşiktaş: 11 Years Later, Facial-Recognition Technology Nabs Killer, Who's Now 98% Disabled but Put in Jail Anyway

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Hürriyet Newspaper, 22 January 2022)

A face to remember, once technology caught up with him.

Şeref Ergül (38) was stabbed in front of Beşiktaş stadium in Istanbul in 

2011 and now, 11 years later, police have captured the killer 

thanks to today's facial-recognition technology.  However, in the 

intervening years the suspect had a brain bleed that has left him 98% 

disabled and speechless.  Nevertheless, he has been put in jail (!). 

On 13 June 2011, cook Şeref Ergül was stabbed in front of the Beşiktaş 

stadium and died at a nearby hospital, while the assailant fled.  Police

determined that Ergül had earlier been to a bar in Taksim Square and 

another bar patron named E. Ö. fit the description of Ergül's killer so he 

was arrested for the crime.  E.Ö. confessed to the killing but gave 

contradictory statements about it. In the ensuing police investigation it

was established that E.Ö. had not been at the stabbing scene so he was

released after spending 5 months in jail. 

Recently, police took another look at this "cold case" and used technolgy

developed since the date of the crime to identify the real killer, 11 years

later.  Police determined that the suspect was a 30-35-year-old male, 

65-70 kilograms in weight (about 150 lbs) and 165-170 centimeters 

(about 5'7") in height.  The suspect was seen on video footage getting

into a taxi at the crime scene and heading toward Beşiktaş.  He was 

then spotted by a camera in a market where he bought a soda.

These images were prepared by the police as photographs and sent to

the police technology center for analysis by the facial-recognition 

system there.  The result was a 100% match with one Muhammet B. So 

police raided his home in the Eyüpsultan district of Istanbul, only to find 

that Muhammet B. is now 98% disabled due to a brain bleed he 

suffered in the years since the crime was committed, and unable to speak. 

Nevertheless (!), Muhammet B. was processed based on a warrant from

the unsolved crimes bureau of the Istanbul public prosecutor and taken

to jail on the charge of murder.

  

P

"Beat & Release": Hot-Wax Tonsorial Torture at the Dorm, in Istanbul

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(GazeteVatan website, 18 January 2022)

         Hot-waxed in the laundry room - before & after.

İsa Ç., who owns a private student dormitory, found out that manager 

Mustafa D. had rented out some of the rooms for his own profit while

İsa Ç. was out of town.  In revenge, İsa Ç. and his friends stripped 

Mustafa D. of his hair and beard with "ağda" (hot wax). (!) 

The dormitory, in Istanbul's Fatih district, became the scene of this 

unbelievable episode of terror last month.  Here's how it came about:

İsa Ç. went abroad to sell olive oil, leaving the dormitory in the care of

manager Mustafa D.  However, İsa Ç. got the feeling that something was

askew at the dormitory so he asked his father to check on it. Sure enough,

the dormitory was in bad shape, with rooms being rented out to non-

students.  

İsa Ç. secretly returned to Turkey and learned from Serkan K., whom 

Mustafa D. had hired, that Mustafa D. had diverted 200-300,000 TL to

his own account from the illicit room rentals and given 20-25,000 TL

to Serkan K., who now promised İsa Ç. that he would work for free to

pay this money back to him. 

Enraged by what he learned, İsa Ç. made a plan with his friends and 

came to the dormitory.  Among the friends was national taekwondo

athlete Yusuf A. and when they arrived at the dormitory with guns 

they forced Mustafa D. and Serkan K. into the laundry room.  Mustafa

D.'s hands and feet were bound and his eyes blindfolded as the 

suspects stripped the hair on his head, legs and beard with the hot "ağda".

After two hours of this torture, Mustafa D. gave up 203,000 TL and 

$4,000 to İsa Ç. 

The suspects warned Mustafa D. not to report his "experiences" to the 

police but he did anyway once he got free.  İsa Ç. was arrested and told

police that Mustafa D. had been a long-time associate of Jet Fadıl (a

notorious hoodwinker).  Nevertheless, both İsa Ç. and Yusuf A. were

jailed. 

 

           Tonsorial treatments offered at extra cost.

"Sperm Wars": Dad Shirks Fatherhood, Asserting "She Stole My Sperm!"

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Hürriyet Newspaper, 13 January 2022

                       "Birth control"'s uncharted waters. 
                       

Sevtap Şensarı (45) began living with textile worker H.S.T. (61), who 

was divorced, in 2000.  In January 2015, H.S.T. broached the issue of

parenthood since he wanted a son.  He also promised to give the 

prospective son his surname.  Şensarı agreed and went to Cyprus with

sperm said to belong to H.S.T.  She selected an embryo for a boy child

and started treatment for a test-tube baby. 

In September 2015, Şensarı gave birth to twin boys. But when she 

asked H.T.S. whether he would register the boys under his surname 

Sevtap hanım got a violent reaction.  In 2018, Sevtap hanım filed suit

against H.T.S. for alimony and patrimony, asking for 500,000 TL in

compensation.  H.T.S., however, refused to give a DNA sample.  In

any case, H.T.S. was ordered by the court to pay 2,000 TL each month

in child support for each boy. 

Finally, last November H.T.S. provided a DNA sample and it was 

determined that he was 99% the boys' father.  However, before the 

DNA results emerged, H.T.S. filed a criminal complaint against Sevtap

hanım, asserting that she had stolen his sperm.  The court dismissed 

his claim, though, ruling that sperm is not "moveable property" so 

there can be no related crime of theft.  Additionally, the court said that

sperm could not be acquired by another person, given the "physiologic

changes" involved in its production by H.T.S. 

The incident brought to mind the 2001 case brought against German

tennis star Boris Becker by Russian model Angela Emakova.  In

that case, too, Becker claimed that Emakova had stolen his sperm. 

                                         H.T.S. begs to differ.

Russian Mafia Leaders' Grand Tombs...And How They Got There

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Hürriyet Newspaper, 11 January 2022)

                                  May they rest in pieces.

The investigation into the deaths of mafia leaders Nadir Salifov, whose

nickname was "Lotu (Kabadayı) Guli", and his rival Rövşen Canıyev,

nicknamed "Hayalet" and "Lenkaranski", has been completed.  Details 

in the related indictment extend from Russia to Ukraine and Georgia, 

from there to Beşiktaş and Antalya, and from there to the graves of the 

two leaders.

Salifov's men killed Canıyev in Beşiktaş on 18 August 2016.  For 

revenge, Canıyev's group sought help from the Istanbul underground

but the killers wanted $5 million to rub out Salifov.  Negotiations took

place at a restaurant in Bahçelievler on 2 October 2017, but police

raided the meeting and took the participants into custody. 

Nevertheless, Canıyev's men were undaunted and made a new deal 

with a Georgian group.  But Istanbul police nabbed this group, too. 

A bomb attack on Salifov by yet another group hired by Canıyev's 

men failed, as well.  In any case, Salifov himself was arrested  in

Istanbul in November 2018.  He was deported but managed to get back

into Turkey with a fake passport.  

 Violated mafia leader rule No. 1: Never have dinner with

 a hitman.

Canıyev's men kept track of Salifov's every step and were able to 

insinuate a hitman named Khagan Zeynalov into Salifov's good

graces.  Caniyev's men planned to have Zeynalov kill Salifov on the

anniversary of Caniyev death, the night of 18-19 August 2020.  The 

timing slipped to the next night, when Zeynalov shot Salifov in the

head while the two were having dinner at a hotel in Antalya.  Zeylanov 

fled but was captured by police in Denizli while en route to Istanbul. 

When Canıyev's body was brought back to his native Azerbaijan in

2016, a huge tomb and statue were built in Lenkeran, where he was 

born.  Four years later, Salifov was buried in Büyükçekmece, Istanbul,

and his family also had a large monument and bust placed at his

grave.

                         Ahhhh, the good old days...

Worst Actor Award Candidates Star in "The Fake Küçükçekmece Heist", in Istanbul

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Hürriyet Newspaper, 10 January 2022)

                Critics panned the performances, but....

Jeweler Uğur Şabanoğulları had debts he couldn't pay so he hired Halil

Alpsoy to "rob" him.  But experienced policemen viewing the related

security footage discerned that the robbery was all for show.  

Şabanoğulları (31) has a jewelry store in the Kanarya neighborhood of 

Küçükçekmece, Istanbul.  On 24 December, he called police to report

that his store had been robbed and explained that "when I opened my 

store at eight-thirty in the morning, I lowered the shutter to my knees

but a masked thief slipped under it and into the store.  He showed me

something in a black bag he was holding and ushered me to the counter,

where he stole the gold and fled." 

However (!), the veteran policemen reviewing the store's camera 

footage noticed that Şabanoğulları was quite calm during the "robbery"

and that the thief's behavior was unlike that of a real robber.  Additionally,

police noticed that the gold stolen was in the store as "emanet" (left by

customers for safekeeping!), not Şabanoğulları's own store gold.  

Alpsoy made this better-received picture under his

 stage name. 

Police determined that the "thief" was Halil Alpsoy (28) and he was

apprehended the day before yesterday.  Faced with the policemens'

skepticism, Alpsoy confessed everything, saying that "Uğur

Şabanoğulları hired me to do the job and we made the plan together.

He was supposed to give me 40,000 TL (about $3,000) but he didn't."

Şabanoğulları was taken into custody.  He had had the "stolen" gold

melted to pay off  his debts.  Both Şabanoğulları and Alpsoy were 

taken to jail. 

  

    ...both suspects will be let out to attend the ceremony. 

Toilet and Beehives Yield 25,000 Historic Items in Tavşanlı

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Hürriyet Newspaper, 9 January 2022)

   Police work includes 'other duties as assigned'. (ugh!)

Police in Tavşanlı district of Kütahya province got a tip about 3 suspects

trying to sell historic coins.  After three months of surveillance, police

raided the homes of C.K. and his son C.K. (jr., no doubt).  In searches

conducted at three addresses and in two cars, police found bags of historic

coins hidden in a toilet (!) and in beehives.

In all, police recovered 23,298 coins from Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman

times, along with 256 rings, 1,378 historic objects, 126 arrowheads,  26

crosses, 35 seals, 6 medallions and a dagger, for a total seizure of 25,126

historic items.

                          C.K. surrendering to police.

Additionally, police seized 30,000 TL (about $2,500) in cash, thought to 

have been derived from the sale of historic items, a metal detector, a

shovel, two digging tools and two sensitive weighing scales.  The two 

C.K.s and the son's wife G.K. were taken into custody.  

"Beat & Release": Patients Need to Learn 'First, Do No Harm'...to Doctors

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Hürriyet Newspaper, 8 January 2022)

another doctor attacked click here for a recent related

TNT report. 

              His patience is running thin with patients. 

In Balıkesir's Edremit district, yesterday afternoon at about 4 o'clock,

M.Ö. took her child to the Edremit State Hospital because of the child's

ingrown toenail complaint.  But when M.Ö. learned that the earliest 

appointment wouldn't be until 18 January, she asserted that this matter

was urgent and she began arguing with Dr. Hüseyin Kara and a 

secretary.  

Enraged, M.Ö. told her husband A.Ö. about the situation so A.Ö.,

similarly enraged, began to kick Dr. Kara's door.  Then, when Dr.

Kara referred to A.Ö.'s wife as "karı" (a derogatory word for 'wife'),

rather than "eş", A.Ö. started punching Dr. Kara.  A.Ö. was evicted

from the hospital by security guards and taken into custody by police. 

   This is how you get examined without an appointment  :(

Meanwhile, in Gaziantep, also yesterday afternoon, Nalan Y. came

to İslahiye State Hospital and told Dr. Sadık Oluk that she wanted to

be examined.  Dr. Oluk explained that an appointment was necessary

so security guards ushered Nalan hanım out of the hospital. 

However (!), Nalan hanım alerted her brother Erkan Y. to the situation 

and came back to the hospital with him.  Erkan bey entered Dr. Oluk's

office, grabbed the doctor's marble nameplate from the desk and 

began to beat him with it.  Dr. Oluk was treated in the hospital's

emergency room and received 8 stitches and a 10-day no-work report.

Erkan Y. was taken into custody by police. 

"Beat & Release": Hammer Attacker Can't Get Arrested, in Istanbul

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Hürriyet Newspaper, 7 January 2022)

                                       It's hammer time!

Naciye Olgusay (52) lives with her husband and 4 children in a first-floor

flat in the Atatürk neighborhood of Küçükçekmece, Istanbul.  Last 

Monday, after her family had left the house, Naciye hanım settled in for

a nice breakfast.  

However (!), at 11 o'clock the doorbell rang and when Naciye hanım 

opened the door she was confronted by a man wearing an overcoat with

a scarf over his face.  Naciye hanım tried to close the door but could not,

as the man hit her repeatedly in the head with a hammer.  When Naciye

hanım resisted, the attacker increased the hammer blows. 

After this tussle in the corridor, Naciye fled to the staircase and began to

scream.  The attacker ran away and her neighbors took Naciye hanım to 

the hospital, where doctors noted 13 blows to her head and sew 10 stitches.  

Police looked at security camera footage and noticed that while the 

assailant was fleeing he slipped into another building, removed his 

overcoat and scarf, and continued on his way.  Police determined that the

attacker was V.E. (34), who lives in the same apartment building with

Naciye hanım (!).   He was taken into custody and confessed to the 

attack. 

In his statement to police, V.E. explained that he attacked Naciye 

hanım because her husband had taken money from V.E.'s workplace

and V.E. thought the money was hidden in the Olgusay's home.  

After police processing, V.E. was taken to court with a recommendation

that he be jailed.  But after giving a statement to the court, V.E. was 

released (!) under judicial supervision. 

Elon Musk's 'Like' of Ancient Stadium Photo Prompts Invitation to Aydın, Turkey

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Hürriyet Newspaper, 6 January 2022)

Musk is no stranger to Turkey click here for a TNT

report from 2017 about his Turkish bath visit.

aphrodisias antique city click here for background.

                 "A user named Elon Musk 'liked' this."

Elon Musk 'liked' a social media post about the Afrodisias Antique City

in Karacasu district of Aydın province, prompting the district's populace

to get very excited. 

Cihancan Sezgin  shared a photograph of Afrodisias Antique City, 

which was within the ancient Greek region of Caria, 12 kilometers

southeast of Karacasu.  Aphrodisias was a leading center of 

architecture, the arts and worship in ancient Greek times.  An aerial 

photo of  Aphrodisias's stadium posted by Sezgin caught Musk's 

attention and a 'like'.

Karacasu's District Chief Furkan Alpay noted on social media that

"the beauty of Aphrodisias Antique City has been cited by Elon Musk."

Excited by Musk's 'like', the people of Karacasu have invited him to

come see Aphrodisias, which is on the UNESCO World Heritage

List.   

 

"Twitch & Shout": Femme Fatale 'Influencers' + Crypto Fraud Gangs = $10 Million Scam

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Hürriyet Newspaper, 5 January 2022)

twitch swindle click here for previous TNT reporting

on this topic.

           They're all afflicted with the same twitch.

After claims that there have been more than $10 million worth of 

frauds committed on the social media platform Twitch, a "Clean 

Twitch" campaign was initiated.  In a 125GB trove of documents,

how Twitch swindlers made money and the astonishing donations

the received were revealed. 

CHP (opposition party) Parliamentarian Gürsel Tekin brought the

matter to the attention of the Parliament and the Treasury and Finance

Ministries, prompting the Istanbul public prosecutor to start an 

investigation.  As a result, 'Jahrein' (a.k.a. Ahmet Sonuç), who raised

this issue on social media, was consulted by police.

Yesterday, in simultaneous raids in Istanbul, Ankara, Izmir, Antalya,

Muğla, Aydın, Eskişehir, Kocaeli, Balıkesir, Manisa and Denizli 

police took 38 people, six of them children (!), into custody.  Among

those arrested were Twitch 'broadcasters' Sude E., Figen B., Dilara T.

and Muhammed I.  The charges included "hiding the value of income

derived from a crime" and "seizing the bank or credit cards of another

and deriving benefit from them." 

Police determined that fraud gangs made deals with some Twitch 

'broadcasters' to obtain credit card information from their fans, who

made 'donations'. With the stolen credit card information Bitcoins were

purchased via Twitch.  The 'broadcasters' took a percentage of the 

donations and sent the remainder to the fraud gangs' crypto accounts.

In this way, a fraud of about $10 million was committed. 

 

 

African Wedding in the Heart of Anatolia

türkçe links to original Turkish article & video

(Milliyet Newspaper, 3 January 2022)

                   It's hot in Chad so they ride this way. 

Saleh and Mahamat Hassouba, from Chad in Africa, got married

in Tokat.  The couples' relatives are studying at Tokat's Gaziosmanpaşa

University.  Citizens who saw the wedding convoy on the streets of Tokat

were astonished. 

                   The Chadian version of "halay" dancing. 

halay tokat click here for the Turkish verison

Scenes of the Africans hanging out from their car windows, wearing 

their native garb, were captured on cellphone cameras. After the convoy's

procession, there was a reception at a hotel were foreign students and

Turkish guests mixed.  The Africans danced to their regional music,

making for an unforgettable night in Tokat.  Mahamat Hassouba noted

that they had their wedding in Tokat to introduce Chadian culture to 

Turkey. 

"Beat & Release": This Bad Guy Can't Get Arrested, in Ankara

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Hürriyet Newspaper, 3 January 2022)

             Getting a police massage between releases.

         

In pursuit of a gang involved in the illegal arms and narcotics trades,

Ankara police conducted raids on 17 December, nabbing Serkan Tosun

(32) one of the gang's leaders.  Tosun was brought before a court on 23

December but the judge released him. (!) 

Shortly thereafter, Tosun tracked down E.O., who had testified against

him, and pressured him to retract his testimony.  When E.O. refused,

Tosun shot him in the foot and arm with a "pompalı tüfenk" (pump-

action rifle).  

Police re-arrested Tosun (!) and found the rifle he shot E.O. with in his

car, along with many other unlicensed guns.  Nevertheless, on 25

December Tosun was re-processed by the court and released again. (!!)

                Tosun's new t-shirt line is selling out fast. 

"Tuba" the Sea Turtle Logs 15,000 Kilometers in New Voyage

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Milliyet Newspaper, 1 January 2022)

storks on the move click here for TNT reporting on

stork flights to Africa

                                 Travels with Tuba

After being found injured in Muğla in 2019, a 'caretta caretta'-type sea 

turtle named Tuba was fitted with a tracking device and put back in the 

water on 28 August 2019.  So far, Tuba has logged 15,000 kilometers, 

traveling to Greece in the first year and from there to Malta and Croatia.  

More than 6 million people have been following Tuba's travels on the 

internet. 

DEKAMER (Sea Turtles  Research, Rescue and Rehabilitation Center)

at Pamukkale University re-launched Tuba from Iztuzu Beach in Ortaca

district of Muğla province.  Injured sea turtles like Tuba are rehabilitated

by DEKAMER and put back into their natural maritime habitat.   Tuba,

a female, is thought to be between 25-30-years-old.

        Where's the Queen and the bottle of champagne?!