"Bark & Release": Dogs as Man's Worst Friends, and as Woman's Best Friends, in Istanbul

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Hürriyet Newspaper, 4 April 2026)

                                "Let's talk this over."

The incident occurred in a private residential complex in the Yeni 

Çamlıca neighborhood of Ataşehir. Stray dogs, roaming in groups, 

attacked residents, causing fear. The stray dogs attacked several 

people at different times in the same location. Those attacked escaped 

by climbing onto a parked car. The incident was captured on security 

camera footage. 

Özgür Saraç, a resident whose car's roof was crushed by

fleeing people, stated that he regularly fed the dogs and that they 

wouldn't attack anyone they didn't suspect (!). “Twice in a month, 

friends who are afraid of dogs climbed onto my car. It wouldn't 

occur to anyone to climb on top of a car, but we don't  know how 

they came up with that idea. 

Our dogs lie down calmly and rarely attack anyone (!). We have been 

with these animals for 8 years. It is very rare for the dogs to attack; 

they probably sensed something. Let's not call it an attack; they just 

bark, we have never witnessed them biting.”

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türkçe  links to original Turkish article

(Hürriyet Newspaper, 2 April 2026)

                   Feeding them all! Looks expensive.

Neighbors reported that they could not reach Gülcihan Mutlu (65), who 

lives with her 13 dogs (!) in Avcılar. Health and police teams who came to 

the building were also unable to reach Gülcihan hanım, so the door of her 

apartment was broken down. Waking up to the noises, Gülcihan hanım

reacted to the teams by saying, "What's happening?" After the door was 

broken down, her neighbors and relatives breathed a sigh of relief when 

they saw that Mutlu was alive.

The incident occurred in a building in the Cihangir neighborhood of Avcılar. 

Friends and neighbors of Gülcihan hanım, who lived in the apartment 

building, repeatedly knocked on her door after being unable to reach her. 

Relatives who tried to contact her by phone but received no answer then 

called 112 (emergency services). Police officers from the Avcılar Police 

Department, along with firefighters and paramedics, arrived at the scene 

and repeatedly knocked on her apartment door. Concerned for her 

safety, it was decided to break down the apartment door to reach Gülcihan

hanım.

Sound sleeper during 13-dog night.

The door was broken open by firefighters. Waking up to the noise, Gülcihan 

hanım reacted to the officers by saying, "What's happening?" The officers 

who entered explained the situation to Mutlu, saying, "We were worried 

about your life." Meanwhile, Mutlu's neighbor informed the officers, 

"She was asleep, there's nothing to worry about." Other neighbors who 

arrived at the door said, "You scared us, we've been trying to reach you 

for hours." Neighbors who entered the apartment tried to help her.

Waking up to the noises as the teams entered, she said, "I was very 

tired and sleep-deprived. I wasn't scared, but I couldn't understand why 

the door was being knocked on." The police officer told Gülcihan hanım, 

"In these kinds of situations, if neighbors or relatives can't get in touch, 

we have to break down the door." She replied to the police, "I'm sorry.

I was so sleep-deprived that I dozed off," and then thanked the police

teams.