"Betroth & (No) Release": Vehicular Hijinks Added to Marriage Proposal, in Erzurum

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(DHA News Agency, 28 October 2026)

                        "She better say "yes"!"

In Erzurum, Cenkay Şahin (28) and his friends arrived in a convoy to 

formally ask for a young woman’s hand in marriage, setting off 

fireworks and lighting flares in the neighborhood. While Şahin’s 

family went inside the house for the proposal, his friends—using a 

car that had been brought to the scene on a tow truck—spun the 

vehicle’s wheels, causing it to fishtail and sway. (!) Local residents 

watched the spectacle from their balconies.

Truck driver Cenkay Şahin and Aleyna G. (20), whom he met two 

years ago, decided to get married. Wanting to surprise his girlfriend, 

Şahin had his modified car loaded onto a flatbed tow truck and 

played her favorite song through the vehicle's sound system. 

Accompanied by a 14-vehicle convoy, Şahin drove from the Yenişehir 

district to the Kazım Yurdalan neighborhood—where his fiancée-to-be 

lives—with everyone honking their horns along the way. As Cenkay 

Şahin entered the street carrying flowers, followed by his family and 

the convoy, he and his friends lit flares and set off fireworks, illuminating 

the night. Local residents stepped out onto their balconies to watch the 

spectacle. 

Adding a new tradition to the hand-in-marriage proposal.

While the family went inside the house to formally ask for the 

bride’s hand in marriage, the groom-to-be’s friends made the car on the 

tow truck spin its wheels and rock back and forth. (!)

Cenkay Şahin said, “I met my girlfriend two years ago. To show her 

how much I love and value her—and to impress her—I brainstormed 

with my friends. We decided to head to her family’s home for the 

formal marriage proposal—a tradition known as ‘asking for the girl’—

with a motorcade. We took a modified car and loaded it onto a tow 

truck. Starting from the Yenişehir neighborhood in Erzurum, we 

traveled in a 14-vehicle convoy, passing through the Yunus Emre area, 

before arriving at her home. We lit flares, set up a special event, and 

even hired a photographer.”

Hopefully, the marriage will be sturdier than the balcony.

"I had to play the song that my girlfriend loves so much. We played it 

using the car’s sound system, and then we headed upstairs. Afterward, 

my friends made a bit of noise in front of the building; I would like to 

apologize on their behalf to the local residents for the disturbance. 

My girlfriend was very pleased with this surprise—she was deeply 

touched. In fact, people saw us from both the back and front balconies! 

She was so happy, and seeing her happy made me incredibly happy, too. 

Her family has given their blessing, and, God willing, we will hold our 

wedding as soon as possible," he said. 

Erzurum the center of the world for the happy couple.