Politicians Do The Funniest Things

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Sözcü Newspaper, 6 July 2016)



(there's still some gas in the tank)

Mayor İrfan Dinç of Çankırı was faced with a 1,030,000 TL
(about 300,000 USD) tax debt so he sold the 831 square meter
plot on which the Bademlik Mosque sits to Milli Emlak, the
state agency for land matters.  However, instead of paying the
tax debt, Mayor Dinç bought a disused Airbus airplane (!).


Mayor Dinç and Boynukalın at the airborne library opening.

Mayor Dinç, of the ruling AKP party, has held his post for 12 years.
He decided to buy the junked 375-passenger Airbus A300 plane for
300,000 TL from Turkish Airlines (THY).  The plane was brought
to Çankırı by trucks and positioned in Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Park (!).


Boynukalın rabble rousing last year at the attack on Hürriyet.

After buying the plane, Mayor Dinç also rented a 100 year-old
locomotive and a rail car from TCDD, the Turkish railway agency,
also for use as part of the library.  The mayor had Youth and Sports
Ministry Deputy Abdurrahman Boynukalın, who made a name for
himself by leading the attack on Hürriyet Newspaper last year (!),
preside at the library opening.

Mayor Dinç explained that "if we tried to build a library the size
of the plane it would cost at least 1,000,000 TL.  But we bought
this plane for 300,000 TL and turned it into a library."


                      Çankırı province
 

Tinder's Practical Alternative

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Sözcü Newspaper, 4 July 2016)


    "Let's get acquainted."  Sure, why not?

In Bağcılar, Istanbul, a harassment technique not seen
before occurred.  A middle-aged man went into a grocery store
pretending to shop and after purusing the store items he
approached women waiting to check out.


Tinder's lawyers aim to nip this competition in the bud.

Sneaking up from behind the women, he discreetly put a post-it
note with his phone number and the phrase "let's get acquainted"
on their backs.  When the women noticed the sticker on their
backs they were dumbfounded.  After getting no discernable
responses the harasser, who locals could not identify, left the
shop.  The entire episode was captured on the store's security
camera, though.


       Bağcılar district, Istanbul

Birdman as Home Zookeeper

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Sözcü Newspaper, 4 July 2016)


       "Hey Fred, this guy is scaring me."

Istanbul police received a tip about wild animals being kept
in a home in violation of the law.  After investigating, police
learned that the home in question was that of music video
director Murat Küçük, who has done videos for stars like Tarkan,
Şebnem Ferah, Göksel, Nilüfer and Murat Boz.

Police then saw on Küçük's social media postings that he had
shared photos of falcons, owls and other wild birds.  When
police learned that there were animals in cages and aquariums in
Küçük's Ataşehir home they mounted an operation.



Relaxing after a hard day on the music video set.

In Küçük's home police found 2 hawks, an eagle, a gecko, a
snake, 7 tarantulas, a bearded lizzard, a weasel, a python and
an owl.  When Küçük could not produce any documentation for
the animals he was taken to the police station.

The animals were transferred by Forestry Ministry officials to
the Darıca Zoo.  Meanwhile, at the Vatan Avenue police HQs,
Küçük claimed that he was only collecting the animals, not
trading in them. Following processing, Küçük was released.


                        Role models



 

Splitting Hairs, and Cash, to Justify Piety

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(HaberTürk Newspaper, 3 July 2016)


Worship among thieves. (faces blurred by divine intervention).

In Istanbul, Iranian businessman Chabi A., who imports airplane
motors, withdrew money from a money-exchange service in Aksaray
on 29 March and boarded the tram with a 'friend'.  At Cevizlibağ the
two switched to the Metrobüs and got off at Florya Beşyol, walking
toward the bank where Chabi A. planned to deposit the money.

At this point, though, Chabi A. was attacked and robbed by two men
on a motorcycle who forced him to hand over 2 million TL worth of
foreign exchange, his tablet and cellphone.  After the robbery, Chabi
A. headed straight for the police station and police began to carefully
look into the crime.

First, the police put Chabi A.'s 'friend' Hıdır Ş. under scrutiny and,
found that he had been in contact with some criminals.  As the case
proceeded, police picked up the signal of the stolen tablet in Konya.
The user there told police that he had obtained the tablet from a
garbage collector.


                     This is the limit!

Police then looked at surveillance video from the garbage dump and
identified individuals who came from the same village as Hıdır Ş.
Three days before this, police had raided homes in Istanbul and
Mardın and took Hıdır Ş., Talip A., Kenan A., Okan K. and Murat
A. into custody.

Information about suspect Murat A. shocked the police, who learned
that Murat A. worked at an electronics store in Fatih, Istanbul, and
had used a motorcycle registered in his mother's name on the day
of the robbery incident.  Police found out, as well, that Murat A.
had gone on 'umre' (a minor pilgrimage to Mecca) 5 days after the
robbery attack.

Also, Murat A,, Hıdır Ş., Kenan A. and Talip A., who all come
from the same village, had had a minaret built in the names of
their fathers at the mosque in the village.  Kenan A. had home
built in his village in Mardin and Talip A. bought himself a new
car.  All the suspects denied the charges but were taken to jail anyway.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Religious Affairs weighed in on whether
"stolen money can be used for 'umre'".  Officials from the ministry
provided this (very interesting) response: "worship undertaken with
dirty money cannot be considered a good thing.  One cannot worship
using dirty money. But (!) since there is no way we can know whether
all or just part of the stolen money was used for 'umre' and the minaret,
we cannnot comment.  If only the stolen money was used for worship
then that cannot be sanctioned."


               Ministry of Religious Affairs

Grandfatherhood: A Cautionary Tale

turkce links to original Turkish article

(Hurriyet Newspaper, 2 July 2016)


                   Ali Cabbar and Cabbar Ali. 

Ali Cabbar Filik (74), killed his grandson Cabbar Ali Filik, who
was the son of the mayor of Yumurtalik district of Adana, Turkes
Filik, of the MHP party.  Grandpa Filik was caught while trying to
enter Georgia with a false ID on Wednesday.

Ali Cabbar Filik divorced his first wife but had no children with
his second wife so he began to look after Cabbar Ali Filik, one
of Turkes Filik's 5 children, at an early age. Grandpa Filik spoiled
his grandson, giving him anything and everything he wanted.

However, during one dispute over money the grandson stabbed his
grandfather 28 times, seriously injuring him.  Then, at 2 AM on
the night of 21 January 2013, a drunken Cabbar Ali came to his
grandfather's home and demanded money.  Ali Cabbar refused and
shot his grandson 7 times.


          The wisdom of the elders...

Granpa Filik fled and had been at large since the day of the murder.
As he was apprehended Filik lamented that "I loved my grandson.
But he kept asking me for money and land.  The night of the incident
he had been drinking.  We argued and I shot him. I very much regret
killing my grandson who bore my name.  I wish I had given him
what he wanted. I've spent 6 million TL (about 2 million USD !)
trying not to get captured."

The ID Filik used to try to enter Georgia was that of someone else
who was wanted by the police.


Yumurtalik district is on the Med coast.

The Gang That Couldn't Drive Straight

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Sözcü Newspaper, 1 July 2016)


       One way? OK, we're only going one way.

Yesterday in the early morning hours police responded to an
incident in Beşiktaş, Istanbul.  Two robbers entered a store
and began stealing the goods.  However, O.B., the store owner,
who was sleeping in the store, woke up, grabbed a bat and began
battling the thieves in his underwear.

The robbers took a box full of cigarettes and ran for their
getaway car, a luxury SUV.  Then, the police began to chase
the vehicle and trapped the robbers going the wrong way on
a one-way street.  Nevertheless, the thieves hit the gas and tried
to escape but crashed head-on into a police car.


           Role models.

Two suspects got out and began to exchange gunfire with the police,
resulting in one robber being struck and captured.  Police took the
other three suspects into custody and determined that the SUV had
been stolen.


              Beşiktaş district, Istanbul