Turkish Drivers Enraged in Istanbul

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Sözcü Newspaper, 5 December 2017)

roadrage see this TNT report for Turkish road rage in DC.


  "Please break it up! I've got a plane to catch!!"

Yesterday, an Istanbul city bus driver who was driving his bus along
the Uzunçayır-Sabiha Gökçen Airport route got into an argument with
a car driver over yielding the right of way.  The bus driver, claiming
that the other driver had cursed at him, got off his bus and confronted
the driver.  Bus passengers intervened to stop the fight.

The bus driver calmed down and re-boarded his bus.  However, just
as the bus was to resume its route the other driver again agitated the
bus driver, prompting the bus driver to get off the bus once again.
Fists flew and the passengers were forced to separate the combatants.
Ultimately, both drivers departed but continued to hurl threats and
curses at each other.


Istanbul bus driver Rauf Kramdenoğlu yields to no man.

Weapons Edition: Magnetic & Canine

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Sözcü Newspaper, 4 December 2017)


            The patient is armed and dangerous. 

In Denizli, a policeman wore his gun when he entered the MR
(magnetic resonance) room at the Denizli State Hospital in connection
with the treatment of a relative and (somehow!) the gun got magnetically
stuck to the MR machine.  The incident occurred yesterday at about
1800 hours. 

When the hospital staff was unable to free the gun, the fire department
was called.  Firefighters determined that the gun's safety was open so
MR experts were called in from Izmir to try to remove the gun from
the MR machine.



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türkçe links to original Turkish article

(HaberTürk Newspaper, 4 December 2017)


                      A boy and his weapon. 

Onur Y. lives in Ortahisar, Trabzon.  On 3 December 2016, Onur Y.
stopped his former girlfriend Z.E. (29) on the street and, using his
pitbull dog as a threat, forced Z.E. into an abandoned building.  Z.E.
managed to escape and reported Onur Y. to the police, who took him
into custody. 

The public prosecutor charged that Onur Y. had used the pitbull as
a weapon and the court in Trabzon agreed.  Onur Y. was sentenced
to 6 years in jail.

Back From the Brink Edition

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(HaberTürk Newspaper, 3 December 2017)


                        Other duties as assigned...

In Bozdoğan district of Aydın province, Hatice K. (45) went out on one
of the footings of the Akçay Bridge over the Büyük Menderes River
and sat there.  Passersby noticed Hatice hanım and alerted the
Gendarmerie, thinking that she was contemplating suicide.  A
psychiatrist was summoned when it became evident that Hatice hanim
had been drinking. 

The psychiatrist was delayed, though, so it fell to a Gendarmerie soldier
to persuade Hatice hanım over the course of an hour on the bridge
footing to relent.  The Gendarmerie General Command issued the
following statement in regard to the incident: "One soul, one life. No
matter what, every life matters.  We are very grateful to the soldier
assigned to the Aydın Nazılli District Command who dissuaded a
woman from committing suicide this morning."

  
         Bozdoğan district is in SE Aydin province.

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

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(HaberTürk Newspaper, 3 December 2017)


                "I can't find my way home..."

In Fatih, Istanbul, the dilemma faced by Mustafa Doğu (57),
who basement flat's staircase entrance was covered over with
paving stones, has been ameliorated.  After Doğu's situation
was reported in the press, municipal authorities came during
the night to remove the paving stones and free up Doğu's
entrance way.

Doğu was forced to spend the night outside at a coffeehouse
after his home's entrance was mistakenly sealed off, but by
morning he was able to return home.  He said that the workers
apologized for their mistake.  The work crew had paved over
Doğu's entrance staircase at his home on Sırımcılar Sokak in
Fatih early in the morning the day before yesterday, thinking
that it was in violation of city building codes.


           "I was lost, but now I'm found..."

Rent Avoidance: Step by Step

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(HaberTürk Newspaper, 2 December 2017)


Climbing the ladder to successful rent avoidance (short-term).

In Sivas a year ago, retired worker Adem İlbaşı rented an apartment in
the 4 Eylül neighborhood to bank sales representative F.Ç. for 450 TL
per month.   F.Ç. paid the rent for the first two months but then lapsed.
İlbaşı was unable to reach F.Ç. either at home or at work and when the
neighbors said they hadn't seen F.Ç. for months İlbaşı went to court.

Subsequently, İlbaşı went to the apartment with police, broke down the
door and found F.Ç. sleeping (!).  It turned out that F.Ç. had employed a
ladder-like device used for transporting bodies that he took from a
mosque to enter and exit the apartment via the rear balcony so no one
would see him.  Landlord İlbaşı had F.Ç. vacate the building and
returned the ladder to the mosque.





 

Rolex Out, Sundial In

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Sözcü Newspaper, 2 December 2017)


No plugs, cables or batteries needed. Works best on sunny days.

Before the invention of mechanical clocks, the only way to tell time
was with sundials, which were used 1,500 years ago and in Ottoman
times, as well.  Students at the Cihat Kora Anadolu High School in
Izmir have brought sundials back to life in the garden of their school
by researching the sundials in historical mosques.  TÜBİTAK (Turkey's
science organization) is involved in the effort, too.

The project's inspiration came from school principal Süleyman Yetişken:
"Our team worked long and hard to set up a sundial in our school's
garden.  In fact, the students came at night to follow the stars' movements.
Once they found the North Star the work began in earnest.  We've
invited students from our school and surrounding schools to come so
we can explain how the sundial works.  Student Sudenur Öktem said
that the project team examined theses on this subject written by students
in foreign universities.



     Say a prayer for no clouds.

Mean Girls of Trabzon

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(HaberTürk Newspaper, 1 December 2017)

   Aww c'mon, just a pajama party cat fight.

Two of the three university girls who summoned other girls with whom
they argued over the internet to their home and then beat them, have
been hit with jail sentences of 10 years each.  Hasibe H. and Mihriban
Y. were convicted of the beatings and of sharing the scenes on the internet.

Hasibe H, (25), an architecture student at Karadeniz Technical University
(KTÜ) in Trabzon, Mihriban Y. (19), studying metallurgy at KTÜ, and
KTÜ law student Nurçin Ç. (19) argued with Kübra T. and Esra K. over
the internet on 13 February 2017.  Kübra T.(25), who works at the airport,
and Esra K., an office worker at an insurance company, came to the
university students' home and were beaten by the students, who then
posted the beating scenes on social media.

Hasibe, Mihriban and Nurçin were tried for false imprisonment, insults
and threats, while Kübra and Esra were tried for insults and threats. 
Nurçin was acquitted but Hasibe and Mihriban were convicted of false
imprisonment and sentenced to 10 years in prison.  However, the court
filed a criminal case against Nurçin for filming Kübra and Esra without
their consent. Kübra and Esra were acquitted of the charge on insults
and threats.


    Trabzon incident inspired by real events in a movie.

A License to Make a Killing

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Sözcü Newspaper, 30 November 2017)


                   Gold-plated license plate.

Ilhan Dişli works at a factory in Gölcük district of Kocaeli province.
In 2013 Dişli put his 1997 Mercedes C-180 with plate number
"34 AKP 34" up for sale.  Dişli had originally paid 20,000 TL for
the car, which has 383,000 kilometers on it and runs on LPG, and
the current value is 30,000 TL.

However, because of the "34 AKP 34" (AKP is the ruling party of
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan) license plate, Dişli says he could
get 500,000 TL for the car.   Politicians and businessmen have
expressed interest in buying the car for as much as 250,000 TL but
Dişli says he will hold out for half a million TL.


Road to Riches: '34' is the designation for Istanbul but
somehow it's on Dişli's car in Kocaeli. A mystery...