"Beat & Release": Partner Has "Lion" Slain, in Ümraniye

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Hürriyet Newspaper, 8 February 2025)

                                    Lion becomes prey.

At the Ümraniye, Istanbul, auto repair site on 22 January police 

found an abandoned car with its doors left open.  From video 

footage police saw that a man had left the car, waited at a bus 

stop and got picked up by the driver of a red vehicle that then 

headed toward Kocaeli. 

Police were able to track the red car to Başiskele in Kocaeli

and determined that the car's owner was Serdar Arslan (41 and

whose surname means "lion").  His girlfriend G.K. had filed a 

missing person report about Aslan.  The driver of the red car was 

not Arslan but Habil Öztürk, Arslan's business partner.

It turned out that Öztürk had his brother Mahsun Öztürk kill

Arslan and Mahsun bey later confessed to the murder.  Earlier

Habil bey had met at a café with Sevban Topal and told Topal

that Arslan was having an affair with his wife.  Habil bey was

trying to incite Topal to murder Arslan but when Topal refused

Mahsun bey was recruited.

In any event, Habil bey and Topal buried Arslan in the garden

of a rural house, spreading lime around. The Öztürk brothers

and Topal were arrested on 4 February and taken to the 

Kocaeli courthouse. 

"Sing & Release": Greek Singer's "Eurovision" Song Sparks Greek-Turkish Tensions

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Hürriyet Newspaper, 7 February 2025)

                           TRT scrubbing her lyrics.

Turkish Radio & Television (TRT) has announced that it will

"investigate" whether or not the lyrics of the song that Greece's

representative to the upcoming "Eurovision Song Contest" will

sing there contain references to the "Pontus Greek Genocide" of 

100+ years ago.  TRT's announcement has set off a crisis in 

Athens (!). 

Klavdia Papadopolulu, the singer, said this in an interview she 

gave to the Greek state TV network ERT : "I come from a family

with roots among the Pontus Greeks.  My grandmother used to

tell us about how our family was uprooted and forced to migrate

to the Soviet Union.  My parents came to Greece in 1991.  This

song tells of uprooting and forced migration."  

The singer, though, did not make any explicit references to the

claims of a "Pontus Greek Genocide" in the interview.  The title

of the song she will sing at Eurovision, which will be held this

year in Basel, Switzerland, is "Asteromata", which means 

"Stary Eyed".  The word "Asteromata" is not in use anymore

but prior to the Turkish War of Independence it was used among

the Greeks in the Izmir region to refer to "women with beautiful

eyes that radiate light."

Map of the imagined Black Sea Pontus Republic.

"Beat & Release": Two Women Defend Their Honor (!), in Istanbul and Milas

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Hürriyet Newspaper, 6 February 2025)

 Serhat Ö. after and while defending Mehtap hanım's honor. 

In Istanbul's Ümraniye district, Mehtap Y. found out that her

husband was having an affair so she made a deal with Serhat Ö.

to torture both the husband and the femme fatale (!).  Serhat

bey and his gang on 5 December 2024 kidnapped the foreign

temptress and two men and subjected them to beatings and 

sexual harassment types of torture at the massage salon they

own, recording it all on a telephone. 

The above incident came to light after Serhat bey was arrested

for spraying bullets on workplaces in Ümraniye on 24 and 25

December and in Sancaktepe on 3 January, evidently for 

extortion purposes. 

When police examined Serhat bey's telephone they found the

video showing the torture inflicted on  the two male business 

partners and the foreign woman having an affair with one of 

them.  As the result of the subsequent investigation, 10 suspects 

were taken into custody including Mehtap Y. and her daughter

Defne Y.   Ultimately, 11 suspects were jailed. 

****************************************************

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Hürriyet Newspaper, 6 February 2025)

Beyza Ö. (no relation to Serhat Ö. one assumes) on honor run.

In Milas district of Muğla province on 2 February, passers-by

saw a man bathed in blood sitting on a chair.  Police and medics

arrived at the scene and determined that the man died from 

stab wounds to his neck and chest.  The deceased was identified

as Halil İbrahim Mercan (48).

It turned out that Mercan had stumbled out of a nearby nightclub

at 2 o'clock in the morning and sat down on the chair.  Video 

obtained by police showed that Mercan had been killed by 

17-year-old teenager Beyza Ö. at about 4 o'clock.  When 

apprehended, Beyza hamım "explained" that Mercan had verbally

harassed her so (of course) she stabbed him to death. 

"Beat & Release": Mosque's Toilet Attendant Tries to Fight Off Crazed Kickboxer with a Shoehorn (!), in Istanbul

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Hürriyet Newspaper, 5 February 2025)

Kickboxer's defense: "When you gotta go, you gotta go!"

In Istanbul's Zeytinburnu district on the evening of 22 January,

champion kickboxer Yavuz Özden wanted to use the toilet in

the mosque in the Yenidoğan neighborhood.  In order to 

determine whether or not there was anyone in the stalls he

kicked each stall's door in (!).  Another toilet patron reported

this behavior to the attendant Osman Amaç (38), who came

and warned Özden to behave himself. 

Özden calmed down and entered the mosque to pray.  However,

about 45 minutes later Özden emerged from within the mosque

and attacked Amaç, who tried to fend off the attack with a 

shoehorn (!).  After Özden thoroughly pummeled Amaç, others

separated the two and Amaç was taken to a hospital suffering

from a broken jaw and partial paralysis of his face (!). 

Henceforth, "kick-me" signs will be put on doors

to discern availability. 

Police tracked down Özden and jailed him.  Amaç related

that "I went up to where the toilets are and saw that this guy

was kicking the stall doors to see whether they were empty.

I warned him about this behavior but he just said 'You're 

right, but I'm doing it anyway.'  Then he complained about

some of the facilities but I ignored him.  At that moment the

call to prayer occurred so I went into the mosque to pray."

"When I came out from the mosque he confronted me and

began punching me, hitting me in my chin.  I've had an

operation and there's a plate in my chin now, with nails and

rubber. I spent four days in the hospital and now I can't feel

the left side of my face." (!)

"Beat & Release": Idiot Has "Idiot" Tattooed on Forehead to Win YouTube contest, in Istanbul

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(t24.com website, 3 February 2025)

          Even "fearless" people aren't idiot-proof. 

In content producer Orkun Işıtmak's "Open Competitive Bidding" 

contest, a contestant had the permanent tattoo "enayi" (idiot) 

written on his forehead in return for 80,000 TL (about $2,220).

 

Based on the format of the YouTube program, contestants agree

to accept the lowest bid offered by the producer for a specific

act. (!)

The "winning" contestant offering the lowest bid to have

the word "enayi" tattooed on his forehead was Utkan

Kormaz (whose surname means "fearless" (!))

"Don't do what I did and have the word 'idiot'

tattooed on your forehead. I regret it."

"Race & Release": Woman Nearly Gives Birth from Stress on Minibus as Drivers Race Wildly, in Istanbul

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Hürriyet Newspaper, 3 February 2025)

                "Name the baby after me!"..."No me!"

At around noon the day before yesterday in Istanbul's Ümraniye

district, two minibus "dolmuş" (collective taxi) drivers were

racing with each other, stopping neither at red lights nor cross

walks.  The "excitement" was too much for a pregnant passenger

in one of the vehicles: "Please stop! I'm going to deliver my baby

because of this stress!" Fortunately, the woman was able to get 

off the minibus. 

However (!), another passenger recorded the two drivers' names

and plate numbers, prompting police to arrest Ramazan K. (35)

and Doğukan E. (40).   Each driver was fined 28,248 TL (about

$800), their licenses were suspended  and vehicles banned from

the roads.  After processing at the police station they were both

released. 

"B.C. & Release": Gendarmerie Nabs "Priceless" Ancient Greek Gold Crown for Sale, in Denizli

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Hürriyet Newspaper, 2 February 2025)

      Interested buyer identified as Donald J. Trump

In Denizli's Sarayköy district, the Gendarmerie got a tip that

someone was looking for a customer to buy ancient treasures.

The seller was identified and his car stopped.  In the driver's

glasses cases, the Gendarmerie found a "priceless" golden crown

weighing 70 grams, two bronze coins and a silver ring, all from

the B.C. Hellenistic period, and took S.Ç. and C.K.  into custody. 

After processing, S.Ç. was jailed and C.K. was released. Experts

from the Denizli Museum determined that the ancient items are

from the 1st and 3rd centuries B.C. of the Hellenistic period and

that the crown, in particular, is "priceless".