They're Giving Money Away in Tekirdag!

freemoney links to original article

(Sabah Newspaper, 26 September 2013)

Yeah, but it's hard to believe...

Officials from a famous construction company came from
Istanbul to Tekirdag and gave banknotes of  5, 10, 20, 50 and
100 TL to 5,000 people on the street as a publicity stunt. So
that there wouldn't be a mad rush for the money, police
teams put the firm's officials in a police vehicle and took them
to a safe place.

The construction firm plans to build homes in Tekirdag, prompting
the cash giveaway idea. The banknotes were distributed to 5,000
people in the city center, inside brochures for the building project.
Some recipients didn't believe the money was real and others, thinking
there was nothing inside besides the brochure, didn't even take one.

Some citizens couldn't hide their amazement, with an elderly person
saying that it was difficult to believe the money distributors were for
real. A total of 200,000 TL was given away.

Raining money in Tekirdag.

Wandering Chickens Spark Deadly Brawl

chickens links to original article

(Sabah Newspaper, 27 September 2013)

Lives not worth chicken feed.

 

In Adana, a fight broke out between children of neighboring
families because some chickens entered a garden. When adults
joined the fray with clubs and rocks the scene turned into a
battlefield. Shots were fired in the melee, in which 3 people
died and two were injured.

The incident occurred yesterday in the Cinarli neighborhood of
Kucukdili town, in Seyhan district. Allegedly, while the children
of neighbors Kadir Orgen and Metin Batir were playing in the
street, Metin Batir's chickens entered Kadir Orgen's garden. This
sparked fighting between the 8-10 year old children of the two
families.

It is claimed that Gozde Orgen (evidently Kadir's wife) attacked
the other children with a knife in an effort to protect her own
kids. Metin Batir, who was in his house, heard the commotion, saw
that his children were being chased by someone with a knife and
intervened. Kadir Orgen and his relatives then joined the fight and
in a moment the street turned into a battlefield.

The fight, in which guns, bats and rocks were used, became a battle.
Kadir Orgen (20), Metin Batir (31) and Yuksel Yeter (19) died. Turan
Batir and Enis Batir were seriously wounded. Police took five people
into custody in connection with the incident and three others are being
sought. Two pistols were used in the fight and 19 spent shells were
found at the scene.

Keep your chickens penned-in Adana! 

  

American Flagpole at Ataturk's Tomb

flagpole links to shorter original article

(Hurriyet Newspaper, 27 September 2013)

//ed. note: herewith one of our occasional items about Turkish history.//

Flagpole's send-off in New York, 1946.

The flagpole mounted at Anitkabir in 1950 was removed
the day before yesterday after a ceremony. It will be replaced
by an identical 33-meter flagpole. The old one will be
exhibited horizontally at Anitkabir. Here is the interesting
story of the flagpole.

During the construction of Anitkabir (Ataturk's tomb) a
letter came to the Prime Minister's office from New York.
The letter came from the president of the American Flagpole
company, which made flagpoles for ships. His name was
William Johnson, but his original name was Nazmi Cemal,
a Turk.

Cemal had immigrated to the U.S. when he was 8 years old.
In his letter of 21 June 1945 he said:

"I am a citizen born in Macedonia under the Turkish flag and
raised with real Turkish breeding. With all my heart I am proud
of my Turkish heritage. Time and distance have not at all injured
the unshakeable love and respect I have for my homeland and my
Turkishness. Because I am bound with ties of deep love and respect
for Ataturk, I am determined to send to my homeland a flagpole
that I have had made especially by my experts and skilled engineers
to be planted at the blessed tomb of our Father where construction
is underway.  I have no motive other than to assist you and present
this gift to you assuming all expenses and insurance myself."

A ceremony was arranged in New York on 3 March 1946 before the
flagpole was sent to Turkey by ship. It arrived in Istanbul on
11 April 1946. A special effort was then undertaken to bring the
flagpole to Ankara and it was mounted in the spot where it stood
until the day before yesterday on 9 November 1950.

The flag on the pole would become quite heavy from wetness during
the winter months and wave with great force during storms, straining
the metal pole. This metal fatigue has been documented by ODTU
(Middle East Technical University).  Officials from Anitkabir have
had to place a brace around the flagpole to minimize the force of the
wind on it.

This flag is considered to be the number one flag of the Turkish Republic.
It is never lowered to half staff  for any reason other than 10 November
(Ataturk's death anniversary).  The flagpole is the longest one-piece steel
flagpole in Europe. It weighs five tons and four meters of the flagpole
are under its base.

The new flagpole that replaces Nazmi Cemal's will be the same in
appearance and size.  Anitkabir officials stated that "Anitkabir has a
historical value. Nothing used will be different from the original parts."
The new flagpole will be mounted before 29 October (Turkey's
independence day). In the interim a temporary flagpole has been put
in place.

Anitkabir

One Letter, Two Villages

letter links to original article

(Hürriyet Newspaper, 25 September 2013)

                                                                  Gordes, in France

The book 'Brand City Manisa', prepared and printed as part of
the '251 Thousand Great Student Project',  under the leadership
of former Manisa Governor Halil İbrahim Daşöz, has come out with
a major mistake.  Fifty thousand copies of  the 248-page tourist
guide book, which depicts touristic places in all of Manisa's districts
were printed and sold to students for 5 TL.

We don't speak French in Gördes !

The picture used for the district of Gördes is in fact a picture of
the touristic village of Luberon Gordes in France's Provence region.
The mistake was the result of the two villages' very similar names.

Provincial tourism chief Erdinç Karaköse stated that the error occurred
when the publishing agency used the wrong photograph. Karaköse
added that "we're not in the business of publicizing a French village.
Despite being checked many times before publication, the 4 centimeter
photograph escaped notice.  This is the agency's fault. We've started
an investigation into the matter and the photograph that was used."

Kinda hard to see, but Gördes is in

north-central Manisa province.

Smokers Torch Istanbul; Fake Lawyer Gets 21 Years

smokers links to original article

(Sabah Newspaper, 25 September 2013)

Cage-man: anti-smoking crusader.

 

(For his heroic story see our

report of  2 July 2013: "Cage-Man

Fights Smoking Habit")

Some 43.9% of the fires in the Megakent (Istanbul)
in the period from January to June 2013, were caused
by cigarettes. The Istanbul Fire Department fought
11,734 fires during the first six months of the year and,
according to statistics, 5,157 of these were sparked by
smokers.

In second place, were fires caused by electricity. There
were 2,510 of these, corresponding to 21.4% of all fires
during the first six months of the year. 32.5% of the fires
in Istanbul occurred during the hours between 1800 and
2400.

===============================================
fakelawyer links to original article

(Sabah Newspaper, 25 September 2013)

This time, a fake lawyer in cuffs.

(For previous reporting on lawyers see our

item of 4 August 2013: "Lawyer Has a Bit Too

Much to Say") 

Zafer Yegen (53) obtained powers-of-attorney and money from
many people at the Kartal Court House by using the identity
information of lawyer Z.Y., who is a member of the
Istanbul Bar.  Nine people complained about Yegen in 2009 for
not opening suits or for not keeping track of them.

The lawyer's office address printed on Yegen's business card
could not be found and a case was opened against him for
'willful fraud and using false official documents.'  Yegen spent
some time in prison for the charges but was freed prior to his
trial.

The court's committee found that Yegen had taken advantage of
the similarity between his own name and Z. Y.'s in defrauding
the nine complainants. The committee has issued a sentence
of 21 years 3 months and a fine of 21,500 TL to suspect Yegen.

Groom Suffers Womanhood Before Betrothal

grooms links to original article

(Sabah Newspaper, 24 September 2013)

A different kind of bachelor party.

In Canakkale, prospective grooms cannot marry unless
the put on lipstick, dress in womens clothes and do the
wash in front of their intended brides.  The 500 year-old
tradition in Kumburun village of Ezine district is just
about 'torture' for the grooms at wedding ceremonies.

Most recently, at the wedding of Dinar Sahin and Mesut
Gurel the groom (Mesut) had to put on a dress and lipstick
before he shaved. This was followed by Mesut dancing
in the dress, accompanied by drum and clarinet music, and
then washing clothes in a washtub.

The groom said that what his friends did to him is a tradition:
"this is what we've seen our elders do so we carry it on. Anyone
who doesn't do these things can't get married." As for the bride
Dinar, she noted that "I never before saw such a wedding
tradition. This has been a memory for me on my happy day. I
won't forget this for the rest of my life."

One of the villagers, Nazmi Guler, explained that "this tradition
is special for us here and has gone on for years. As long as we
can keep it up we will."

Canakkale province.

Lovelorn Granddad Bilked by Three 'Brides'

duped links to longer original article

(Haberturk Newspaper, 21 September 2013)

 

Huseyin Coban:

"I want to live a second Spring"

Born in 1935, retired from France.

My motor is sound but I have a pacemaker

I like to tour and take trips.

I live in Egirler village. I have 120 acre field,

a 4 acre apple orchard and an 8-room house.

I have a son and two daughters, all married and

the youngest is 48 years old.

I want to marry a kind woman my own age so

I can live a contented and sweet life.

Huseyin Coban

0536 318 52 39  

Yalvac

 

Huseyin Coban (78) retired in 1999 after working in France for
two years and in Holland for 28 years. Upon the death of his
wife of 56 years, Ayse Coban, in 2008, Huseyin returned to Turkey
to live by himself in Egirler village of Yalvac district, Isparta province.

Huseyin Coban, who has three children and nine grandchildren,
decided after a while to marry again. He put an advertisement in
newspapers explaining that he wanted 'to live a second Spring.'
However, three women responding to the add with the promise to
marry Huseyin instead emptied his 150,000 Euro bank account:

 "Two candidates called from Greece. One said she had a tax debt so
I put 50,000 Euros into her account. Then she disappeared. The
second one hoodwinked me with a fake 130,000 TL promissory note.
The third candidate was from Gaziantep. I put a 20,000 Euro bracelet
on her arm and put my last 26,000 Euros into our joint account. I did
everything to make her my wife but she too disappeared."

A saddened Huseyin exclaimed "I don't even have money left for
a funeral shroud."

Yalvac is Isparta's northernmost district.