Turks Face a New Years Without Fake Perfume

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Hürriyet Newspaper, 31 December 2021)

fake perfume addiction click here for related 

coverage from a year ago.

                     70,000 New Years' dates ruined!!

Gendarmerie teams determined that perfume being offered for sale over

the internet as New Years' gifts were fake, even though the bottles are

exactly like the real thing and have serial numbers. (!) 

In the course of the investigation, it turned out that 4 people in Bağcılar

district of Istanbul were offering fake perfume as the original brand so

in raids conducted at four addresses A.G., M.B., H.B. and K.B. were 

taken into custody.  

70,000 (!) bottles of fake perfume were seized in the raids, along with

a perfume filling machine, four bottle-capping machines and a gelatin

coating machine.  In addition, many empty famous-brand perfume 

bottles and boxes brought into Turkey from abroad were seized, too.

            Suspects claimed it was their science fair project.

"Angel of Death" Takes an Angel with a Bottle of Marble Polish, in Selçuk

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Hürriyet Newspaper, 30 December 2021)

In Selçuk district of Izmir province, Özde Çivici (31), worked in the 

public relations unit of a hotel.  Last Monday evening, after distributing

brochures about the hotel's New Years' activities, she returned to her

room.  There, Çivici drank a clear liquid in a plastic water bottle that 

she thought was water.  Subsequently, she became ill and was rushed to 

a hospital, where she died from massive organ failure. It turned out that 

the liquid Çivici drank was marble polish, not water. (!) 

Investigators found that plastic bottles filled with water and marble

polish, respectively, were placed right next to each other.  A marble 

craftsman and a number of his workers gave statements, as the 

investigation sought to determine whether there was negligence 

involved.  (ya think?)

 

"Beat & Release": American Tourist Killed by Youth Gang in Istanbul

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Hürriyet Newspaper, 29 December 2021)

       Killer was "just out shopping" at 5 in the morning.

In Beyoğlu, Istanbul, yesterday at about 5 o'clock in the morning, 

American tourist Leonard Samuel Record, who came to Istanbul 20

days ago, was walking along the street with a friend when someone

from a group of youths coming in the opposite direction bumped into 

him on purpose.  As Record tried to move away, the members of the

group of youths began to kick and punch him. 

In the course of the attack, one of the youths stabbed Record in the 

calf of his leg.  An ambulance arrived and Record was taken to a 

hospital, where, despite all efforts, he died.  Meanwhile, the group

of youths fled.  Police reviewed video footage and saw that after 

fleeing on foot the attackers got into a taxi .

Police tracked down Ferhat Kavdır, E.A., M.K.O. and T.D. and took

them into custody.  Three of them were released on judicial control and

Kavdır was taken to jail. 

                          Beyoğlu district of Istanbul

TNT Rode Rage Edition: Thieves Who Steal & Taunt For the Fun of It, in Esenyurt

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Hürriyet Newspaper, 28 December 2021)

                  And no extra charge for the paint job. 

In Esenyurt, Istanbul, on the night of 21 December, Yusuf Ağbulak

parked his panel van bearing license plate 77 AF 993 and went home.

The next morning Ağbulak found that his van had gone missing so he 

called the police, who found the van the night before last and had it 

put in a police parking lot. 

Ağbulak went to the lot and was shocked to see the condition of his

van.  The thieves had spray-painted the words "İşte böyle çalarız" (Hey,

this is how we steal) on the side of the van and a smiley-face on the door.

  

A bewildered Ağbulak stated that "they ruined the vehicle and wrote 

smart-ass words.  I wiped off the paint with paint thinner but the van's 

paint job is ruined, too. They broke the sliding door, the rearview mirror 

and the bumper. They're both thieves and  insolent bastards."

            Esenyurt (a.k.a. "Esencılıs", Istanbul's LA)

Vehicular "Weekend at Bernie's" , From Istanbul to Bursa

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Hürriyet Newspaper, 26 December 2021)

                        Life imitates art.

Yemeni Nabıl Mohammed Abdullah Zabıba was reported missing in 

Istanbul but it turned out that he was murdered.  After he was killed,

his killer put his body in the front seat of a car, fastened the seat belt

and put a cover over the body to make it appear that Zabıba was asleep.

The killer drove from Istanbul to Bursa this way and dumped the body

in a wooded area there. 

Police began an investigation when Zabıba's wife Manal M.M.A. 

reported him missing in Beylikdüzü, Istanbul, and determined that

Zabıba had last met with Ahmed Gamil, also from Yemen, at the car

dealership where Zabıba worked.  Gamil was taken into custody

and, under questioning, ultimately confessed to the killing. But he

claimed that his boss Adnan İ., from Saudi Arabia, had put him up

to the job so Adnan İ. was taken into custody, as well. 

                           "Bernie" (a.k.a. Zabıba), right.

Police learned that Gamil was deep in debt and was selling cars that

he had rented from Zabıba.  When Zabıba realized this the two met at

Gürpınar, on the coast of the Sea of Marmara in Beylikdüzü, where

Gamil shot Zabıba dead.  Gamil then put Zabıba's body in the front 

seat of his car, fastened the seat belt and covered the body to make it

look like Zabıba was asleep.  After a 100 kilometer drive to Bursa,

Gamil threw Zabıba's body in a wooded area there.

Adnan İ., refuted Gamil's accusation that he had told him to kill Zabıba

but police determined that there were debt problems between the two

and jailed them both. 

 

TNT Road Rage Edition: Even Parked Cars Are Not Exempt

türkçe links to original Turkish article & video

(Hürriyet Newspaper, 24 December 2021)

                        "It's raining bricks Halalullah!"

In the Cebeci neighborhood of Sultangazi, Istanbul, at 2 o'clock in the

morning on the night of 22 December, a woman and two men began

arguing in a parked car.  After the woman got out of the car, the two

men did, as well, and the argument continued for a time on the sidewalk.

At this point, the enraged woman climbed atop a pile of bricks and 

began throwing the bricks down on the car, causing extensive damage

to the vehicle.  

A while later, the woman calmed down, got into a taxi with the two men 

and they left the scene.  Abdülkadir Adeloğlu, who had loaned the car to

his friend, arrived at the scene and was shocked to see its condition after 

the woman's brick attack.  He claimed not to know the woman but said he 

would file a complaint against her. 

                                         Hate-crime victim.

"Godfather" Sequel, Featuring a Mega-Yacht and Restaurant Carnage, in Istanbul

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Cumhuriyet Newspaper, 23 December 2021)

                                    Boys will be boys.

Former SWAT policeman Ziya Bandırmalıoğlu, who was involved in the

infamous 'Susurluk' scandal of the 1990s about police-mafia connections,

had been out of sight for quite a while.  But last Monday evening, 

together with retired policeman Şahin Aslan, he went to the Develi

restaurant in Kalamış, Istanbul.  There, Bandırmalıoğlu and Aslan held a 

meeting with Fuat Çaıkıroğlu and Ayhan Çakıroğlu to solve a debt

problem. 

However (!), at 2254 hours the two parties began firing at each other 

across the table for about 20 seconds.  Bandırmalıoğlu and Aslan were

killed in the gunfire exchange, while the Çakıroğlu's and three others 

were wounded. 

According to information obtained by Timur Soykan of BirGün 

newspaper, the reason for the clash was the sale of one of Turkey's

largest yachts 'Lord of The Seas'.  The 58-meter yacht's first name was

'Egeria', owned by Hüseyin Rüştü Altuntaş and launched in 2012.  

Worth 40 million Euro, the yacht has a helicopter pad, swimming pool,

sauna and sports salon.  The luxury yacht can be driven from afar by

means of mobile equipment. 

       Bandırmalıoğlu's thirst quenched by Çakıroğlu.

After Altuntaş died a dispute arose within his family about who would

own the yacht henceforth.  A few years ago, Altuntaş's sons wanted to 

sell the yacht and found a buyer in Hasan Peker, who owned the land

where Nef Ataköy (a big housing-office complex in Istanbul) was built.

The sale price was 25 million Euro and Peker gave the sons 8 stores

in Nef Ataköy as payment.  

                               All the fuss was about this.

The stores, though, proved to be worth only 10 million Euro so the

Altuntaş sons wanted Peker to give the yacht back to them.  Peker 

refused to bargain further and the two sides began exchanging threats.

Six months ago, Bandırmalıoğlu told the sons, Erkan and Volkan

Altuntaş, that he could "solve the problem" for $2 million.  So while

discussing this 'solution' at the Develi restaurant, a fight erupted 

between Erkan Altuntaş and Fuat Çakıroğlu.  

Once Erkan Altuntaş left the restaurant in a huff, Bandırmalıoğlu and

Aslan arrived.  After chatting with the Çakıroğlu's for a bit, guns were

drawn and the carnage ensued.

                             Kalamış (blue marker)