"Beat & Release": Murder-for-Hire Duo Went to Wrong Address, in Konya

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Sabah Newspaper, 1 June 2022)

Have Gun, Will  Travel (need the right address though).

In 2018 in Konya's Karatay district, the couple Metin (55) and Necla

(54) Büyükşen were killed by two masked intruders.  The murder case

was reopened in 2020 and Esra Taş, her boyfriend Abdullah Başdemir,

Zekeriya Okşen, his cousin Mustafa Ökşen were among 25 people taken

into custody. 

During interrogations, Esra Taş explained that she had sent two hired

killers to murder the family of her then-boyfriend Hüseyin K. because

the family would not approve of their relationship.  However (!), the

two killers got the address mixed up and went to the Büyükşen's home,

500 meters away, murdering them instead. 

The Konya public prosecutor prepared an indictment in which he 

requested two life sentences each for Taş, Başdemir and Çelik.  For 

Zekeriya Ökşen, who was not jailed, the prosecutor asked for two

prison sentences of 15 to 20 years.   Since Mustafa Ökşen died in

prison the case against him was dismissed (!). 

Electric Car Frenzy Spurs Battery Thefts, in Istanbul

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Hürriyet Newspaper, 31 May 2022) 

Suspects' experimental 7-battery car will be delayed 

coming to market. 

In Ataşehir, Istanbul, 7 batteries were stolen from parked cars between

14-22 May.  Based on complaints, police reviewed street camera video

footage and saw that two people had come in a car and stolen the 

batteries.  The license plate of the suspects' car was traced by police to

a woman named G.N.G., who had rented it. 

Police went to G.N.G. hanım's home and learned from her that her

husband Mücahit Güllü had used the car on the dates of the theft

incidents.  Mücahit bey was then taken into custody, along with his

partner in crime Mertcan Ünver.  Both of them have long police records.

After processing at the police station the suspects were jailed. 

Pioneering mid-1970s battery-powered (4,000 of 'em) car 

inspired the Ataşehir suspects. 

Random Ear Amputation, in Istanbul

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Hürriyet Newspaper, 30 May 2022)

ear bite click here for another recent TNT report

about a severed ear part. 

          Attacker Erhan A.: "It's a hobby of mine."

In Esenyurt, Istanbul, Turan Kara (52) was chatting with friends in 

front of their workplace at about 4 o'clock in the afternoon on 15 May.

Just then, someone stealthily approached Kara from the rear, grabbed

his ear and cut it with a knife. (!) 

In great pain, Kara held on to his cut ear, while the attacker fled. Kara's

friends brought him to a hospital, where the ear was reattached.  Next,

Kara went to the police station to file a criminal complaint.  In his 

statement he said that "I was chatting with my friends when I felt a 

hand on my ear.  Without even having a chance to turn my head, the

pain hit me, my ear fell to the ground and blood began to flow. We

went to the hospital right away and the ear was sewn back on. It's 

unclear whether it will heal properly and right now I'm having hearing

problems.  I'm filing a complaint against the person who cut my ear off."

Based on security camera footage, police identified the attacker as

Erhan A.  Kara told police he does not know Erhan A., who is now on

the lam. 

TNT Ukraine War Edition: Turkish Fishermen Stray Into "Russian" Waters, Off Crimea

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Hürriyet Newspaper, 29 May 2022) 

                      They found a storm in a port.

Two Turkish fishing vessels, one out of Gemlik and the other out of 

Sarıyer, entered the Black Sea on 15 May to hunt for "kalkan" (turbot).

There were 12 fishermen on the boats and they had a bountiful catch

off the Crimean peninsula, snaring about 1,500 "kalkan".  

On 18 May, the two boats approached nearer to the Crimean shore to

continue fishing, prompting a Russian warship to intervene and take

the boats and crews into custody.   As the fishermen alerted their kin

about the situation by satellite telephone, they and their boats were 

brought toward Sevastopol, escorted by the Russian warship.

        Ugly, yes. But what do they think of us? 

Both vessels were seized by the Russians and the fishermen were 

forced to pay a $30,000 fine (called a 'donation' in Russian).  They 

remain on their boats as they await a court date.  

However (!), Yaşar Sert, the chief of the Rumelifeneri Maritime

Products Cooperative, noted that neither of the fishing boats is

registered or licensed and that they were fishing illegally.  

Nevertheless, the Turkish Foreign Ministry is undertaking diplomatic

efforts to return the fishermen to Turkey. 

"Beat & Release": Hospital Louts Charm Court and Go Scot-Free, in Ankara

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Hürriyet Newspaper, 28 May 2022) 

             They've got the best medical plan around. 

Sefa Yusuf Selbi and his friend Süleyman Kıymaz took Selbi's ill mother

to a hospital in Ankara on 28 November 28 November 2021.  The nurse

warned them about social distancing required because of COVID and

this enraged Selbi such that he screamed "I'll kill you! You've made 

blood flow from my mother, so I'll make your blood flow too!"

Selbi and Kımaz then proceeded to beat hospital workers and damage

medical equipment, as their friends İsmail Aydın and Mertcan Kıymaz

joined in the mayhem.  The Ankara public prosecutor had the suspects

jailed and asked the court for a 53-year sentence for Selbi, 28 years for

Kıymaz and 4 years for the other two.  

However (!), the court has now given the suspects the minimum 

sentences, awarded them "good behavior reductions" and has ultimately 

turned the jail sentences into fines.  As icing on the cake, the court 

looked favorably on the suspects' "personalities" (!) and declared that if 

they stay clean for five years all the sentences and fines will be voided, 

without any judicial supervision during that time either.  (!)

The plaintiff's lawyer Soner Aslan lamented that the court's decision

"amounted to an award for the suspects and serves to incite attacks

on hospital workers."

                                       First, do no harm.

Seagull That Snatched Ear Part Bitten Off in Fight in 2016 Remains At Large, on Büyükada, Istanbul

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Cumhuriyet Newspaper, 27 May 2022)

       Key witness was always considered a flight risk. 

In 2016 on Büyükada, one of the Prince's Islands in Istanbul, Eyüp

Çelik saw that Danyal Tolgahan Alparslan Seyrek was abusing his

girlfriend, so he intervened to rescue the damsel in distress. 

A fight between Çelik and Seyrek ensued, during which Seyrek bit 

off a part of Çelik's ear and spit it on the ground.  At that moment,
a seagull came along and snatched the ear part. (!) 

Çelik filed a complaint against Seyrek and yesterday, 6 years later,

the case continued but neither Seyrek nor his lawyer showed up.

The court ordered Seyrek to be forcibly brought to court for the 

next hearing of the case, scheduled for 13 October.  After the incident

in 2016, Seyrek fled to Germany. 

"Breaking Bad Alaturka" & Huge Meth Seizure, in Istanbul

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Hürriyet Newspaper, 26 May 2022)

Baron doesn't look so good - eating up the profits?

Five months ago, narcotics police in Istanbul launched an operation 

against drug deliverers know as "torbacılar", who were carrying

methamphetamines, and jailed them.  An investigation of the "torbacılar"

led police to a number of Iranians and a raid in April resulted in the

seizure of 15 kilograms of the drug and more leads.

Police determined that the drug gang's headquarters was a villa in

a wooded area of the Beykoz section of Istanbul and that the gang

leader was Iranian R.K., who was importing the raw material for the

methamphetamines from Iran and Europe inside TIRs (cargo tractor

trailers).  In order to transform the raw material to the drug itself,

a chemist was brought in from Iran.  

                    Iranian chemist, in happier times. 

On 19 May, police found 170 kilograms of methamphetamines in a

car they stopped and again a number of Iranians were arrested.  

'Baron' R.K. got word that police were closing in on him so he fled the 

villa in a car.  But police tailed R.K. to the Merter section of the city, 

where he got out of the car with an attaché case filled with drugs and 

was taken into custody.  Simultaneously, police raided the villa in 

Beykoz and took 4 people into custody. 

In the villa, sniffer dogs found 1 ton, 117 kilograms of crystal and liquid

methamphetamine drugs and 123 kilograms of liquid chemicals used

in making the drug.  Three other separate raids yielded more of the 

drugs, making the total seizure 1 ton, 317 kilograms, the most ever

seized in Turkey surpassing the 1 ton, 18 kilograms seized at the 

Gürbulak border gate on the Iranian border in March.  On the street,

methamphetamines sell for 125,000 TL (about $7,600) per kilogram,

making the value of the seized drugs worth 139,625,000 (about $8.5 

million). 

Baron and his chemist trying to get away from it all.