"Beat & Release": 4 Teachers Died When a Random Rock Crushed Their Car, in Adana

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Hürriyet Newspaper, 8 April 2023)

            "Angel of Death" nudged the fateful rock.

All of Turkey has been plunged into mourning because of the deaths of 4

teachers whose car was crushed by a falling rock in Adana's Saimbeyli

district at two o'clock in the afternoon on Thursday.  The four teachers

were serving in the primary and middle schools in Saimbeyli's Himmetli

village and commuted together 19 kilometers each day to and from their 

home in Feke district.  

The accident occurred when the teachers, three of whom were married,

were returning home from a day at the schools.  Pınar Kılıç had been

married to her colleague Muhammed Ali Kılıç last August.  Ümmühan

Dilbir (39), Dilek Altıparmak (32) and Pınar Özdemir Kılıç (29) began

teaching at the Himmetli schools two years ago and Rahime Topak  had

been there for the past 3.5 years. 

Ayhan Kayhan, the principal of both schools, where 12 teachers work,

lamented that "these wonderful teachers were returning to their homes

in Feke.  Dilek hanım was driving.  Four kilometers from Himmetli

a rock rolled on top of their car.  This was a one-in-a-million, 

unimaginable tragedy for all of us.  We are in shock, the parents and

our 206 students are in deep distress.  Rahime hanım had three children 

and Ümmühan had two."

"Beat & Release": Two Teenage Boys' Hearts Softened by a Lamb and Cat, in Muş and Antakya

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Hürriyet Newspaper, 6 April 2023)

                           "Motherhood" becomes him.

In Ağaçlık village of Muş province, one of the sheep in the herd of Yeter

and Nazım Demir refused to nurse one of her offspring.  So their son

Enes Demir (16) adopted the little lamb and named it "Guri", feeding it

with a baby bottle and syringe.  

Young Enes explained that "when I saw that Guri's mother wouldn't nurse

it I raised the lamb by myself.  Now, the lamb follows me everywhere as if

I were its mother.  The love of an animal is a wonderful feeling.  We have

to be compassionate towards them because they are God's mute children.

Some people are harsh towards animals and this is a horrible thing. "

  

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türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Hürriyet Newspaper, 6 April 2023)

                 "Little sister" returns for his birthday. 

The home of the family of Nalan and Ramiz İşlek in Hatay's Antakya

city was damaged in the 6 February earthquake, after which the family

took refuge in the guest house of the State Water Works Directorate in

Ankara.  Son Kutal İşlek lost his cat "Monika", which had been a 

birthday present from his family two years ago, in the calamity.

The family got in touch with representatives of the Animals Right to

Life Confederation and they were able to find "Monika" after a two-

day search of the rubble.  "Monika" had been able to survive these 

past two months because the family's refrigerator door was open amid

the rubble. (!)  

On Kutay's 16 birthday, he was reunited with "Monika" and said that

"I have two older brothers but no younger sibling.   My cat has filled

this vacuum. I felt like I'd lost a sibling so this is the best birthday

present I could have gotten."

"Beat & Release": When Hoodwinkers Call, Just Say "I Don't Speak Turkish" and They'll Go Away

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Hürriyet Newspaper, 5 April 2023)

                Sometimes it's best to forget your Turkish.

Retired biology professor Şeniz K. (83), who lives in Etiler, Istanbul, 

received a call from two people at around three-thirty in the afternoon

on 28 February.  The two callers claimed to be a prosecutor and a 

policeman, respectively, and said they were conducting a very secret

investigation into a plot by the Fethullah Gülen Terror Organization

(FETÖ), which had opened a number of telephone lines in the name

of the professor and were using the lines for FETÖ's purposes. 

As a result of all of this, Prof. Şeniz K.'s name had been added to the list 

of suspects for interrogation. So, by frightening her the callers convinced 

her to send all her money, amounting to 1.5 million TL, to the account 

number they gave her, which she did.

Subsequently, in her statement to a genuine prosecutor Prof. Şeniz K.

stated that "the policeman said his name was Ahmet Kaya, from the 

Levent Police Station.  He mentioned some of my acquaintances and

so I believed him.  They said I had to help them or suffer the consequences.

As a few conversations, they wanted me to send them my money."

Police arrested gang leader Ferit Yeşilçeçen, along with Anıl Tosun, 

Cihan Aşkan, Mehmet Oğuz Türkkan, Mehmet Emin Egen, Veli Kanlıbaş 

and Doğukan Güman.  The gang had hoodwinked seven other victims

and reaped 2.75 million in the process. 

"Beat & Release": Mom Rides Car Hood 40 Kilometers to Stop Son's Kidnapping, in Düzce

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Hürriyet Newspaper, 4 April 2023)

                             Ultimate hood-surfing.

On 1 April in Aziziye quarter of Düzce, A.O.Ş. wanted to take his 14-

year-old child from his ex-wife S.Ş., who objected.  Nevertheless,

A.O.Ş. forced the child into his car, at which time S.Ş. jumped onto 

the car's front hood to try to stop it.  However, A.O.Ş. did not stop the

car, and disregarding S.Ş. sprawled on the front hood, he went on his

way. (!) 

Onlookers tried to stop the car but A.O.Ş. ran them over.  Police set up

roadblocks along the anticipated route of travel and stopped A.O.Ş. in

Sakarya's Hendek district.  At this point, S.Ş. fell off the hood and was

injured and taken to Hendek State Hospital for treatment.  She had held

onto the hood for 40 kilometers. (!)  A.O.Ş. was taken into custody by

police. 

"Beat & Release": What's in a Name? - "Butcher" Hijacks Bus at Knifepoint, in Samsun

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Hürriyet Newspaper, 3 April 2023)

Another example of  "surname predestination"?...

A passenger bus en route from Zonguldak to Artvin was highjacked at 

knifepoint by passenger Feyyaz Kasap (35, and whose surname means 

"butcher" !) in Samsun.  The other passengers alerted the Gendarmerie,

which contacted the hostage-held driver, telling him to stop the bus on

the Samsun-Ordu highway.  The driver, however, explained that he was

under threat and could not stop the bus.

Gendarmerie troops forced the bus to stop so the other passengers 

could get off, prompting Kasap to attack the driver and warning the

troops to stay away, lest he do harm to the driver.  After the passengers

were evacuated, Kasap forced the driver to continue on toward 

Çarşamba district, where the bus was stopped.  As a police team talked

with Kasap at the back door of the bus, a Gendarmerie team secretly

entered the bus through the front door and overpowered Kasap, who

had slightly injured the bus driver and his assistant.  Kasap was jailed.

  

"Beat & Release": Judge and Teacher End Careers in Bloodbaths, in Kadıköy and Elazığ

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Hürriyet Newspaper, 1 April 2023) 

Judge and jury that handed down the death penalty for both. 

In Kadıköy, Istanbul, yesterday at 10 o'clock in the morning judge Necmi

Arslan (54) and his wife Hande Arslan (43) got into an argument, 

prompting Hande hanım to stab her husband and  pour boiling oil on

him. (!)   Next, Hande hanım jumped to her death from the balcony of 

their third-floor flat.  

Apartment building caretaker Murat Taşçıoğlu tried to tell Necmi bey

about this development but got no answer.  When police arrived they

had a locksmith open the flat's door and they found Necmi bey dead.  

Hande hanım's leap from the balcony was recorded on the building's

security cameras.  Local shopkeeper Saffet Sümer noted that "they had

two children, one about 3 and the other about 5 or 6.  They were both

in kindergarten."

  

The incident occurred in Göztepe ("Kioz-Tepe") and 

TNT's editor-in-chief passed by the scene around mid-day, 

unaware of the gory details. 

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

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Hürriyet Newspaper, 1 April 2023)

               Today's lesson is family ties (!).

Yesterday, a gas leak occurred on the 2nd floor of a 3-story building

in Elazığ so authorities went to check it out in the afternoon and found 

six dead bodies in the flat. (!)  The dead did not die from the gas, though - 

each of them had a bullet wound.  

Police identified the dead as teacher Hüseyin Fırat, his father Cumali,

mother Zeynep, brothers Yusuf and Mesut, and sister Remziye.  They

determined, as well, that Hüseyin had killed all his family members

and then taken his own life.  

"Beat & Release": What's in a Name? - "Gunpowder" Explodes and Stabs Wife to Death, in Istanbul

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Hürriyet Newspaper, 30 March 2023)

                   Didn't take much to light his fuse.

In Kâğıthane, Istanbul, Şener (28) and Sultan (27) Barut (whose surname

means "gunpowder" !) married nine years ago and had two children

together.  Sultan hanım, though, left to live separately because of abuse

at the hands of Şener bey.  On 14 January, Şener bey stabbed his wife to

death and turned himself into the police. 

In his statement, Şener bey explained that "my wife was conversing with

a person name Şahin she met on social media.  I wanted to make up with

her so first I went to a shopping center and bought some toys for my 

children.  While in the store I noticed a knife and I bought it to scare my

wife if it turned out that she was reluctant to get back together with me. (!)

I went to the house with the intention of making up, but instead, she 

insulted me.  To scare her I pressed the knife to her chest.  I didn't intend

to put so much pressure on the stab but I lost control and what happened

happened.  I didn't want to kill her, just scare her." (!) 

However, in the related indictment, the Istanbul public prosecutor stated

that by buying the knife Şener bey showed intent to murder and so he 

should get life in prison.  The prosecutor dismissed Şener bey's claim

that Sultan hanım had cheated on him as just an excuse to avoid his

penalty.