"Beat & Release": Truck Driver Posting "TikTok" Video While Driving Snared by Gendarmerie, in Istanbul

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Hürriyet Newspaper, 16 October 2023)

                   On the road in search of TikTok fame.

Gendarmerie teams patrolling the highway on the Anatolian side of 

Istanbul received a tip that a TIR (tractor-trailer) driver was posting a

video while driving, on TikTok.  The Gendarmerie was able to determine

the driver's TikTok identity and sent him messages instructing him to

"follow the Gendarmerie traffic vehicle in front of you" and "the

Gendarmerie is ahead of you." (!)

However (!), the driver ignored the warnings but when he saw the 

Gendarmerie ahead of him he shut down the TikTok video.  When

questioned, the driver, Arif İ., first denied having taken the video but

when confronted with his own video and others taken by Gendarmerie

personnel, he confessed and tried to compliment his captors, saying

"nothing gets by the government!"

Nevertheless, Arif İ., who had previously posted similar videos on 

TikTok while driving, was fined 7,945 TL (about $285). 

Arif İ.: "there's no such thing as bad publicity"

"Beat & Release": Football Club Director Shot Dead by "Bacanak" (wife's sister's husband), in Maltepe, Istanbul

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Hürriyet Newspaper, 15 October 2023)

If you can't trust your "bacanak" who can you trust??!!

The evening before last, Yunus Yıldız, the director of the Fatih 

Karagümrük Sports Club, and his "bacanak" (brother-in-law - husband

on one's wife's sister) Malik A. were having drinks in a flat on the

top floor of a 4-story building in Maltepe, Istanbul.  However (!),

yesterday morning at about 7 o'clock the two "bacanaks" argued for

some reason, prompting Malik A. to shoot Yıldız 8 times. 

Yıldız somehow got into his car and headed for a nearby private

hospital, but he died in his car in front of the hospital.  Police are 

now trying to track down Malik A.  The club's social media account

posted the following message: "May God grant Yunus Yıldız peace 

and the Fatih Karagümrük Sports Club sends its condolences to his

family and the club's entire community."

Meaning now needs expanding...

"Beat & Release": Migratory Bird Flocks Shot Down With Automatic Weapons, in Lebanon

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Hürriyet Newspaper, 14 October 2023)

"because they were flying"  click here for more migratory

madness, as reported by TNT last month.

Should they walk or swim south for the winter?

The most dangerous part of migratory birds' trip south for the winter is

Lebanon, where for years there have been massacres of the birds by 

means of automatic weapons fire (!).  Although such "hunting" is 

forbidden in Lebanon, volunteers working with police have been unable

to put an end to the massacres.

Turkish birdwatcher Emin Yoğurçuoğlu lamented that "they kill the birds

sometimes for fun, sometimes for food, and sometimes based on 

superstitions.  Their targets are eagles, owls, flamingoes, pelicans, storks -

in short, any bird that flies over them.  I encountered the same problem 

in Hatay.  I asked an illegal hunter why he was shooting at the birds and

he said in response 'because it was flying' (!).   Sometimes they kill 300

birds in one fell swoop. In our country, at least, we have to make them

aware of the problem."

Hatay (yellow pin) is just north of coastal Syria and Lebanon. 

  

"Beat & Release": Killer Kidney Stones, in Bursa

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Hürriyet Newspaper, 13 October 2023)

                                   Murder weapon found.

In Bursa's Mustafakemalpaşa district, factory worker Ekrem Şarlı (34) 

went to Mustafakemalpaşa State Hospital, complaining of kidney 

discomfort.  Doctors decided to operate and on 28 September a kidney 

stone operation was conducted with the laparoscopy method.  The next 

day, Şarlı was discharged but the pain continued and there was blood 

in his urine so his family brought him back to the hospital. 

On 2 October, doctors noticed that Şarlı's blood readings were low and

the next day, with no improvement, Şarlı was urgently transferred to 

Bursa Uludağ University Hospital in the car of his older brother Ayhan 

Şarlı because there was no ambulance available (!). 

Ekrem Şarlı died in the hospital's intensive care unit on 4 October.  An 

investigation was started based on his family's complaint.  Ayhan Şarlı

asserted that after the initial operation, despite an infection, his brother 

was discharged from Mustafakemalpaşa State Hospital, noting that

"at the Bursa hospital, after examining my brother, they said there was

nothing they could do for him.  He had caught an infection at 

Mustafakemalpaşa Hospital but we were not told about it.  We want to

know who was responsible!"

Ekrem Şarlı's wife Bilgen hanım (34) lamented that his 3 children,

aged 9, 7 and 1, are now fatherless and she asserted that "we will find

out who caused his death!"

"Beat & Release": Fancy Watch Stolen by Recidivist Hoodwinker, but Police Get It Back, in Istanbul

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Hürriyet Newspaper, 12 October 2023)

                   Who needs a 40K Euro watch anyway?!

In Istanbul, businessman M.B. (41) put his Audemars Piguet watch, 

valued at 40,000 Euros, up for sale on the internet.  A caller wanting

to buy the watch asked M.B. to bring the watch to his office in the

Fatih neighborhood so he could examine it before purchase. 

Last Friday, M.B. went to the address in Fatih and the supposed 

customer said that he wanted to look at the watch in the back room 

of his office.  Others in the office left with one excuse or another,

leaving M.B. alone.  When he looked in the back room and saw 

no one there he realized he had been hoodwinked. (!)

Police reviewed camera footage and determined that the hoodwinker

was Selahattin Z. (47), who was taken into custody.  Four others who

had a hand in the theft were also arrested: Murat Ç. (25), Gökhan B.

(30), Cansu Ş. (26) and Mirsap B. (30).  Selahattin Z. has a police

record of 36 previous crimes (!).  The watch was returned to M.B.

"Beat & Release": Hired Goons Threaten Family to Rescind Complaint, in Adana

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Hürriyet Newspaper, 11 October 2023)

       Complexions all the same...must be in the genes. 

In Yüreğir district of Adana, A.K. (31), a tire repairman and father of 5 

children,  was shot in the leg two years ago by Y.Y.  As a result, A.K.'s

veins were damaged and replaced by artificial veins.  Y.Y. was arrested

but his family began to threaten A.K. and his wife H.K. (30) to get them

to rescind the criminal complaint against Y.Y.  

When A.K. refused to rescind the complaint, Y.Y.'s family sent goons to

A.K.'s house and on 1 October they beat his mother Z.K.  Then, on 7

October, 2 goons on motorcycles did a drive-by shooting that resulted

in A.K.'s son M.K. (8) being shot in his groin area.  His mother H.K.

barely escaped being shot. 

H.K. lamented that despite the police complaint, attacks on her and her

family by Y.Y.'s family and their goons continue.  She said "they sent

us this threatening message: 'none of your children will be spared. We

will finish the job!'.  I want these people arrested before another one

of my children is murdered!"

"Beat & Release": Thief's Lost Shoe at Crime Scene Marks His Last Step, in Maltepe

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Hürriyet Newspaper, 10 October 2023)

      After the jewelry heist, had to make another stop.

In Maltepe, Istanbul, yesterday morning B.B., who has a jewelry store at

the İdealtepe Marmaray rail station, took a bag containing about 9 million

TL-worth f gold and money out of his car's trunk.  At that time, a parked

white automobile in which İbrahim E. (27), Cihan U. (27) and Ferhat E.

(29) were sitting, came alongside B.B. and began to beat him and douse

him with pepper spray. 

The thieves fled after a tussle with B.B. but one of them lost a shoe amid

the confusion.  Police reviewed 220 hours of camera footage and together

with the shoe identified the thieves, who were taken into custody and then

jailed after giving statements. 

Not such an ideal hill after all..., says B.B.