"Beep & Release": Motorists Get Warning from "Angel of Death" to Drive Safely During Ramazan Holiday

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Hürriyet Newspaper, 8 April 2024)

                                          "Or else!"

Resul Gür, who works as a motorcycle courier in Düzce, resorted to an 

interesting act to draw drivers' attention to the need to obey traffic rules

during the current 9-day Ramazan holiday.  Gür put on an "Angel of 

Death" mask and held a scythe, admonishing motorists with a cardboard

sign to "Wear your seatbelts and drive slowly!  Don't give me more work

than I already have!"

Explaining that his aim was to raise driver-safety awareness, Gür said

"Ramazan holiday's other name is 'Candy Holiday" so let's have the

holiday pass sweetly.  That's why I've done this."

"Beat Back & Release": Matriarch Rebuffs Ingrate Children's Suit and Retains Her Bosphorus Mansion, in Istanbul

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Hürriyet Newspaper, 7 April 2024)

                    Fodder for a Turkish TV "dizi".

Philanthropist Cevat Koçak and his wife Servet Koçak (87) had schools 

built all around Turkey and own one of the finest mansions on the 

Bosphorus - Kara Todri Paşa Yalı, where the couple's children Recai,

Necati and Naciye were raised.  When Cevat Bey died and Servet hanım

began living on her own their children got involved in an inheritance 

fight in the courts. 

According to a suit filed by Necati and Recai, their sister Naciye had

all of Servet hanım's bank accounts and property put under her 

supervision when their father died.  By means of the suit, Necati 

and Recai wanted to take control of their mother's affairs from Naciye.

However (!), Servet hanım countersued and asserted that Naciye will

not have ownership of Kara Todri Paşa Yalı until she (Servet hanım)

dies.  In her petition to the court Servet hanım's lawyer stated that 

"Servet hanım told her children they could buy the mansion and that 

Naciye had agreed to this offer, whereas Necati and Recai sold their 

1/3 shares in the mansion to Naciye for $2 million each.  My client 

is in full control of her mental faculties."

The court then asked experts to determine whether or not Servet 

hanım was, in fact, fully mentally competent and this was the response:

"Servet Koçak has no mental illness nor any other mental hindrance."

Consequently, the court ruled that Servet hanım was not acting 

extravagantly with regard to her wealth and property and the suit

filed by Necati and Recai was rejected.

Prime real estate: location, location, location.

"Beat (Men) & Rule": Woman Bests 42 Male Rivals to Win Village Chief Post, in Erzurum

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Hürriyet Newspaper, 6 April 2024)

                                       Girl Power!

In Erzurum, Şeyda Ateş (35), a grocery store cashier, beat 42 male 

rivals in the recent election for village chief of the Hüseyin Avni Ulaş 

neighborhood (!).  Şeyda hanım is a graduate of Anadolu University's 

Economics and Management Sciences faculty.  She garnered 3,139 

votes out of 35,737 cast in the election. 

Şeyda hanım explained that she participated in the election at the urging

of women customers coming to the grocery store where she has worked

for six years as the cashier.  She added that her priority now as village

chief will be to satisfy the requests of those women who supported her

campaign.  

For example, Şeyda hanım said that she hoped to take advantage of 

European Union projects related to social facilities and production. 

She noted that "again, we've seen the power of women in elections.

Together with our women, we will implement exemplary projects in

our neighborhood."

The winner's power base:

"Beat & Release": Son, Accompanying Mom During Her Hospital Stay, Viciously Slays Her, in Mersin

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Hürriyet Newspaper, 5 April 2024)

Mother-son relationships can be fraught. For example...

In February, Selma Çiftçi (61) entered Tarsus State Hospital in Mersin

for a brain operation.  Her son Murat Arslan (32) had been her "refakatçi"

(person, usually a relative, who accompanies the patient during the

hospital stay) while there. 

However (!), yesterday at 4 o'clock in the morning for some unknown

reason mother and son argued, prompting Murat to cut his mother's 

throat and ankles. Not content with that, Murat then shot Selma hanım

in the head with an unlicensed revolver. (!)

Not surprisingly, Selma hanım passed away while hospital security 

guards took Murat into their custody, subsequently turning him over 

to the police.  In his statement to police, Murat, a drug addict, 

claimed that he could not recall killing his mother (!)

"Beat & Release": Thanks to Deviant's "Good Behavior", He Can't Get Arrested, in Ankara

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Hürriyet Newspaper, 4 April 2024)

Mustafa E. also wanted a "complexion problem" reduction.

In Ankara, M.Ş., now 17-years-old, said that when she was 11 in 2018

she suffered sexual assault at the hands of her English teacher.  M.Ş.

also says that her downstairs neighbor Mustafa E., the father of her

friend, has sexually assaulted her since she was 6, whenever she would 

go to their house to study together with her friend.

At the request of M.Ş.'s family a case was opened against Mustafa E.,

who was tried without being jailed but given a 12.5 year sentence for

sexual assault.  However, this sentence was reduced to 10.5 years 

because of Mustafa E.'s "good behavior" (!) and a higher court approved

this reduced sentence. 

After the hearing, relatives of both parties got into a scuffle outside the

courthouse.  M.Ş.'s mother Ayfer Ş. lamented that despite the 

sentencing Mustafa E. has yet to be incarcerated for a day and even 

received a "good behavior" reduction!

Mustafa's tips for a "good behavior" reduction:

 

"Crash & (No) Release": Drunk Driver Kills Motorcyclist But Proclaims His Innocence, in Istanbul

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Hürriyet Newspaper, 3 April 2024) 

                A picture is worth a thousand words...

On 14 January, his day off, Mustafa Gül, who worked as a motorcycle 

courier at a kebap restaurant in Istanbul's Bahçelievler district, headed

for Sabiha Gökçen Airport on his motorcycle to get a package from a 

friend who was going to his hometown.  En route at 5 o'clock in the 

morning, while passing the Altunizade location on the D-100 highway, 

Gül's motorcycle was hit from behind by a speeding "jeep" (a luxury

sedan) which dragged Gül and his motorcycle 100 meters before 

stopping. 

Gül was killed and the jeep's driver Can Karaoğul was found to have a

2.37 promil (!) alcohol blood-level (the limit is .50, meaning that in 100

milliliters of blood there can be no more than 50 milligrams of alcohol.) 

A case against Karaoğlu was opened and a sentence of up to 9 years in

jail requested by the public prosecutor. 

At the courthouse, Gül's widow Yasemin Gül asked the judge to 

impose the most severe penalty on Karaoğul because "I have three

children and they are in great need of their father."

As for Karaoğul, he asserted that "I didn't leave the accident scene and

the deceased wasn't dragged even one meter. Why hasn't anyone looked

at the video?!  I demand that my incarceration end!"  However (!), the

court ruled that Karaoğul will remain in jail until the next hearing. 

"Crash & Release": Driver Misjudges Underpass Height, in Kadıköy

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Hürriyet Newspaper, 2 April 2024)

another height misjudgment click here for a much more

consequential misjudgment in Istanbul last month. 

In his own defense, Tufan explained that "we don't have any

trains in Çorum."

Eray Tufan, the driver of a truck carrying furniture from Çorum province,

misjudged the height of a train underpass on Ömerpaşa Road in the 

Göztepe neighborhood of Kadıköy, Istanbul, yesterday at about 10 o'clock 

in the morning and his truck sprawled on its side as the consequence.  

No one was killed or injured in the accident but the furniture in the truck

was damaged.