Prominent businessman allegedly kills himself in Turkey

ISTANBUL - Doğan News Agency

Hayati Kamhi’s body is sent to the Forensic Medicine Institute for an autopsy. DHA photo

Prominent Jewish origin Turkish businessman Jak Kamhi’s son Hayati Kamhi has allegedly killed himself, in his house in Istanbul’s Üsküdar district yesterday morning.

Sixty-two year old Kamhi reportedly shot himself in the head and was critically injured. His wife and two daughters, aged six and twelve, were at home during the incident, according to reports.

Ambulances were not able to arrive on time because of the wrong address given to emergency services by family members, and Kamhi died in his house.

When paramedics arrived he was already dead, eyewitnesses said. Kamhi’s body has been sent to the Forensic Medicine Institute for an autopsy.

Some officials from the Israeli Consulate went to Kamhi’s house after the incident, and the police have also launched an investigation.

Kamhi is the son of Jak Kamhi, a prominent figure in Turkey’s Jewish community. The owner of Proteksan Turquoise Inc. and Çlik Yacht Inc., Jak Kamhi was attacked with a rocket flame thrower in 1993 but survived.

The late Hayati Kamhi had filed a criminal complaint against another businessman, Nizamettin Aytemiz, for threats in 2008. Aytemiz was then sent to jail and released in the same year. Aytemiz was murdered in March 2012, but his murderers have not been found, daily Hürriyet reported.

Kamhi had left Turkey in 1980 because of Turkey’s troubled political term during those years. He returned Turkey 22 years later, in 2002.

Kamhi’s brother Jef Josef Kamhi had also filed a complaint against some brokers recently, and the police made arrests following those claims.