Turkish man sends bomb to ex-girlfriend as ‘wedding gift’

AYDIN – Anadolu Agency

AA Photo

A man has been arrested in Turkey’s Aegean town of Aydın for placing a bomb at his ex-girlfriend’s front door as a “wedding gift.”

Reports stated that the woman in the Çine district of Aydın married the man, identified only as Mustafa K., shortly after breaking up with her former boyfriend, identified as Baki A.

Upon receiving news of the woman’s marriage, the suspect enlisted one of his friends, identified as Ersun B., to help him build a home-made bomb to be detonated in front of the woman’s home. 

The two men charged 10 short tubes with explosives and attached the tubes to a bottled gas, before placing the explosive at the front door of the house where the woman lives with her husband. 

The explosive was noticed by her husband, who informed the district police department. Police teams then removed the bomb, in the process finding a note that read: “My wedding gift to my love.”

The bomb squad disposed the bomb at vacant land in the nearby Kavşit neighborhood. 

Baki A. and Ersun B. have been detained by police, with the former reportedly confessing to building the explosive during his interrogation at the police anti-terror branch. 

Baki A. has been formally arrested by the court, while Ersun B. has been released pending trial. 

The case could have been the latest femicide in Turkey’s deteriorating record on violence against women. According to data from the “We Will Stop Femicide Platform,” the number of murders of women in Turkey has seen a sharp rise since 2008, when the platform started publishing monthly and annual reports. Some 182 women were murdered in the first eight months of 2015.