Palestinian man hailed for efforts to recover Turkish couple’s camera

Ceylan Sever - ISTANBUL

A Palestinian computer engineer, who has been hailed on Turkish social media for his efforts to recover a couple’s lost camera, said he felt gratitude to Turks for returning his lost wallet twice. 

Mohammed Hamada found a waterproof action camera, which costs around $250, in the depths of the sea in the southwestern Turkish resort of Fethiye on Aug. 24.

In hopes of finding the camera’s owner, Hamada found a holiday photo of a man on the camera and posted it on social media.

“If you know this man, please notify him that I have found his camera. I want to return it,” he said in the post.

The message triggered a wave of solidarity on social media as thousands of people shared it. The owner, Gürkan Yenigün, was found a few days later.

Yenigün and his wife Nur Kobya met Hamada (R) in Istanbul on Aug. 29 and got their cameras back.

“It was my first wedding anniversary gift to my husband. I had cried so much when I lost it while swimming,” said the man’s wife.

“I never expected it would be returned. I cannot thank Mohammed enough,” she said.

The 28-year-old man, who worked in the tourism sector, also thanked the Palestinian engineer in their meeting.

“Are there still such good people around?” said Yenigün.

Hamada, on the other hand, said he was happy the owner of the camera had been found.

“I had lost my wallet in Turkey twice and it has always been returned to me. I also had fun reading the comments on my social media post while trying to find the camera’s owner. One woman proposed to marry me,” he said.