Turkish man released by Egyptian police after climbing Great Pyramid in Cairo

ISTANBUL

A 23-year-old Turkish man who climbed the Great Pyramid in Cairo was released by police on Jan. 22, on the condition that he deletes the photos he took of the ancient Egyptian monument.
   
Fatih Kömürcü, who is a student at Istanbul’s Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University, said “he could not restrain himself” when he saw the magnificence of the pyramid.

Kömürcü also said he knew that German and Russian tourists had climbed the pyramid before, and he managed to climb to the top of the pyramid in seven minutes.

“Contrary to my expectations, climbing was easy but going down was harder. Police warned me in Arabic and English while I was climbing. But I was in a different world and I was not in the mood where I could hear them. Other tourists at the scene were applauding me,” he added.   

Kömürcü was detained by police after coming down from the pyramid, with police saying they would release him on condition that he deletes the photos and videos he took at the pyramid.

“They said me they would release me if I deleted all the photos and videos that I shot. They detained me because I didn’t accept it. I was taken into custody for one night, after which I agreed to delete the photos. I cried when the photos and videos were deleted. I managed to recover some of the photos via an application I used before but I have not been able to recover the videos yet,” he said. 

Egyptian law stipulates a jail sentence of three years for people who climb the pyramids without permission.