Two Turks missing after falling asleep on floating dock

Çınar Gürses, a bartender at the Alaçatı Beach Club, and his friend Serdar Yalçın, who came for a visit from Istanbul, fell asleep on a floating dock which was connected to the shore at a local beach.  

According to reports, the dock’s ropes detached from the shore and it was dragged into to the open sea around noon on July 7.

After a while they awoke and called their friends, asking for notice to be given for the Turkish Coast Guard to come to their rescue, as they could reportedly barely see the shore. 

A rescue operation was swiftly launched by the Coast Guard but the air and sea search failed to locate the missing friends. 

Meanwhile, friends of Gürses and Yalçın began to search along the coast next to the Greek island of Samos off the coast of Çeşme and two other islands within the region. 

They reportedly talked to fishermen for information and announced they would give an award of 5,000 euros to anyone with information regarding their friends’ whereabouts. Missing person’s posters were also hung on walls across the islands.   

An investigation revealed that the last signal from the victims’ phone was received at 12:35 p.m. on July 7, around five minutes after making a call to their friends. From that moment onwards, no clue about their location has been obtained, despite the ongoing searches.

It was announced that the floating dock in question was replaced by a new one before the tourist season and was available for personal use.

Meanwhile, ships passing through the region were informed of the issue and told to report if they saw even a part of a pontoon dock. Their families said they would continue the search until they found a clue about the whereabouts of the missing friends, but added they also wanted the Coast Guard team to continue their search.