Psychiatrist ‘drugged up to 180 children and falsely convinced them they had been sexually abused by their parents so he could cash in on treating them’

• Professor Suleyman Salih Zoroglu was arrested at his Istanbul clinic this month
• Police believe he clocked up huge fees while the ‘abused’ children were patients 

By Chris Jewers

Published: 04:47 EDT, 22 September 2023 | Updated: 11:52 EDT, 22 September 2023

Cryptocurrency boss is jailed for 11,196 years in Turkey after defrauding investors of millions of dollars – after prosecutors called for a 40,562-year sentence

•  Faruk Faith Ozer, 29, founder of Thodex, was found guilty of money laundering, fraud, and organised crime

By Shivalika Puri

Published: 12:12 EDT, 8 September 2023 | Updated: 21:17 EDT, 8 September 2023

Scientists identify two new types of mole in the mountains of eastern Turkey that can live in 50C temperatures and survive being buried under six foot of snow

• The new moles are named Talpa hakkariensis and Talpa davidiana tatvanensis
• They belong to a group of mammals usually found across Europe and West Asia 

By Daily Mail Reporter

Published: 20:36 EDT, 11 August 2023 | Updated: 20:46 EDT, 11 August 2023

At least 24 Brits have died as a result of medical tourism trips to Turkey since January 2019, according to the Government’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.

Here, MailOnline highlights some of the victims.

Leah Cambridge

Leah Cambridge, 29, suffered a blood clot during a £6,500 Brazilian butt lift surgery in Turkey. 

The mother-of-three, from Leeds, died just one day after travelling to an Elite Aftercare clinic in Turkey in August 2018. 

The trainee beautician, described as being ‘paranoid about her body’, paid in cash for the procedure after being inspired by pictures on Instagram. 

The procedure involved having fat extracted from the waist and injected into the buttocks.

But she suffered a fatal complication when fat was accidentally injected into a vein, causing her to have three heart attacks on the operating table.

Ms Cambridge’s partner Scott Franks told Wakefield Coroner’s Court that the surgeon who carried out the procedure told him he had ‘injected the fat too far into the muscle and it entered her veins’. 

Mr Franks said when he flew out to Turkey after his partner died, Dr Ali Uckan, the surgeon who treated Leah, had told him: ‘It’s a guessing game, you can’t see where you are going into.’ 

Ms Cambridge’s father, Craig, took his own life in 2021 with an inquest held in July last year hearing how he was never able to get past the loss of his daughter. 

Diarra Akua Eunice Brown

Diarra Akua Eunice Brown died aged 28, two days after getting liposuction at a clinic in the suburb of Bahcelievler in Istanbul, in October 2021. 

She reportedly underwent the operation to have fat removed from her hips. 

While the procedure initially appeared to be a success, Ms Brown ‘suddenly’ fell ill while having her dressings changed.

She died just hours later. 

Social media posts from family and friends described her as a ‘beautiful soul’ and a ‘close friend’.

‘This must be a dream,’ one post said. ‘Still can’t come to terms with this yet.’

‘I miss you angel. I’m devastated you were taken away way before your time,’ said another.

Shannon Bowe

Shannon Bowe, from Denny, near Falkirk, died while undergoing gastric band surgery in Turkey in April 2023. 

The 28-year-old passed away during the procedure which involves placing a band around the stomach.

Where exactly Ms Bowe had the procedure in Turkey and the complication that led to her death have not been revealed.

In the aftermath of her death, Ms Bowe’s boyfriend Ross Stirling wrote on social media: ‘Sleep tight my angel, love you forever and always.’

Gastric band surgery involves a doctor placing a gastric band around the top of the stomach, creating a small pouch.

When the patient eats, this small pouch fills up more quickly than their stomach normally would, making them feel fuller with less food.

By encouraging them to eat less, the procedure can help patients lose weight.  

Melissa Kerr

Melissa Kerr, 31, died while undergoing a Brazilian butt lift in Turkey in 2019, just before her wedding.

Ms Kerr traveled to Istanbul’s Medicana Haznedar Hospital in November that year for gluteal augmentation, which can cost up to £3,150. 

The psychological wellbeing practitioner, from Gorleston, Norfolk, died from a blocked artery in her lung as a result of undergoing the surgery.  

Her twin sister Natasha who set up a Justgiving.com page after her death described her a ‘a pure and beautiful soul inside and out’.

She said: ‘Words cannot describe the pain and heartbreak we are going through, life without her will never be the same again.

‘We miss her deeply and nothing will fill the emptiness we are left with.’

Melissa’s partner Skye Birch said: ‘I will continue to love you with all my heart until my last breath.’ 

Ms Kerr also worked as a volunteer helping domestic violence victims and supporting people through bereavement.

Abimbola Ajoke Bamgbose 

Abimbola Ajoke Bamgbose, a 38-year-old social worker, from Dartford, Kent, died in August 2020 after undergoing liposuction surgery in Turkey. 

The mother-of-three bought an overseas package deal with Mono Cosmetic Surgery after becoming fed up with people asking her if she was pregnant, according to her husband. 

A post-mortem examination found that Mrs Bamgbose suffered perforations to her bowel during the surgery, with the cause of death given as peritonitis with multiple organ failure. 

Peritonitis is an infection of the peritoneum, the inner lining of the tummy which covers vital internal organs like the kidneys, liver and bowel.

Her husband Moyosore Olowo told an inquest he was unaware his wife had travelled abroad for cosmetic surgery, instead believing she had simply gone on a holiday with her friends. 

It was not until Mrs Bamgbose called her husband to say she was suffering from stomach pains following the procedure that he found out what had happened. 

Mr Olowo said his wife had visited a private medical practice in the UK for surgery but added that the cost had been too high for her to have the treatment in Britain.

Carol Keenan

Carol Keenan, 54, died six days after undergoing a combined Brazilian butt lift and tummy tuck in Turkey.  

The grandmother, of Glenrothes, Fife, paid £7,000 for the procedures at  a private hospital in Istanbul in 2022 after becoming anxious about the way her body looked.

Ms Keenan also accepted the offer of free abdominal muscle repair surgery shortly before she was taken into the operating theatre.

But she died before she was due to have a final check-up and fly home.

Speaking to MailOnline in April, her family said they are still waiting for the results of her autopsy 11 months on from her death.

Her daughter Leonie Keenan, 32, said: ‘My mother was a fit and healthy individual. She was a very petite size ten and she kept in shape by walking everywhere and going swimming.

‘She was a very active grandmother who loved bouncing on the trampoline with the kids –  but she was not happy with her body even though everyone told her she looked great.

‘She set her heart on having surgery after seeing stories about other people and celebrities having procedures. I don’t know if it was like a mid-life crisis.’

British tourist, 27, dies after crashing scooter into a palm tree in Turkey: Devastated friends reveal matching tattoos to honour ‘legend’

• Kyle Barrow died after he lost control of his bike during a holiday in Antalya
• He was travelling from the town of Side to Kumkoy, some 30 miles away 

By Elena Salvoni

Published: 04:35 EDT, 9 June 2023 | Updated: 11:00 EDT, 9 June 2023

The smell hits you first. Before even passing through one of the 21 decorative entrance gates at Istanbul’s 15th-century Grand Bazaar, I’m met by a heady fug of saffron, rose and leather, mingled with the rich scent of strong Turkish coffee.

‘The first ten minutes inside will be amazing,’ my tour guide Koray Yalkut advises, as we weave between crowds heading in the same direction. ‘Then the second ten minutes are overwhelming. And after half an hour you’ll want to leave.’

Clearly, he underestimates my commitment to a bargain.

One of the world’s largest covered markets spanning 62 streets, the bazaar attracts up to half a million visitors each day to more than 2,000 shops, some of which are still run by the 15th generation of the same family.

Within minutes, I’m lost in the ornate alleyways, entranced by rows of Turkish delight, rainbow-coloured pashminas and pomegranates. Inside a shop named Aladdin, staff present bowls of pistachios and baklava while I choose between vials of flower oil perfumes and giant packs of dried fruit. They send me on my way with effusive goodbyes and a free bag of fragrant spices.

It’s the same all over Istanbul. I’m offered artisan chocolate in high-end jewellery store Begum Khan, and apple tea in a hole-in-the-wall shop in Besiktas selling ceramics and crystals. Everyone is welcoming.

Yet last November, a terrorist bomb killed six people on a major street in the city, highlighting Turkey’s hostile political regime, particularly towards the Kurdish population.

Many locals believe the country’s divisive — and increasingly autocratic — President Erdogan (who is facing an election today) will eventually make Turkey a super-power, but everyone I meet rolls their eyes at his name. None will say much about him directly, but all are keen to keep Istanbul as a secular, progressive and safe city. After all, it was an open-minded meeting point of cultures and continents long before Erdogan. Straddling Europe and Asia across the Bosphorus Strait, it’s been the capital of three empires, survived many attacks and earthquakes, and was a major hub on the Silk Road trade route from East to West.

It’s now the most populated city in Europe with nearly 16 million inhabitants — yet this chaotic, charismatic metropolis is often overlooked as tourists hurry south to the country’s beach resorts. They’re missing a city every bit as captivating as Rome or Athens, with as many historical wonders — as well as lively bars and gourmet restaurants.

For the best access to both, I stay in the Shangri-La Bosphorus, a beautifully converted 1920s tobacco warehouse near the Maritime Museum and the extravagant Dolmabahce Palace. There’s a ferry right outside to cross continents in minutes, or the hotel can arrange a breakfast cruise to sail past domed mosques, Ottoman castles and, if you’re lucky, dolphins leaping from the water as the sun rises over Asia.

In rush hour, it’s also the fastest way to swerve the near-endless traffic jams and head to the old city of Sultanahmet on Istanbul’s European side.

Here, traces of the Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman empires make every street a museum, albeit with dogs snoozing in the sunshine and candy-striped stalls selling simit (Turkish bagels) to breakfasting office workers.

The main sights are clustered around the fountains of Sultanahmet Square, including the Sultanahmet Mosque — nicknamed the Blue Mosque for its colourful tiled interior — and the Hagia Sophia.

The latter is a former 5th-century church built by Roman emperor Justinian I, and turned into a mosque by invading Ottomans in 1453.

It’s been a museum since 1935, although Erdogan controversially declared it a mosque again in 2020. Women must now cover their hair to enter, but it remains an architectural marvel with a 55m-high dome that shimmers with tiny gold mosaics. Next door is the eerie subterranean Basilica Cistern that once supplied water to the Byzantine palaces.

It was discovered in 1545 when locals revealed they could lower buckets under their basements to catch fish. Now, water still drips intermittently from the ceiling into its shallow pools where carp dart between the shadows.

Later, I return to the Grand Bazaar — and not just for a final shopping spree. Yalkut leads me up a rickety staircase at the back of a sari shop to walk across the terracotta rooftops of the Bazaar, an area only accessible with a private guide.

Deserted despite thousands of shoppers below, it’s the best place for sweeping views across the city, and I recognise it as the spot where Daniel Craig zipped across the skyline on a motorbike in the opening scene of Skyfall. Trust James Bond to know the best way to avoid the traffic.

The British mum of a 26-year-old woman found dead in Turkey whose death was ruled a suicide in suspicious circumstances claims she has been refused access to her daughter’s personal belongings and suicide note.

Ayse Rhiannon Vural’s body was discovered in her Istanbul apartment in September 2020, having sustained a single gunshot wound to the head.

Judges in March 2022 closed the case, ruling that Ayse had committed suicide and that there was no evidence to suggest otherwise.

But heartbroken mother Tracie Brookes has raised serious questions about the investigation into her daughter’s death, claiming she had faced death threats and was brutally beaten by her ex-boyfriend’s brother in the weeks before she died.

‘My heart is broken and I can’t get answers,’ Tracie said, who recently returned to England after flying to Istanbul in a failed attempt to recover her daughter’s personal items, including the supposed suicide note, from authorities.

Turkish judges refused to hand over the items and Tracie will need to return to Istanbul again if she hopes to secure another court hearing.

Ayse – whose father is Turkish – left England for Istanbul to find work in 2019 and began teaching English.

But on September 11, 2020, local police reportedly found her dead in her flat in Turkey’s largest city.

Ayse had been shot in the head and a gun was found by her side.  

Investigators declared they had also found a suicide note and traces of gunpowder on her hand, indicating that she had pulled the trigger.

But mum Tracie says she was never allowed to see the note and is at a loss as to why Turkish authorities would not show her evidence of her daughter’s supposed suicide.

‘I can’t see the note, because the court won’t give me the note. If Ayse wrote it… Did she write it? Is it her handwriting?’

Tracie was told she would need to secure another court hearing in her bid to get her hands on the note, and is gradually piecing together strands of her daughter’s life that she says simply do not fit the official investigation’s findings.

Tracie went on to explain her daughter had been dating a man called Ferhat, and lavished what little money she had on him and his family.

During a trip back to England to visit her mum and other family members, Ayse revealed she was in love with Ferhat and planned a future with him.

But Tracie said: ‘He dumped her. He dropped her. He didn’t want to know her anymore and she was really upset.

‘And so there were lots of arguments between them, big arguments, she said and Mahmut, the brother of Ferhat who she was going out with, threatened to kill her if she came back to Turkey.

‘He told her to go home and never come back to Istanbul.’

Tracie claimed that when her daughter returned to Turkey, Mahmut followed through on his promise and attacked her in broad daylight, causing her significant injuries.

She said: ‘Somehow Mahmut saw Ayse on the street in Istanbul and he beat her up, badly.’

Ayse was left with blood and bruises all over her face and went to the police, but Mahmut threatened to kill her and again ordered his brother’s former flame to leave Istanbul, Tracie claims.

‘I don’t know what went wrong, but that was that. And then she died. And so, there was a gun involved,’ Tracie said.

‘We’re from England. We don’t know guns. We don’t have guns in England.

‘Ayse knows nothing about guns. But somebody gave her a gun. Now whether they told her to shoot herself or whether they shot her…

‘The verdict from the court said that it was suicide, that there was gunpowder residue on her hand, so the prosecutor’s office said that Ayse killed herself.

‘But I wonder, was somebody there? Was somebody there to tell her to do it? I don’t understand.’

The murky case has also apparently been scrutinised by Interpol because the gun that killed Ayse had allegedly been used in other cases under investigation with Turkish authorities.

Tracie added: ‘I think that Interpol got involved because this gun, it was a hot gun.’

She explained that it ‘had been used in crimes before, not with Ayse, but somebody had used that gun and given it to her and then she used it’.

‘I couldn’t have her belongings. We have a list of the items Ayse had in her room, in her apartment where she died. There wasn’t much on it,’ Tracie said.

There were no clothes in Ayse’s apartment and a Disney Thumper plush toy, which Tracie said her daughter had treasured since childhood and was present in several pictures of her, was also missing.

‘Wherever she went, she would take that rabbit with her. It’s not on the list.’

Tracie is now in the process of pushing for another court date in renewed attempts to access her daughter’s personal items.