Motorcycle owners in Birecik district of Şanlıurfa are in trouble with thieves. The thieves are trying to sell the motorcycle to the owner again by sending an intermediary as if the motorcycles were not stolen. Motorcycle owners claiming that the police did not take the necessary effort to arrest the thieves said that they had to re-purchase their goods for this reason.

Motorcycle owners reacting to the situation they have experienced said that the reason that encourages thieves to be so comfortable is that necessary steps to prevent crime are not taking by the police.

Describing a theft that his friend had experienced, Murat Çimender, said that his friend had to pay 400 TL to thieves to get his stolen motorcycle back.

Çimender stating that one day after the motorcycle was stolen again for the second time, and a man which called intermediary asked the friend if he wants his motorcycle back so they can find it, the friend answered as no need.

“The police did not come to get a fingerprint”

Salman Tungaç, whose motorcycle was stolen, said: “I slept one night at 02.00 am I did not see my motorcycle when I woke up at 08:00 am. I did not know if they sprayed it in the morning because none of us woke for Morning Prayer that night. They broke the lock, ripped off the plate. I called 155 [police]. The police said to me, 'we do not come, you come to the police station, give your testimony,' and I asked them to get fingerprint, but they did not come.”

“We bought the motorcycle back!”

Later, Tungaç said that he had found his motorcycle by his own efforts and said “We found the motorcycle and then they asked for a thousand 500 Turkish Liras. So we gave it, we bought my motorcycle again with the money. After I found the motorcycle, I went to the police station. They asked where I found it. I told them that it was abandoned, and the officer there said, 'Tell me about this, how much did you pay?'”

Tungaç said that they did not feel safe in the police station and said that they had to keep their motorcycle locked in the house even though in daytime.

Erdal Gökdoğan, another victim of a motorcycle stolen one time in the morning, accused the police of not doing what was necessary despite the security camera records.

“The police said they know the thief very well”

Gökdoğan said, “I have called 155, the police. Crime scene investigators came to the scene. Took my testimony. Then I went to the police station with records showing how the thief robbed the motorcycle. After they have watched the records, one of the officers told me that he knows the thief very well, even got his number but he is not here now. The police officer said to me, “your motorcycle is in Suruc [another district of Şanlıurfa]. He asked me to give up hope for my motorcycle.”

Gökdoğan said that they have no hope left from the authorities, added that no one anymore needs to go to the police station when their motorcycle is stolen.

Kadir Bozdag said that despite the security measures they took, his motorcycles were stolen and that they were guilty when they caught and beat the thief.

ILKHA