PodcastTurkish man arrested after threatening women with knife at Istanbul metro station
In a new incident of violence against women, a man has insulted and threatened two women with a knife in his hands at an Istanbul metro station. Following the incident, the man known as Emrah Yılmaz was arrested by a court order on charges of “threatening with a weapon,” “injury attempt” and “threatening to create fear and panic among the public.”
Duvar English
A Turkish man named Emrah Yılmaz has threatened two women at a metro station, while holding a knife in his hands.
The video showing Yılmaz throwing insults and threatening one of the women was widely shared on social media, with users decrying the rising violence against women in the country.
The incident occurred on Nov. 24 at Istanbul's Bostancı metro station. Initially, the assailant threatened a woman he did not know with a bread knife. It was at this point that another woman intervened, telling the man to put down the knife.
The assailant this time turned towards the woman and threatened her, saying: “I will cut your face.” The woman, inside the metro train, avoided being hurt as the doors closed, and the man stayed at the platform.
#SonDakika: Metroda bir kadını elinde bıçakla tehdit eden Emrah Yılmaz, "Silahla tehdit", "Basit yaralamaya teşebbüs" ve "Halk arasında korku ve panik yaratmak amacıyla tehdit" suçlarından tutuklandı#EmrahYılmazTutuklansın
— 23 DERECE (@yirmiucderece) November 25, 2021
🔞 (Küfür İçerir) pic.twitter.com/npBoIy7tLh
Following the incident, Yılmaz was detained on Nov. 25 morning at his house on charges of “threatening with a weapon,” “injury attempt” and “threatening to create fear and panic among the public.”
The police found his knife in his kitchen, wrapped in a newspaper. The Istanbul Police Department released a statement saying that the assailant had been previously charged with 20 different crimes.
The prosecutor running the investigation, Fatmagül Yörük, demanded that the assailant be arrested as he had “attacked the rights of all women to live in a free way, to be on the street and to continue with their lives.”
In his testimony, despite the footage showing him swearing heavily, the assailant claimed that he had not threatened or insulted anyone. He claimed that he had taken out his knife to “protect himself” and to “avoid being battered or lynched.”
He said that he had “warned” the first woman “to put on her mask in a correct way” and that he “might have lashed out a bit heavily.”
“She said, 'I cannot put it [the mask] on my nose; I have an injury there. We argued, and I might have lashed a bit heavily. When the others intervened, I have lost myself. I don't remember much,” he said.
Following his testimony, Yılmaz was arrested by a court order.
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