Our weekly round of the local news.

Mother of Suicide Son Released

Following last week’s report of the young man who committed suicide because his mother was in prison for debt to a local Dershane, the Director of Education in Fethiye and the Kaymakam together paid off the 5,250TL debt and the woman was released.

A representative from the Kaymayam’s office said that had they known about the debt earlier, they could have helped and prevented the entire tragedy.

Emine Sipahi had already served two months of her sentence in a women’s prison in Muğla, where she learned of her son’s death from the TV news.

After that she had been sedated, until her brothers turned up at the prison to bring her home to Çatalarık.

She did not attend her son’s funeral because she was still in prison but, the day after she came home, visited the grave.

News of Suicide Reaches Parliament

Meanwhile the MP for Muğla submitted a written question to the Minister of Education demanding his response.

The letter pointed out that the current education system is failing poor families who cannot afford to pay for the Dershane, without which their children cannot access higher education.

The Minister answered the question by commiserating with the family of the young man, expressing his shame that no-one had known about the problem prior to the suicide, when help could have been given, and stating that the Dershanes are only part of the whole education system in this country, and the Ministry is striving to improve all parts of the system.

Woman Dies from Stab Wounds

A 32-year-old woman was found dead from stab wounds in a house in Çatalarık.

The woman, Güler Koca, was the mother of two children aged 7 and 9, and her husband had left her four years ago to live with another woman.

Allegedly he had tried to divorce Güler and frequently came to the house to argue with her.

The husband is now in custody while police continue the search for the knife.

Children Urged to "Bring a Gun, Take a Book"

And the week ended with a worthy exercise at Fethiye Cultural Centre when local children were urged to “Bring a gun, take a book”.

The aim is to teach children that guns are dangerous items, and playing with toy guns, coupled with gun-related violence portrayed in films, TV and computer games, can make guns seem just normal objects rather than things which can, and do, kill.

Kids who surrendered their toy guns at the Centre could choose a book to take home instead of the toy.

The report did not contain any indication of the number of children who took part.