Stories of People Who Lost Their Lives in Beşiktaş Attack

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Twin bombings took place after football game at Vodafone Arena in Beşiktaş district in İstanbul on December 10.

According to a statement by Minister of Health Recep Akdağ, 44 people including 36 police officers lost their lives in the attack for which the Kurdistan Freedom Falcons (TAK) claimed responsibility.

We are sharing the stories of 41 people whose information we could reach.

Ahmet Dokuyucu

Born in Maraş, Ahmet Dokuyucu (39) was a bus driver.

Dokuyucu, the father of four, had come to İstanbul 12 years ago and was working as a bus driver for 11 years.

Adem Serin

Adem Serin aged 24 was a police officer. He was serving as a police officer for four years and İstanbul was his first place of assignment.

Son of health worker parents, Serin was to get engaged in a month. 

Serin's parents had come to İstanbul as they received the news of the explosion and couldn't contact their son, and that is why the police coming to deliver the news of his death to his parents couldn' find them.

Adem Oğuz

Adem Oğuz was 31 years old and a police officer of six years.

Married two years ago, Oğuz had a 6-month-old son.

Ali Aksoy

Born in Manisa's Akhisar, Aksoy (26) was a police officer for three years.

Ali Osman Şahin

Born in Antep, Şahin (22) was a police officer serving at İstanbul Security Directorate for two years.

Losing his father at the age of three, Şahin had five siblings.

Berkay Akbaş

Akbaş (19) was a second-grade student at Başkent University Faculty of Medicine.

Akbaş had come to İstanbul with his friends for two days. The explosion took place as they were driving by the stadium.

"I don't want my son to be martyred, my son was massacred. I can't find anything else to say", Akbaş's father said and added, "His ideal was to become a dector and help people but now I take him on a funeral vehicle".

Bora Çelik

Born in Niğde, Çleik (24) was one of the police officers assigned at Vodafone Arena.

Çetin Sarıkaya

Sarıkaya (29) had graduated from Selçuk University Sports Sciences Faculty Department of Physical four years ago. He worked at Riot Squad Forces of İstanbul Security Directorate as a police officer and driver eight months ago.

Durmuş Öcal

Born in Isparta, Öcal (21) was a police officer of five months.

Enes Çiçek

Born in Urfa, Çiçek (23) was one of the police officers tasked near the stadium.

Görkem Yazıcı

Yazıcı (22) was a final year student at Koç University Faculty of Business. Yazıcı was living in İstanbul and playing American Football.

Hamdi Dikmen

Born in Malatya, Dikmen (29) was a police officer of three months and İstanbul was his first place of assignment.

Hamit Şahin

Born in Bayburt, Şahin (23) was a police officer.

Hakan Tanrıkulu

Born in Sinop, Tanrıkulu (23) was a police officer of three years. 

Halil Usta

Usta was a police officers, born in Urfa. He was one of the four police officers born in Urfa killed in the attack.

Hasan Bilgin

Born in Zonguldak, Bilgin (26) was a police officer and started his job a year ago. 

Hüseyin Akyüz

Born in Bursa, Akyüz aged 21 was a police officer of 1.5 years.

With this twin brother, they were the youngest of four siblings.

Hüseyin Dalkılıç

Born in İzmir, Dalkılıç (33) served as a traffic police officer for six years and had a 1.5-year-old daughter. His wife was pregnant of seven months. 

İlker Uylaş

Born in Hatay, Uylaş (27) was a police officer like his elder brother.

Uylaş was married for four months.

İsmail Koç

Koç was a graduate of Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University. He was a tango dancer, advertiser and illustrator.

Koç, whose wife was pregnant of three months, was passing to Taksim from Kadıköy by a yellow collective taxi.

Kadir Yıldırım

Yıldırım (41) was a Security Official. He had two children.

Metin Düzgün

Düzgün (27) was a police officer of 1.5 years. He was engaged. 

Mehmet Atıcı

Atıcı was 22 years old. He had graduated from Police Vocational College last year and became a police. He was serving as a police officer for six months.

Mehmet Taş

Born in Urfa, Taş (24) was a police officer of six months. He was the middle child of a family with seven children.

Mehmet Zengin

Zengin (21) was serving as a police officer for three months.

Mustafa Kemal Devrilmez

Born in Yozgat, Devrilmez (22) was working as a police officer for six months. He was the eldest among his two siblings. He was over a year in İstanbul which was his first place of duty.

Murat Yılmaz

Born in Muş, Yılmaz (22) was a police officer. He had started his assignment with riot squad forces two years ago. He was the youngest among his three siblings.

Mustafa Öztürk

Born in Samsun, Öztürk (27) was a police officer. 

Nazif Emre Horoz

Born in Konya, Horoz (24) was a police officer and married for two years and had twins aged six months.

Oğuzhan Duyar

Born in Konya, Duyar (21) had become a police officer seven months ago.

Okan Doğan

Born in Malatya, Doğan (23) was serving as a police officer for two years.

Osman Börklüoğlu

Born in Kayseri, Börklüoğlu was a police officer and got married two and a half months ago. He was the youngest among three children of his family.

Selin Çelik

Çelik (28) got injured on a yellow collective taxi which she got on to go to Taksim. She had graduated from İstanbul Technical University Business Department –SUNY program in 2011.

Soner İdil

Born in Van, İdil (27) was a police officer and had started his job three months ago.

Süleyman Sorkut

Born in Urfa, Sorkut (23) was a police officer and his first place of assignment was İstanbul.

Tunç Uncu

Uncu (29) was working at Kartal Yuvası (Eagle Nest –Beşiktaş sports club’s official product shop). He had started his work five months ago. Club’s executives and football players attended the funeral, which was held on December 11 at Zincirlikuyu mosque in İstanbul.

Tugay Can Kızılırmak

Wounded in the explosion at around the stadium, police officer Kızılırmak (26) was receiving treatment in intensified unit in Kızılırmak Şişli Etfal Hospital.

Kızılırmak, who had gotten married two months ago, lost his life today (December 12).

Uğur Ürker

Born in Eskişehir, Ürker (29) was a police officer and on duty for three months.

Vefa Karakurdu

Born in Zonguldak, Karakurdu (43) was İstanbul Security Directorate Private Security Branch Director. He was married and a father of two.

Beşiktaş fan group, Çarşı, on its Twitter account posted “We gave you a bit trouble but each time you were very understanding. Rest in peace our Vefa Chief. Rest in peace until the day we’ll meet”.

Velat Demiroğlu

Born in Diyarbakır, Demiroğlu (24) was a minibus driver. He was working at a yellow collective taxi on Taksim-Bostancı line.

On his social media account, a profile reading “We don’t want death regardless of ideology or duty. No reason can be more important than human life” takes place.

Yakup Çapat

Born in Malatya, Çapat (20) was serving as a police officer for six months.

Yasin İke

Born in Kayseri, İke (24) was a police officer. (EA/BK/TK)