ISTANBUL, Turkey (A.W.)—Eight suspects were apprehended in the case of a home invasion that targeted an elderly Armenian couple in Istanbul’s Shishli district on Feb. 6. Seta Demirci, 79, and her husband Hagop Demirci, 85, were found in their apartment bound with ropes and gagged. Hagop Demirci was pronounced dead by strangulation. According to Turkish media sources, the suspects—five of whom are women—are citizens of Armenia. The arrests were made in Trabzon.
The motive is said to have been robbery. The victims were reportedly robbed of their valuable possessions, including around 100,000 Turkish liras ($34,000). A watch belonging to Hagop Demirci and $10,000 were reportedly found in the possession of the suspects, according to Agos.
The suspects, who have since been transported to Istanbul, were identified as Arthur A., Aram E., Sergey P., Marianna E., Lida P., Narkiz P., Armine M., and Kristina M. It is being reported that one of the suspects was employed by the victims.
According to reports, the police investigation yielded security video footage from the area, which led to the arrests. The suspects were allegedly planning to cross into Georgia with fake identification documents. Five others have also been apprehended for having aided the suspects in renting vehicles and assisting them in their escape plans.
Initial reports noted that the victims were tied with hogtie, which gave rise to speculation that the attack was a hate crime.
Seta Demirci was reportedly released from the hospital on Feb. 7.
Since Turks hate Armenians I sadly doubt there will be any justice in this case.
I hope they rot in a Turkish prison.
if they are indeed guilty, they will get exactly what they deserve, wow, and women are involved in this gang!!!!, “sirt kharneliq”, I hope there is an overwhelming level of condemnation from Armenians the world over, these sorts of khatarakuthyuner cannot and should not be tolerated
When I first heard about this, I thought it might not be true, given it’s Turkey, but Agos also reported it and so did Paylan. So it’s more likely true. Of course this will get resolved faster than Hrant Dink’s case. But doesn’t change what happened. I’m sure they will try to get some PR out of this too.
“I hope they rot in a Turkish prison.”
Here is one rare case where I agree with you.
Hagop,
Unfortunately it’s over something like this :(
I googled hogtie just to be sure I understood the term. It has nothing to do with the type of rope used to tie someone. It has to do with tying a person’s hands and feet to immobilize them. The word ‘hog’ got lost in translation somehow in the initial reporting.