The Stories of Those Who Lost Their Lives in Attack in Ortaköy

Click to read the article in Kurdish / Turkish 

Of the 39 people who lost their lives in gun attack while celebrating the start of the new year in Reina nightclub in Ortaköy of İstanbul, 11 are citizens of Turkey, 24 others are foreign citizens and the remaining four have not been identified yet.

25 of the victims are men and 14 are women.

Seven of the victims are from Saudi Arabia, four others from Iraq, two from India and Lebanon each and one from Canada, Syria, Israel, Tunisia, and Belgium each.

The stories of the 17 victims which we have compiled from information shared on social media and press are as follows;

Mustafa Sezgin Seymen

Mustafa Sezgin Seymen Mayıs had gotten engaged in May. He was in Reina together with his fiancee to celebrate the new year.

Seymen's body was delivered to his hometown Sürmene district in Trabzon on January 2.

Hatice Koç

Hatice Koç was a special security staff in Renia.

She was 27 years old, married with one child. It has been reported that she had also been on duty in the Vodafone Arena Stadium during the bomb attack and had survived without injuries.

Following the bomb attack, she had shared on one of her social media account the post saying "You were the place I came to with pleasure and I was looking forward to seeing while on duty. Now you will give me pain every time I see you".

Koç's body has been taken from the Forensic Science Institute and brought to Erdek province by her family.

Yunus Görmek

Yunus Görmek, Reina'da çalışıyordu.

23 yaşındaydı. Yıldız Teknik Üniversitesi’nden yeni mezun olmuştu ve açıköğretim fakültesinde hala öğrenimine devam ediyordu. İş bulana dek geçici olarak Reina'da amcasının yanında çalışıyordu.

Mustafa Kaya

Mustafa Kaya was 32 years old. He was working as a financial advisor in a customs firm.

His body has been delivered to Kastamonu province.

Jalal Ahmed Abbas

Jalal Ahmet Abbas was from Iraq. He was a student at the Kemerburgaz Üniversitesi Faculty of Architecture.

The university has announced that they would hold a ceremony for Abbas.

Haykal Mousallem

Haykal Mousallem was from Lebanon. He was 35 years old and a bank employee.

His relatives who could not reach him after the gun attack in Reina went to the Forensic Medicine Institute in the evening hours yesterday (January 1) after visiting all the hospitals where the injured were brought to.

DNA samples were taken from Mousallem's relatives who reported Mousallem missing. Invited to the morgue where the bodies of the unidentified victims were kept, they identified the body of Mousallem.

His relatives and staff from the Lebanese Consulate will reportedly receive his body today.

Kerim Akyıl

Kerim Akyıl from Turkey was a citizen of Belgium.

He was 21 years old. He lived in Houthalen province in Limburg region of Belgium. He came to İstanbul for holiday.

Ayhan Arık

Ayhan Arık had been working for years as a driver in a tourism company bringing tourists to Reina. He was married with two children.

While waiting at the door of Reina, he was hit by the first shootings of the attacker.

His body has been delivered to Yeşilyayla Cemetry from Küçükköy Central Mosque.

Fatih Çakmak

Fatih Çakmak was 35 years old. He was a security chief and was on duty with his own staff.

He was also on duty during the bomb attack near Vodafone Arena Stadium on December 10, 2016.

His brother said the following in front of the Forensic Medicine Institute;

"They killed my brother. He was a security chief. He died for nothing. 'Inside they told me 'Condolences to our homeland'*, I replied; 'Thanks, they are all children of our homeland'. That's all they said. He was keeping guard for peanuts. They killed him".

The club shared the following message for Çakmak: He was also an employee of a security firm which served Beşiktaş Sports Club.
The club has announced that his body will taken from Bağcılar Yavuz Selim Mosque after the noon prayer for the funeral ceremony on January 2.

* An expression meaning; "We have suffered a loss but may it be sacrificed for the sake of our homeland".

Kenan Kutluk

Kenan Kutluk was working as a waiter in Reina. He was married with two children.

A ceremony was held in Ümraniye Djemevi for Kutluk. His burial will take place today (January 2) following a funeral ceremony which will be held in the Djemevi in Zara district of Sivas.

Burak Yıldız

Burak Yıldız was 21 years old. He had graduated from the Police Academy one and a half years ago.

He was on duty in Reina. He was hit by the first shootings of the attacker.

Leanne Nasser

Leanne Nasser was 18 years old. She was from Israel. She was in Reina to celebrate the new year in İstanbul where she came to for holiday together with three other friends.

Israeli Minister of Foreign Affairs has announced Nasser's death.

Nasser had shared a post on the social media about her visit to İstanbul.

Elias Wardini

Elias Wardini was 25 years old. He was from Lebanon.

He had graduated from a sports school in the Lebanon's capital city of Beirut last year. He was working as a trainer in a fitness club in Beirut.

He was in Reina together with his fiancee Melisa Papalurdu.

Rita Şami

Rita Şami was 26 years old. She was from Lebanon.

Mesut Gürbüz

Mesut Gürbüz was 28 years old.

He was working on the tourism sector. He lived in Germany. He came to İstanbul with his friends for holiday.

His funeral ceremony will be held in his hometown Sivas.

Abis Rizvi

Abis Rizvi was 50 years old. He was a film producer from India.

He was married with one child.

Khushi Shah

Khushi Shah was a designer from India.

India's Minister of Foreign Affairs announced on Twitter that Abis Rizvi and Khushi Shah lost their lives in the attack.

I have a bad news from Turkey. We have lost two Indian nationals in the Istanbul attack. Indian Ambassador is on way to Istanbul. /1

— Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) 1 Ocak 2017

The victims are Mr.Abis Rizvi son of former Rajya Sabha MP and Ms.Khushi Shah from Gujarat. /2

— Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) 1 Ocak 2017

(EKN/BK/DG)