After a German tourist was killed in broad daylight Monday morning on Ãstiklal, a crowded pedestrian street in Taksim, the question of safety in Istanbul’s Beyoðlu area has once again become the talk of the town.
For many people working in Beyoðlu, the neighborhood is safer than it was a couple of years ago. But the reason for the killing and details about the suspect are still a mystery.
German engineer Gregor Kerkeling, 42, was killed in the middle of Ãstiklal, one of the cultural, historical and entertainment centers of Istanbul. Ãbrahim Akyol, 26, the main suspect, allegedly wanted Kerkeling to give him one Turkish Lira, but the tourist ignored him.
Akyol, who was said to be mentally ill, allegedly attacked Kerkeling and stabbed him in the chest around 11 a.m. Monday. The German engineer later died in the hospital. Police arrested Akyol immediately after the incident.
Despite Taksim’s central location, the ambulance took 30 minutes to arrive at the scene, witnesses said, criticizing the emergency service’s response time. The Health Ministry in a statement Tuesday said the ambulance reached the crime scene only eight minutes after the emergency call.
Zeki Gerger, a shopkeeper on Ãstiklal Avenue, said Akyol was familiar and that he had seen him around before. He also said he might be living on the streets and that he might be addicted to sniffing paint thinner.
But a private security guard, who declined to give his name, saw the incident and said the suspect’s face was not familiar. “I have never seen him here before. He did not smell like thinner, and he did not seem to be a mad person. But still I don’t understand why he did this.”
An Akbank security guard who declined to give his name said he heard the stabber say, “He [Kerkeling] swore at me, he deserved it, I’ll kill them all,” right after the attack.
Media reports said the attacker was a thinner addict or a mentally ill person, mainly based on accounts by witnesses.
Tahir Berrakkarasu, head of the Beyoðlu Entertainment Places Association, said he cannot say Beyoðlu is not a safe place. “It was not safe about two years ago, but now we rarely hear about serious crimes on Istiklal Avenue,” he said.
Justice and Development Party, or AKP, Istanbul deputy Ünal Kaçar, said that although he did not have enough information about the case, he believed that it might be an exceptional incident. “It must be investigated, but I did not hear anything about an increase in the crimes in Beyoðlu,” Kaçar said. “Still this incident is so saddening.”
Social problems
For experts, however, this incident should not be seen as an exceptional case but as a signal of a social problem.
Nilüfer Narlý, a sociologist from Bahçeþehir University, said there were many social problems that fuel potential crimes, such as children living on the streets who are open to child and drug abuse. According to Narlý, this problem increases the potential for crime on the streets. Immediate action should be taken to rehabilitate those children and people who have had to live on the streets, Narlý said.
An expert working to rehabilitate children living on the streets warned that this incident has falsely criminalized street children. Yusul Ahmet Kulca, head of the Hope Children Association, said the street children who use thinner do not even get up in the morning. “This man [Akyol] is not registered with us. I don’t think he is living on the streets or using thinner,” Kulca said. “Thieves are working as gangs, and they are everywhere.” Only 4 percent of children living in the street are involved in criminal activities, Kulca said, citing a survey.
I mean, I´d never do him 
