Court Sentences Two Suspects to Prison for Theft from Ercan Airport

Serdar Atydji and Halil Yalchinkaya, suspects in the theft of items and money from passengers' luggage at Erdogan Airport, appeared before the court again. They have been sent to prison for a period not exceeding 75 days.

During the trial, the police stated that a total of four passengers became victims of the thieves between September and November.

According to the investigation, on September 13, the suspects, working as baggage handlers at Istanbul Handling company in the passenger departure area of Erdogan Airport, opened a suitcase belonging to one of the departing passengers and stole £2700 in cash.

A similar crime was committed on September 27, with the accused making off with another 20,000 Turkish Lira. On October 24, the suspects opened another suitcase, from which they stole expensive gold jewelry, Diesel men's wristwatches, and €20 in cash.

On November 6, rings with diamonds, a gold chain, and Swarovski jewelry were stolen from another passenger's luggage.

During a search of Serdar Atydji's home, the police discovered numerous tablets, phones, headphones, laptops, AirPods, glasses, PowerBank devices, electronic cigarettes worth 10 million Turkish Lira, as well as expensive watches and jewelry.

During the investigation, Serdar Atydji admitted to the crime and stated that after the opening of the new airport, he and other suspects had looted a large number of passengers' suitcases.

The police reported that after the incident became known in the press, calls from victims came in from Turkey, Germany, Russia, and Greece. Eight people have already filed complaints about missing items, but the actual number of victims was much higher.

After hearing the prosecution's side, the judge emphasized the seriousness of the committed crime and ordered both suspects to be sent to prison for a period not exceeding 75 days.

It was previously reported that the suspects selected their victims based on information provided by Serdar Atydji's wife, Eylem Atydji, who allegedly worked at a casino and supposedly provided her husband with data about wealthy clients making large bets. However, this information could not be confirmed in court. The woman was released from custody due to a lack of evidence.