“I won’t fly to Turkey myself”
The wife of Vyacheslav Nechiporuk, a Russian citizen killed in Istanbul, asked for help through social networks. The family does not have money to transport her husband's body to Moscow. “I was told that I had to pay $2,000 to bring Slava home. And then bury it again, ”wrote the widow of the deceased Arina. 40-year-old Vyacheslav was stabbed to death in the center of Istanbul last Sunday. We talked with Arina.
Vyacheslav's widow Arina posted a post on the social network: » He went there with burning eyes for the Champions League final. Loved football. He bombarded me with a bunch of photos with black cats.”
Vyacheslav left a son: “The husband will not hear the first word of our boy. The house smells of mourning, corvalol and June strawberries. The son eats it. Before my mother's arrival from Saratov, I fed the child only to her. I can’t cook anything.”
About her deceased husband, Arina wrote: “He was so kind that he transferred money to a Sri Lankan tuk-tuker (cheap taxi driver) six months after our vacation there. Because the tuk tuk needed it. Husband rescued everyone and always. I was amazed at his huge heart.”
The woman further indicated that she now had to pay $2,000 to transport her husband's body from Turkey. The family has no money: “I was left completely without funds. Never asked for help before. But I just don't understand what's next.”
— We are negotiating with our consulate. I can't say yet whether they will help us or not. I am at an impasse, — says Arina. — I know no more than what is written on the Internet, and even less. Some things I don't watch on purpose.
— Of course not. There is no exact information. We will seek an investigation. But, in any case, you will not return a person.
— There were no friends around, he was walking alone. It all happened at 8:30 am. Judging by the video from the camera, there were many passers-by nearby. But no one helped. As I understand it, everything happened in the center, not far from the pedestrian Istiklal Street. His friends who were in Istanbul learned about the tragedy from me.
– Worked in Moscow, in a law firm. He loved CSKA, mother, son and me. Vyacheslav went in for sports, did not smoke. We've been together for a long time, but we only got married two years ago.
– I don't know. Only an examination can find out.
— When our child was born, he no longer traveled. This year we had no one to leave our son with, so we decided to take turns resting. First, I flew to Istanbul with my friends for three days. Then he went with friends to football there.
— Every penny counts. We have lost our only breadwinner. We don't have anyone else. We will try to resolve this issue through the consulate. I myself will not fly to Istanbul, there is no need, everything is decided remotely.
An acquaintance of the deceased added that Vyacheslav could really drink that day: “After football, he went with his friends to a bar. As far as I know, his friends left earlier, but Slava stayed until the morning.”
According to some reports, Vyacheslav was stabbed to death near the pedestrian Istiklal Street in the criminal district of Tarlabashi, the most dangerous in Istanbul. Despite being a stone's throw from Istiklal and Taksim Square, which is full of shops and restaurants, the police prefer not to go there. Once upon a time, wealthy Armenians and Greeks lived in this area, but for political reasons they left their homes, and they were occupied by beggars, prostitutes, migrants. The city authorities cannot do anything about these slums yet.
A tourist from Moscow told how several years ago she booked a hotel in this area and lived there for several days: “We booked the hotel on an international website. The owners of the hotel did not warn that it was unsafe to live there.
When we drove up to the hotel, the taxi driver was surprised: “Are you sure that you are staying here?” The driver did not continue the conversation, he hurried to leave faster.
During the day it was quite quiet, deserted and very dirty. With the onset of darkness, the area came to life: gypsies settled on the ground, young men in torn clothes clustered near the entrances of houses. Judging by their cloudy looks, they were drugged.
Half-naked corpulent women looked out from the windows of one house, beckoning passers-by. It was difficult to determine the age of the ladies. In my opinion, they were well over forty.
And there was also no street lighting. In the evenings we wandered by feel. We didn’t turn on the flashlight on the phone, we were afraid that we might be left without smartphones. Rare tourists who passed by, the locals saw off with an attentive look. No one pestered us, but the area itself made a terrible impression. I have not seen anything like this in other parts of Istanbul.”
In 2013, a high-profile murder of a photographer from the United States, mother of two children, Sarai Sierra, took place in Tarlabashi. She went to photograph «authentic Istanbul». Waste paper collector Ziya Tasali attacked a woman near the railway tracks in Tarlabashi. The struggle lasted half an hour, but Sarai's strength was not enough. Tasali hid the body of the victim in a niche in the old city wall.
The killer fled to fight in Syria, was captured there and was handed over to the Turkish police.