Businessman Rıza Kalkavan laid to rest

59-year-old businessman Rıza Kalkavan, the brother of actress Billur Kalkavan who passed away in 2022, has died at the hospital where he was taken in Istanbul. Kalkavan's body was retrieved from the Forensic Medicine Institute morgue and brought to Zincirlikuyu Mosque to be laid to rest.

''COUNTERFEIT ALCOHOL ALLEGATIONS ARE FALSE''

Kalkavan's girlfriend Sibel Civelek, his friend Zeki Kadirbeyoğlu, other friends, and family attended the funeral ceremony.
Speaking on the reports that Kalkavan died from counterfeit alcohol, his girlfriend Sibel Civelek said, “He fell ill and we took him to the hospital; that is the result. The allegations in the press regarding counterfeit alcohol are false. We took him to the hospital around 02:00. He remained in intensive care for about 9 hours. We lost him towards noon.”

''HE WAS GOING THROUGH A DIFFICULT PERIOD''

His elementary school friend Zeki Kadirbeyoğlu said, “He was my elementary school friend; we grew up together. I am 62 years old and 55 years of my life were spent with this family. Rıza was like a brother to me; I am as saddened as if I had lost my own brother. We know why he passed. Thankfully, our friend Ömer Koç took him to the hospital. I don't know the details, but it means this is being sold somehow. They were a very close-knit family. We lost Uncle Nazım, Aunt Noyan, and Billur one after another. He was going through a difficult period.”

"Rıza, after losing his sister and mother, inevitably collapsed"

Uğur Naz, the attendant at the apartment building where Kalkavan lived in Suadiye, said, “Rıza, after losing his sister and mother, inevitably collapsed. Lately, he had turned too much to alcohol. I have been taking his orders here for 9 years. I always bought what he wanted from liquor stores. I never bought any counterfeit alcohol from anywhere. This is the first time I've heard that he used illicit alcohol.”

IT IS NOT TRUE THAT HE WAS EXPERIENCING FINANCIAL DIFFICULTIES

Journalist Asena Özkan, a close friend who claims Rıza Kalkavan lost his life due to counterfeit alcohol, said, “The counterfeit alcohol allegations are true. The claim that he was experiencing financial difficulties is not true; he was drinking this by choice. He was using alcohol regularly enough to be a social drinker. I am not a doctor or a forensic expert, but as his friend, this is what I know. One after another, he lost his mother, then his sister, and finally his cat. That is why he was a bit depressed and sad. Anyone who wants to buy counterfeit alcohol can buy it; where he bought it from is not the issue, and everyone who drinks it knows this risk. He was buying it from the Kadıköy side. In our circle of friends, everyone knows who does what.”

Following the funeral prayer, Rıza Kalkavan's body was taken to Eyüpsultan Cemetery to be buried.
Meanwhile, it was learned that the exact cause of Rıza Kalkavan's death will be revealed by the autopsy report from the Forensic Medicine Institute.