Renowned architect Turgut Toydemir loses his life after being shot by a police officer

In an incident that occurred in Beykoz, Istanbul, 86-year-old architect Turgut Toydemir, one of Turkey's oldest actively working architects, was critically wounded by a bullet fired from the weapon of a police officer, S.Ç., following an argument over right-of-way in traffic.

Toydemir, who was rushed first to a private hospital and then to the Ümraniye Training and Research Hospital, lost his life despite all medical interventions.

The police officer S.Ç., who was apprehended with his weapon following the incident, is expected to be referred to the Beykoz Courthouse after his processing at the police station.

FIRED AT THE VEHICLE

Yesterday, a traffic-related argument broke out between Turgut Toydemir, who was driving his vehicle with license plate 34 TC 7374 on Atatürk Street in Göztepe Neighborhood, and police officer S.Ç., who was driving his own vehicle. Toydemir was shot after S.Ç. opened fire with his weapon toward the vehicle, and the car came to a stop after hitting the median strip a short distance later.

In a statement regarding the shooting incident, the Istanbul Police Department stated, "It has been understood that while police officer S.Ç. was driving his vehicle, an argument broke out with the other driver, Turgut Toydemir, due to traffic; when S.Ç. attempted to stop the vehicle and Toydemir did not stop, S.Ç. fired his weapon toward the vehicle, resulting in Toydemir being wounded."

The statement reported that police officer S.Ç., who was apprehended with his weapon, has been suspended from duty and that the investigation launched against him for the crime of "intentional injury" is continuing both judicially and administratively.

WHO IS TURGUT TOYDEMİR?

Born in Istanbul in 1938, Turgut Toydemir graduated as an architect from the Faculty of Architecture at Istanbul Technical University in 1961.

He completed his master's degree at the Istanbul State Academy of Architecture and Engineering in 1969.

Turgut Toydemir was one of Turkey's oldest actively working architects. With the architectural office he founded in Istanbul in 1961, Toydemir completed nearly a thousand projects exceeding 20 million square meters in Turkey and other countries between 1961 and 2018.