Turkey witnesses jump in crime rates

Crime rates in Turkey have risen in recent years. And an increase in the number of crimes such as kidnapping, rape, harassment and fraud as well as homicide due to the widespread use of licensed and unlicensed weapons, has drawn significant attention.

Over the past few years, Arab and foreign tourists have been the victims of such crimes, including abductions that end up with murder following robbery.

Last week, a Saudi woman was kidnapped in Istanbul near a hotel located in the Asian part of the city, where she was staying with her family.

No contact has been possible with her after she disappeared. Neither the Saudi consulate nor police have been able to know her whereabouts despite working tirelessly to locate her.

Turkish police said on Thursday that two people, suspected of assaulting on August 16 two Saudi nationals and stealing their phones and luggage in Istanbul, were arrested.

A security source said that police have checked the surveillance cameras in Istanbul’s Sisli neighborhood and the cafe, where two Saudi brothers were sitting when they were assaulted and robbed by unidentified men on a motorcycle.

After spending days processing video footage, police identified the assailants, the source noted.

He explained that police officers raided the two suspects’ houses and seized a weapon they had in their possession, a phone and the Saudis’ luggage.

They were later referred to the public prosecution after being questioned by the police.

Abductions and murders in Turkey have increased amid the country’s complex political and economic crises and weak security following the crackdown on supporters of Fethullah Gulen whom the government accuses of orchestrating the failed coup attempt on July 15, 2016.

Turkey was ranked eighth among the top 10 countries in the rate of homicides, according to official data issued by the United Nations in 2016.

The Turkish Ministry of Justice has acknowledged the high crime rates after homicides increased from 21,716 in 2009 to 25,611 in 2013.