Istanbul Neighborhood Gripped by Fear as Resident’s Erratic Behavior Escalates
Residents of Istanbul’s Büyükçekmece Pınartepe neighborhood are living in fear due to the increasingly disturbing behavior of a local man, identified only as R.V., who has been terrorizing the community with noise, harassment, and unsettling acts. For approximately 20 years, neighbors have reported a pattern of disruptive conduct, ranging from loud noises at all hours to the alleged dumping of liquids from his apartment window.
The situation has reportedly escalated to the point where families are afraid to let their children play outside, and some residents have been physically threatened. According to accounts from neighbors, R.V. Repeatedly creates disturbances by banging pots and pans, shouting, and throwing liquids – described by some as a mixture of urine and vinegar – onto the street and passersby.
“He’s psychologically very disturbed,” said a neighbor identified as R.Y., who lives next door to R.V. “His family hasn’t intervened, so his illness has worsened. He’s started harming his neighbors and those around him. He bangs pots and pans together, throws water at people passing by in the street.”
The noise is a significant issue, with residents reporting being woken up in the middle of the night. “I live next door,” R.Y. Continued. “I want to have my children sleep in separate rooms, but because their rooms are adjacent to his, my children are scared and won’t sleep there. My two-year-old has been traumatized. He wakes up frightened because of the constant banging on the walls. My 13-year-old and 9-year-old daughters can’t sleep in their rooms. We are also very disturbed by the noise. We don’t sleep at all, staying up until dawn. He constantly bangs on the walls, the stairs, and throws water outside, even spraying it on people.”
Neighbors also allege verbal abuse. R.Y. Stated that R.V. Has begun to hurl insults at those who object to his behavior. “He needs treatment. If the state would intervene, it would be good. If our voices are heard, that would be good,” she said.
Another resident, S.K., who lives across from R.V., described a long-standing problem. “He’s been our neighbor for 20 years, and we’ve had the same problems for 20 years. We don’t think he has a psychological problem, we believe he’s doing this consciously. Because many people have experienced difficulties with him even before we moved here. Some neighbors have moved because of this situation. He pours water onto the street, bangs pots and pans. Then he makes absurd statements like ‘You are evil, you are perverted.’”
S.K. Also expressed concern about the nature of the liquids being thrown from R.V.’s window. “The water isn’t clean,” S.K. Claimed. “There’s urine and vinegar in it. You can tell by the smell when he pours it out, it’s definitely not pure water. It gets on the windows, on people walking down the street. It causes a bad smell, attracting insects and flies. We are uncomfortable with this situation in every way.”
Other residents, including D.B., who has lived in the neighborhood for nine years, corroborate the claims of ongoing harassment. “He throws water with a bucket, not a small amount. He throws it on people coming and going. He makes loud noises day and night by banging pots and pans, disturbing people,” D.B. Said.
The situation has led to confrontations and a sense of helplessness among residents. “Neighbors have fought over this issue many times, but he doesn’t pay any attention to it. His children haven’t found a solution either. We’ve filed many complaints, but no one has paid attention. He needs to be hospitalized and treated. He’s a person with serious psychological problems. We are all suffering because of this. Many times, the water he threw has landed on us, on our children. We don’t even use the road in front of his window anymore. We take a longer route to the grocery store.”
D.B. Added that the disturbances continue throughout the night. “He bangs on the walls inside his apartment, disturbing the neighbors next door. People can’t even sit comfortably in their own homes because of his noise. They can’t sleep peacefully at night. The sounds he makes are extremely loud. We wake up from our sleep at 1 a.m., 3 a.m., 5 a.m. It doesn’t matter. His purpose is to disturb everyone. He has psychological problems.”
Residents report that R.V. Seems to react to complaints by intensifying his behavior. “There used to be a ventilation pipe next to the building, and he would hit it violently to make noise. We complained and had it removed. Now that it’s gone, he bangs on the windows with pots and pans, but he doesn’t show his face much,” D.B. Explained. “If someone complains, he does it even more. As a reaction, he bangs more, throws more water, and even uses a hose.”
D.B. Believes R.V. Is operating within his own reality. “He has some things, some situations that he creates in his own mind and firmly believes in. He performs various rituals to protect himself from them. I don’t know how he believes he’s protecting himself by making violent noises, I don’t know what his belief is anymore.”
