when i read this article at first i was amazed, reason being i have known the person for a number of years now and was shocked to hear what had happened.
when i first bought my property in uzumlu he was very helpful, i bumped into him in the builders supplies yard in the village and i was struggling to describe the type and quantity of stone i needed and he stepped in to help and explained what i needed. we had never met before but i struck up a conversation with him and discovered that his home in england was just 5 miles away from mine.
on my return to england i contacted him and his wife and we had a number of very good nights at each others houses, i have to say their hospitality was outstanding as was the food and drink they laid on, we became good friends with a common interest in turkey.
last year he told me that he was going to leave his job and try to fulfill his dream of opening a restaurant in uzumlu, i wished him all the luck and he left england with his wife and young daughter to try and make a go of it.
like any new business it was never going to be easy and there were the obvious problems and mistakes that happen with a new venture.
i didn't hear from him for a while which made me wonder if all was not going well and obviously things have not worked out well at all.
when i read all the comments i was shocked as this is not the same person i have grown to know and call a friend so when i was over in uzumlu last week i made a point of finding him to hear what he had to say before i made any comment on here.
we met and i told him that i had heard about the demise of the restaurant and about the incident in the village.
he is sorry for his behaviour that night and assured me that people do not need to keep looking over their shoulder, he will not be walking the streets looking for english people to attack, he is not that sort of person believe me. he does like the english and has many english friends.
put yourself in his position for a moment and try to understand the state of mind he was in that night, he left his job in england to start a new life in uzumlu with his restaurant, there was conflict within the restaurant which possibly relayed itself to the customers and quality of food, he was put in a position where he was being asked to choose between his wife and his turkish family, his wife goes back to england with his daughter, the business has to close having paid a full years lease. he is obviously feeling very down, goes to a local wedding where he is told of people spreading bad rumours about the restaurant and naming names (fi and eric, maybe someone jealous about their status) and as the night wears on he has been plied with drinks and on his way home decides he has got to get things off his chest as he has at this point reached rock bottom. i am not condoning what he did and he himself regrets what happened but i defy anyone in this situation to say they would be thinking logically, someone has named names wrongly as it would appear and he has reacted.
i have never seen him as down as he was last week and i am not going to desert a friend in need which is why i wanted to try to explain his actions.
he has a lot to sort out with his life and i am hoping people will give him the opportunity to turn things round. he knows he has done wrong but he is someone i would trust and will continue to call a friend.
he said a lot of things that night which he regrets but unfortunately he can't turn the clock back but he will try to move on without upsetting anyone else along the way.
he is a nice guy who has been dealt a very bad hand and right now he needs support not ridicule so please don't think too badly of him.
red devil
