Villa burgled - 23 June 2008

[DB]

Just returned yesterday from our first visit to Kalkan after having our rented villa burgled on the third day of our holiday while we were out on a day trip to Saltikent. Returned to find that they had forcefully removed the safe with all our money and valuables, from inside of the wardrobe (i.e. £1600 cash plus Turkish lira , 4 mobile phones, credit cards, passports, flight tickets purses, wallets, gold ring and gold watch). They didn''t stop there went through all our suitcases and clothes and also got a camcorder, divers watch, more jewelery, duty frees including 5 litre bottles of spirit and 2 bottles of wine and tobacco and a Radley purse and bag. Other minor things were taken and the even took the villas digi tv box, dvd player and cd player and one of our large holdalls was taken ( I presume to carry things in). The annoying thing was that we were careful and checked all doors and windows were locked before we left. We locked as much as possible in the safe and any other valuables were kept out of sight, however these people were obviously intent in getting in and had tried to jemmy several windows and eventually forced the main pool patio doors. Two of the small toilet windows (which were not screened) had been forced open and I suspect that they may have used a small child to enter the villa through the toilet window, who then attemped to open the patio doors. The whole thing was a nightmare for all six of us. The Jandarma were not helpful and if not for the help of locals we would have been stranded without any means of communication. Our priority was to put stops on all our credit cards and arrange money form family back home. We had also to arrange temporary passports with the British consulate in Fethiye. Unbelievably when I explained my circumstances to the consulate I was told that we had to find 155 lira each and travel to their office to complete forms or they could not process a temporary passport. The whole thing including giving the Jandarma a statement and obtaining a report, filling out pages of forms to put a stop on our stolen passports and arranging temporary passports, telephone calls to the UK to stop credit cards arrange transfer of money  and replacement flight tickets etc, was all to much and took around 3 days of our holiday. Obviously now we are back home we have the matter of contacting the appropriate people to sort out our mess. Our first visit to Kalkan is one we will never forget and to have this happen to us in place where we least expected it, was sickening. Besides our bad luck I would like to say how beautiful Kalkan is and how fantastic the locals were. I would particularly like to mention Murhat the part owner of the ''Kebab restaurant'' down on the marina and his staff. Without their help and kindness we would not have been able to sort this mess out and although I was only there for a short time I have experienced the good and the bad side of Turkey, however I have made a friend for life in him and on behalf of myself and my family I would genuinely like to thank him again for his kindness. To finish I would not want to put people off going to Kalkan but would advise extra caution and strongly recommend people responsible for villas to review their security.

Linkback: https://www.enjoykalkan.com/forum/index.php?topic=1867.0

[sally]

I am so sorry to hear of your dreadful experience, DB. I hope you can resolve insurance & everything without too much hassle.

And how lovely to hear of all the help you received from Murhat & your balanced reporting of what happened.

[Mercimek]

I am sorry to hear what happened, it is really dreadful that we can''t anymore think of Turkey as a place where we can leave doors open etc. It is especially considering you used the facility of a safe to protect your valubles.

With regards to the passport and consulate, whilst I am sure it was a shock at the time, please understand this is a standard procedure worldwide and it is obviously necessary not to make repeat passport too easy to obtain in view of all the identity fraud etc. I am sure that cost could be claimed back under most insurance policies and after all if the person requiring the replacement passport doesn''t pay the cost who would?

[holidayfever]

How sad and shocking, not what we expect to happen in lovely Kalkan, sure it wont be someone from the village it would I hope be more than there life was worth.
Glad you liked the place anyway, and saw what we all see the kindness of the locals. I say to everyone this summer support this eating place if only once and let him know his kindness has travelled world wide.

[Chucky]

DB,
I am so sorry that you and your party had such a horrendous experience. I know from personal experience in the UK that this such a sickening feeling when you realise that you have been robbed. It is also the amount of time and effort trying to sort things out that adds to the stress. It is often the personal items stolen that perhaps do not have any great monetary value, that are the hardest losses to cope with. You all have my sympathy.
Nevertheless, it is heartening to know that you received help and support from strangers and that your memories of Kalkan are not all bad.
 

[DB]

TheFeds

The Jandarma were not very thorough, only one officer visited the crime scene, clearly fingerprints where everywhere we thought  that a follow up visit would have been made to gather more evidence,  this never happened. We were summoned to their office for several hours to make a statement, via an interpreter and at one point they accused us of fabricating the crime and questioned why we had left so many valuables in the safe. We were told that CCTV was available nearby and they could check this to see what vehicles were in the area that day, however we found out later that the CCTV does not record and this was not possible.  At no point did the Jandarma offer any advice or support or even the use of a telephone. There has been no follow up visit or contact by them.

[Enişte]

I am happy to forward this correspondence through official channels to the Consulate General in Istanbul, which runs the smaller consulates around Turkey.  As Mercimek states, there is clearly a need to keep a record of all passports issued and to charge some sort of a fee for this service, but I know that it feels very insensitive when you have just been through such a distressing event.  Best wishes to you all.

[RosiB]

So sorry to hear of this. Kalkan is a wonderful place and this is so out of character. I''m glad you also saw the goodness in many of the local people.

Ros

[The Reds]

This has all been said before, the jandarma were no help, were all very sorry, the locals were so helpful, we love Kalkan, but basically your on your own to sort it out.

Would it not be a good idea as people who live here and own(let/rent) property here in Kalkan to offer some help to holiday makers in trouble.
It could be as simple as, letting them use the phone, offering a cup of tea, somewhere to collect there thoughts, a shoulder to cry on or even helping with advise and translation.

If something like this was available, maybe people who suffer this kind of mishap might consider coming here in the future. As for me if what happend to DB had happened to me and my family( no matter how out of character it was) I would never come back to Kalkan, period!

Surely something could be organised, or do we just continue giving lip service.

[DRBD]

DB - so sorry to hear of your very disturbing experience.

It appears, reading your report that that the offenders may well have had knowledge of you going out for the day & on quite a long trip. It certainly wasn''t a chance break-in.

To have removed the safe, they must have made noise, and searching through your belongings would have taken time even if there were several of them.  They must have been very sure that they would not be heard, seen breaking in, seen making off with your property even in a holdall & they had time.  Is the villa isolated?

Even more upsetting is all the inconvenience caused trying to get things sorted out & replaced.

[MartynE]

DB - very sorry to hear of this and I hope it doesn''t totally ruin your view of Kalkan. At least you experienced some positives in the kind reaction of some of the locals, which is what we would all expect.

I do empathise with you - I had my car broken into last week (in the UK, in a rail station car park) and the sense of personal violation is intense. It''s not just the loss of belongings, valuables etc, but also the knowledge that some unmentionable has invaded your personal space.

Unfortunately, your story brings home to us the fact that nowhere - even magical Kalkan - is completely safe. We just have to be vigilant at all times and I agree with javmariesar that there should be a local support network for cases like this... a kind of neighbourhood watch? I''d like to think that every member of EK would be happy to subscribe to that and to help fellow members in distress, for whatever reason.

[The Reds]

I''m glad somebody else thinks it would be a good idea to have some kind of support network for people who have suffered like DB. I for one am still upset after reading DB''s experience on his first time here in Kalkan. Whilst reading his awful experience I put myself and my family in his position and its not pleasant.

Here''s a thought for all EK''s members/residents and villa owners etc. Why don''t we start (an association) who''s primary purpose is to look after the interests of ex pats and holiday makers living in Kalkan. If such an association existed I am positive that the Jandarma and civil authorities would be more accountable for there actions. Such an association would have direct contact with Mayor/Jandarma, so it could follow up on incidents and any other issues ex pats in Kalkan may have.

Its time to leave cyber space and come into the real world. If we don''t do it nothing will change.

Cheers

Jav 

[felicity]

A good idea - can we not combine that through the EK network..

I would be willing tio be part of such a network...

Jon - any ideas how we could spur off such a ''real'' network as opposed to a virtual network...

Cheers!

[Chucky]

I was typing a response to this when Felicity replied. I have just made a similar suggestion to Jon. I was thinking more along the lines of a "What to do in an emergency" help sheet that people cold print off. It would give useful telephone numbers such as 152/Gendarme, doctors, dentist, local consul etc, steps to take to report a loss or robbery etc and perhaps include some contact numbers of residents/locals who would be willing and able to help in emergencies.
Any other thoughts or opinions?
Joan
 

[MartynE]

Spot on, Joan. I reckon that would be a real step forward.

[The Reds]

Hi Joan,
That''s a great idea and it would certainly make a positive difference. However, the underlying issues will not be addressed and therefore will not change.There will be little action from the jandarma, villa owners will be left out of the political loop and were all just left dangling in the air.

The only authority that is going to look after all Kalkan residents, Turks and non Turks, is Kalkan Belediyesi and the jandarma based at Kalkan. To make these two organisations accountable for there decisions and actions, they have to be aware that people are going to question, complain, enquire and generally want to know what is going on!

This kind of concerted action cannot be done by one person but it could be done by a group of committed residents.

I want to know what plans the belediyesi has in the pipe line, I want to know how many burglary''s there were in Kalkan last year and this year, I want to know how many were resolved or even noted. But as a lone individual I won`t be told anything, however a large group of like minded, council tax paying, villa owning, bringing business to Kalkan residents ,now that''s a different story.

I think the Fethiye residents have something along these lines.

Just an idea.

Jav

[Cosetta]

We too are terribly sorry to hear this dreadful news.  The same thing happened to us in Spain in 2006 and the police there were not helpful either.  We hope you will be able to recover damages and put this bad experience behind you.  I agree with DRBD, the thieves knew of your plans and knew where you were staying.   Best is to not mention them in places such as restaurants or to people who are not directly involved or whom you don''t know.  The local Kalkaners are as disturbed about these summer thefts as we foreigners are.  They too would like to see someone take the matter in hand.

As for the Jandarma, they are not police.  For the most part they are kids doing military service, and their main job is to maintain ''law and order'' in the sense of breaking up fights and countering ''uprisings''.  They have no police training and no equipment to do police work.  Unfortunately, Kalkan is still too small to have a police presence, there is a minimum population required for that and we are nowhere near it.

As for the Belediye, forget it.  The Mayor has neither the ability nor the interest to deal with this matter as cases are sporadic, not endemic. However, you can refer the matter higher up the chain.  A letter to the Governor in Antalya with a copy to the Minister of Tourism would be more useful, if you have the courage and heart to cope with more letters and reports.

Best wishes for a string of good things in future to offset this terrible experience.

[turkeyfan]

Everyone seems to be in agreement that his is truly a dreadful situation and at this stage many people are throwing in ideas as to how to improve and help things in the future. However I don''t understand why Marking you are using this as an opportunity to ''have a go'' at Felicity when it seems to me that she is simple one of many people putting in suggestions?? 

[bluefudge11]

I too offer my sympathy, you would not be expected to do more than you did to protect yourself and I hope that you get properly compensated.

A couple of tips people might find useful. my wife and I have 2 bank cards each but I keep one of hers in my wallet and viceversa so if a purse/wallet gets "lost" then at least we still have access to some funds.

We tend to go on holiday with another family and both have a safe, we split valuables  between the two thus halving the risk of it all being stolen.

I also take a lockable coolbag where i have modified the zip to take bicycle padlock to loop around sun loungers when on the beach or at beach club (we can then keep money, camera etc safe whilst relaxing)

I use Nationwide flex account debit card to withdraw cash from machine when needed so cash is limited to max of about £200-300.  (good exchange rate and no charges -see other threads).

Book trips with reputable company, ask yourself "who knows we are out all day"  let people know that there will be someone in, even if there isn''t. ("careless talk cost lives" is a bit dramatic but someone knew the place would be empty)
These things will happen (unfortunately) so good insurance is a must.

[Mrs B]

A truly dreadful situation to be in, DB, and i hope all is quickly sorted out for you.

There really is no safe way to store your valuables on holiday, when you are at the mercy of other peoples security measures which may not be as safe as our own at home.
Carrying your valuables on you, e.g passports, tickets etc, is not a ''safe'' option as it is very easy for someone to pick pocket/steal your belongings...but as we can see from this thread, the only ''safe'' option we thought we had, e.g a safe, has proven not to be.
Bluefudge has come up with some good tips, especailly if you''re with another couple in another apartment/villa.
If you''re on your own, or in a couple or with small kids, its difficult to decide what is the safest option as we like to swim/snorkel/scuba dive in the sea together...not really an option if all your important and valuable belongings are in your bag on the beach/boat/in the car etc.

P.S Marking, the remark about Felicity...rather uneccessary.