Homeless Syrian refugee kills Turkish overnight host: Report

ISTANBUL

Aydemir Çardak was a teacher at the Yenibosna Altınyıldız Primary School in Istanbul.

A Turkish teacher has been murdered by a homeless Syrian refugee, who he was providing overnight accommodation for at his home, daily Habertürk reported on Feb. 2.

The body of primary school teacher Aydemir Çardak was found on Jan. 31 by his mother, with whom he lived in Istanbul’s Bahçeşehir district. His throat was slit.

According to the report, the mother told the police that his son came home with the Syrian man on the previous evening.

“He was a charitable person. He told me that [the Syrian man] was trembling in the street ... We gave him food and he slept. In the morning, I heard a noise. My son’s room door was open and he was lying in blood,” she reportedly said.

The Syrian suspect, identified only as Ahmat M.A, has been caught by police in the Aksaray neighborhood, after he returned the police’s call to Çardak cellphone, which he had stolen. The suspect reportedly confessed to the murder, confirming that the teacher, who he said he met while leaving a nightclub, had invited him home because he had no place to stay.

“We went to his house. I was drunk. His mother was there. We ate. Then we went to the room. He spoke unfavorably. I am not sure what happened but I stabbed him. I took his cellphone and ran away,” Ahmat M.A was quoted as saying to the police in his testimony.

It was not immediately clear what he meant with the word “unfavorably.”

Police are continuing the investigation into the murder.