05.10.2025 19:43
A citizen who wanted to return the fish he bought in Eskişehir after discovering they were spoiled was assaulted with a sea bream by the fishmonger. The citizen, who experienced loss of sensation in his finger, filed a lawsuit against the fishmongers who assaulted him.
Hamza Çetinkaya, a 41-year-old married man and father of three, who works as a laborer in a factory in Eskişehir, went to a neighborhood market set up in the Yenidoğan District after work. Here, Çetinkaya started shopping and bought sea bream for 300 TL. After taking the fish home, Çetinkaya realized, upon his wife's warning, that the fish was spoiled. After checking the fish and noticing, according to his claim, that it smelled bad, he wanted to return the fish to the market. However, Çetinkaya claims that he was insulted by the fishmonger and was not refunded. Complaining, Çetinkaya left the fish on the counter and turned to another fishmonger.
HE WAS ASSAULTED WITH THE FISH HE WANTED TO RETURN At that moment, fishmongers running behind him began to hit Çetinkaya with the sea bream he had left. Surprised by the blows he received, Hamza Çetinkaya claims he was assaulted by the fishmongers. During the assault, his ring finger was broken, and he suffered bruises on various parts of his body. Çetinkaya left the scene and went to the hospital. There, he received a report of the assault and stated that he currently cannot fully use his finger and has lost sensation. The man, who was assaulted with fish, stated that he would not let the process go and that he had filed a lawsuit.
"I SAID 'YOUR FISH SMELLS'" Speaking about the incident, Hamza Çetinkaya said, "I was going to stop by the neighborhood market set up on Tuesday after work and then go home. I did my shopping after work. I asked the fishmonger, 'Can you clean 2 sea bream for me?' He said okay and cleaned them. I went home to Çankaya District. After arriving home, we opened the bag. There was a terrible smell from the fish. My wife said the same thing. 'This could poison us, the fish smells,' she said. Now, we are people with tight financial situations. If I buy again, I paid 300 lira for that sea bream. If I buy again, it will cost me 600 lira. I couldn't sleep. I have to go to work in the evening anyway. I didn't sleep, I went downstairs. I said, 'Your fish smells.' Then he smelled the fish and pushed it towards my nose, saying, 'Where does it smell?' I said, 'What are you doing? I am a customer. You cannot treat me this way.' Then they surrounded me, saying, 'This fish doesn't smell.' The fish smells. I said, 'This fish smells. If my child eats this or if we get poisoned, is this fish more important than a human being? You are playing with human health,' I said. When I said that, he replied, 'You will either take it or put it on the counter.' I said, 'Okay, put it on the counter. If someone strange comes, let them eat it. Give it for my benefit.' Anyway, I left the fish there," he said.
"HE HIT ME WITH A STICK AND FISH" Çetinkaya continued to describe the moments he was assaulted with the fish: "There is another fishmonger ahead, and I wanted to go there to buy 2 sea bream. Because there would be a commotion there. There was a distance of about 200 or 150 meters between the two fishmongers. Since I was uncomfortable, I thought, let me buy from another fishmonger to avoid a commotion. Just as I was about to get my fish in front of the other fishmonger, the tradesmen I had argued with came out in a crowd. They grabbed my shoulder and pulled me back. When they pulled me back, they directly hit me in the face with the fish. They hit me in the face. Then they tried to punch me. They were in a crowd and had knives. They assaulted me there, punched me. One had a stick, he hit me with the stick, hit me with the fish. He hit me in the face, on my nose. He hit me once at his counter and then came over and hit me there. The other fishmongers, even though they saw it, did not witness for me. They are relatives. I received a report of the assault; I have fragmented fractures in my hand. It hasn't healed yet. My hand is disabled. I can't bend it, I can't move it. It hinders me in my work. A slight touch causes pain and discomfort."
"YOU GOT A REPORT OF ASSAULT, THERE IS A COURT AT THE END OF THIS" Çetinkaya, who took the process to court, said, "I have a lawyer who is handling it. He has already stated somewhere that he hit me. But as soon as he arrived there, he said, 'He cursed us as soon as he came.' No one can go and curse like that in such a crowd. They were very crowded. People like us are just trying to make a living. The fishmonger's cousin is my military friend. He came to me 2-3 times and said, 'Brother, if you have a favor, let it go.' I said, 'Brother, my finger is disabled. Who will account for this? I provide for my family with these hands; I pay for my child's education,' I said."