15.10.2026 16:36
In 2024, Ahmet Abi, the father of medical student Özge Ceren Deniz, who died after being electrocuted during a downpour in Izmir, spoke after 14-year-old Mahmut Işıldak lost his life in the same way in Fatih, Istanbul. Saying that he remembered his own daughter while watching the footage, Abi stated that this death would not have occurred if precautions had been taken, and expressed that they expect a precedent-setting and deterrent decision in the ongoing case.
Ahmet Abi, the father of Özge Ceren Deniz (23), who lost her life two years ago in İzmir after being electrocuted in the middle of the street, noted that while watching footage of the incident in Istanbul's Fatih district yesterday in which Mahmut Işıldak (14) similarly lost his life, he remembered his own child, and said, "If the necessary precautions had been taken, this incident would not have happened. Let no more lives be lost."
In the downpour that affected Istanbul, Mahmut Işıldak was electrocuted the moment he stepped into a puddle in Çukurbostan Park in the Balat neighborhood. Işıldak, who was taken to hospital unconscious, could not be saved.
TWO PEOPLE HAD DIED IN THE SAME WAY IN İZMİR
With Işıldak's death, minds turned to the incident two years ago in İzmir in which Özge Ceren Deniz and İnanç Öktemay lost their lives. Due to the downpour that began in the city around 18:00 on July 12, 2024, streets in many districts flooded. Özge Ceren Deniz, a student at İzmir Democracy University Faculty of Medicine, who wanted to shelter from the downpour, was electrocuted on the flooded road. İnanç Öktemay (44), who dealt in the sale of second-hand goods and wanted to save Deniz, was also electrocuted and collapsed at once. Deniz and Öktemay lost their lives in the hospital to which they were taken. İnanç Öktemay was buried in İzmir, and Özge Ceren Deniz in Osmaniye. As the trial process initiated after the incident continues, no defendants remain in detention.
LESSONS MUST BE LEARNED FROM THESE INCIDENTS
Father Ahmet Abi, who lost his daughter Özge Ceren Deniz in the incident that occurred in İzmir, spoke about the incident in which Işıldak lost his life. Offering condolences to the family, Abi said, "Every death is a premature death, but the fact that our young people lose their lives in this way upsets me greatly. What happened to my daughter was not the first, but it was not the last either. Let lessons be learned from these incidents and precautions be taken from now on. While watching the footage, I saw my own child's incident. If the necessary precautions had been taken, this incident would not have happened. Let no more lives be lost."
LET OUR YOUNG PEOPLE NOT BE TORN FROM LIFE
Emphasizing that the decision to be issued in the ongoing trial would be precedent-setting, Abi said, "From the very beginning, I have believed in and trusted justice. We were saying, 'Let what happened to my child not happen to others,' but unfortunately it did. This is a societal issue. Therefore, we want the decision to come out of the judiciary to be precedential and deterrent, so that precautions are taken and our young people are not torn from life."