82-year-old, targeted on social media for feeding dogs, dies in suspicious fire
82-year-old Ülker Güleryüz, who was targeted on social media for resisting municipal workers attempting to collect the stray dogs she cared for in the capital Ankara, died the same day in a suspicious fire that broke out in her shack.
Duvar English
In Ankara’s Altındağ district, an elderly woman who was targeted on social media for resisting municipal workers attempting to collect the stray dogs she feed died in a suspicious fire along with her dogs.
Before the fire, Altındağ Municipality teams collected stray animals in the area, and 82-year-old Ülker Güleryüz, who resisted the operation, was targeted on social media after her images were circulated by certain accounts.
Dozens of social media accounts in Turkey have been targeting animal rights activists with slander and threats since the government enacted a controversial law requiring municipalities to collect stray dogs.
The same accounts also targeted Güleryüz throughout the day, circulating 82-year-old’s images with death threats.
That same evening, Güleryüz died along with her three dogs in a fire that broke out in her shanty house, where she lived alone.
Videos shared on social media captured her neighbors crying out, "I swear, they set this place on fire. The woman is inside, the woman!"
Ankara Bar Association wants investigation to be broaden
The Ankara Bar Association Animal Rights Center has filed a petition with the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor's Office, requesting that the fire at Güleryüz's home be investigated as arson and treated as a homicide.
The petition stated that Güleryüz died under suspicious circumstances in the fire that broke out in the shack where she lived with her animals. It also notes that earlier that day, after Altındağ Municipality confiscated her dogs, she had contacted the Bar Association through her neighbors to seek help.
Attorney Tuğba Gürsoy stated, "This is clearly a murder, and we demand a thorough investigation. We will not let this go. Certain (social media) accounts, under the guise of advocating for ‘safe streets and cities,’ are inciting hostility against animals and fueling conflicts among people. We also demand that those who wished for Güleryüz’s death, those who expressed joy over her tragic fate, be included in this investigation, and that these accounts be shut down immediately, with their administrators brought to justice."