Ramazan Yildirim Wrestled Armed Gunman During Police Chase in Turkiye, Police Detained Suspect

A taxi driver wrestled an armed gunman during a police chase in Turkiye after the suspect forced him to drive and fired at police, with Ramazan Yildirim grabbing the weapon as officers entered the car to detain him.

“Toggle Play Moment taxi driver wrestles armed man during police chase in Turkiye A taxi driver who wrestled a gunman that was forcing him to drive during a police chase in Turkiye has been widely praised for his bravery”

Al Jazeera

The Sun said the incident involved a shotgun-wielding passenger, Semih C., 31, who allegedly took the cabbie hostage and made him drive through the streets of Gaziantep in Turkiye while firing shots at nearby officers.

Al Jazeera

The Sun reported the chase went on for about 80km and ended as police blocked the vehicle near Karacaahmet following the driver’s intervention.

In his account, Yildirim said: “I grabbed the gun with both hands. I stopped it from hitting the police.”

The Sun added that Yildirim suffered an injury to his hand during the struggle and received seven stitches.

The Sun described Semih C. as allegedly threatening the driver multiple times at point blank range while aiming a huge rifle, and it said local cops started pursuing the vehicle after receiving reports that the driver had been taken hostage at gunpoint.

As the shooter aimed toward cops who had surrounded the vehicle, The Sun said Yildirim leaped into the back seat and wrestled for nearly one minute until an officer took the gun away from the suspect.

Le Courrier des Balkans

The Sun reported that Semih C. has been remanded in custody by a court, and it placed the incident on May 10.

In Yildirim’s statement, he said: “When he pulled the gun back inside, I intervened again, took the weapon from him and threw it outside.”

Al Jazeera’s version emphasized that Yildirim was widely praised for his bravery after he wrestled the gunman that was forcing him to drive during the police chase in Turkiye.

Le Courrier des Balkans’ 2025 news feed described a different criminal justice thread in Greece, saying an Afghan national suspected of trafficking was arrested in Samos after a rubber dinghy ran aground off the coast of the island in the Aegean Sea near the Turkish coast.

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Modern Ghana

In that same feed, it said Greek authorities and Frontex security forces launched a search-and-rescue operation that saved about 39 passengers and that a 25-year-old Afghan national was arrested for “illegal transport of third-country nationals” and “illegal entry into Greece.”

The feed also reported that, since the start of the year, more than 18,000 people have irregularly arrived in Crete compared with a little over 5,000 in 2024, and it said that is more than a 200% increase.

It further stated that on December 17, about thirty migrants, mostly Sudanese, were sentenced to prison terms up to life imprisonment by the court of La Canée (Chania), Crete.

Le Courrier des Balkans quoted the feed’s own framing of the prosecutions, saying the exiles were prosecuted for “promotion and illegal transport of migrants in irregular status.”