In a scene straight out of an action movie, one Irish tourist seems to have come out on top after becoming involved in a brawl in the middle of a street in Istanbul, Turkey. Although CCTV footage shows that it occurred on the first of August, it was posted online two days ago and quickly went viral, bringing fame to Mohammed Fadel Dobbous overnight. But is it all that it first looks?
The tourist claims that the fight started after he accidentally knocked over a fridge full of bottled water. As he went up to the shopkeeper to apologise an argument ensued resulting in a gang of people attacking the unarmed tourist with a host of chairs, sticks and other makeshift weapons. However the tourist knocks one of the men to the floor with a single punch before taking on the rest of the group.
In an interview with a local TV station, wearing a cast and sling, Mohammed Fadel Dobbous claimed:“They just picked the wrong man…I was not drunk. I wanted to apologize [for the incident] but they attacked me with sticks. Who are they? Shopkeepers or butchers?”
However a separate interview with the shopkeepers themselves paints a different picture. Şenol Palan, who owns the store where the whole incident occurred, told police that Dabbous had first came alone to his shop and asked to buy alcohol. When he was told they did not sell alcoholic drinks, the tourist started arguing and returned with a friend to start a fight.
“The man was so strong. He was knocking down everyone he hit. Then shopkeepers in the area came over to help. It was like he was made of concrete … like he wasn’t human,” Palan said in his testimony. The shopkeeper also claimed that: “After hitting Şeref [the man who went down after one hit], the tourist went back to his hotel. He rested there a little. Then he returned to the street and started taking on the stick-holding shopkeepers again. He came back twice.”
The full story is unclear at the moment but it has certainly captured the attention of millions of Turkish twitter users. A police investigation has now been launched and so hopefully the truth behind this extraordinary video will come to light.
Sources: The Independant, Independant.ie and Turkish Weekly.
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