Gay Syrian refugee found beheaded and mutilated in Istanbul

[davidn3600]

A gay Syrian refugee found beheaded in Istanbul had previously been kidnapped and raped, his friends said.

Muhammed Wisam Sankari, known to his friends as Wisam, vanished after leaving his house in the district of Aksaray on July 23. He was found dead two days later, a mile away from his home.

His flatmate Gorkem, who went to identify his body, told the Turkish LGBT magazine KaosGL: “They had cut Wisam violently - so violently that two knives had broken inside him.

“They had beheaded him. His upper body was beyond recognition, his internal organs were out. We could identify our friend from his pants.”

Gorkem and his other two flatmates Rayan and Diya also told KaosGL no suspects have been arrested, nor did the police act when Mr Sankari was allegedly attacked earlier this year.

“About five months ago, a group kidnapped Wisam in Fatih (Istanbul’s historic centre). They took him to a forest, beat him and raped him. They were going to kill him but Wisam saved himself by jumping on the road.

Rayan said: “We complained to the police headquarters but nothing happened.”

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/08/04/gay-syrian-refugee-found-beheaded-in-istanbul-amid-concerns-turk/

[UMTerp01]

1. Good gracious that is awful. I'm gay and when I was in Istanbul I showed no PDA with my partner

Its ashame but those countries are so intolerant of homosexuality that it must be a nightmare living there. If you are out your life is in constant danger. The thing is there is quite an underground gay scene because its so dangerous to be openly gay. My partner and I went a few summers ago as part of a Mediterranean cruise and Istanbul was one of the stops. Such a beautiful city and Istanbul felt really modern. I really wanted to go back but not now with all the terrorist incidents that have been occurring. But, it wasn't like when my partner and I we were in Barcelona or Paris or Mykonos during that trip where we felt comfortable holding hands and it being obvious in other ways that we were a couple.

But while we were in Istanbul there was no PDA whatsoever. No hand holding, no flirty behavior at all. My heart breaks for him because it sounds like he had a very painful death. I just can't imagine. This really upsets me. The fact that he was a refugee from the horrors of Syria only to be brutally killed in Turkey. So sad. I hope he is at peace and that his suffering wasn't too long.

[Chiquitita]

2. I feel so sad for him and his friends

[LuvNewcastle]

3. I wish we could get all the GLBTs out of these

shithole countries and take them to a place that's relatively safe. We have anti-GLBT violence in Western countries too, of course, but I feel pretty safe most of the time, even here in the Deep South. I'm not all that concerned about getting my head chopped off. It makes me so sad and so angry to hear about the evil things done to people just for being who they are.

[Behind the Aegis]

4. Another reminder of the plight of the LGBT around the world.

While there is certainly problems here, including LEGAL discrimination against GLBT and homophobic/heterosexist attitudes, the issues GLBT, especially gay men, face in many parts of the world is horrendous. Those attitudes are reflected at the top levels and can be seen when countries refuse to stop discrimination against LGBT people.