Istanbul

Vatan Şaşmaz, a renowned TV host and actor, was shot dead in a hotel room in the Beşiktaş district of Istanbul on Aug. 27. The assailant, identified as former model Filiz Aker, reportedly fired four shots at Şaşmaz in his back before committing suicide at the scene. Witnesses said Aker received a phone call while she was having dinner with her friends and later went to her room.

A fire broke out on Aug. 18 at the Greek consulate building in the Beyoğlu district of Istanbul, Doğan News Agency has reported.

Several firefighters were dispatched to the scene.

The fire reportedly broke out in the kitchen section of the building and it was later extinguished by firefighters, according to initial reports.

Four armed robbers escaped with a total of $2 million in the Bakırköy district of Istanbul on Aug. 14 after holding up a car with three people on board.

Two former soldiers who had conducted a raid on the Doğan Media Center in the Bağcılar district of Istanbul on the night of last year's failed coup attempt have claimed that they had surrounded the building after having been given an order of a potential "terror attack" targeting the complex.

An armored police vehicle has caused the death of a Syrian child while he was playing with his toys on the street in the Şişli district of Istanbul. 

The vehicle hit the 9-year-old child Rashed al-Ousso while he was riding his scooter on the Seyhan Street in the Mahmut Şevket Paşa neighborhood at around 12:30 p.m. on Aug. 1.

The police chief of the Silivri district of Istanbul, Hakan Çalışkan, committed suicide in his office with a service pistol on July 31, the Istanbul security general directorate has stated.

Çalışkan was found dead in his office with a gunshot wound to his head by colleagues in the early hours of the morning.

Many Turkish people, who live in unstable buildings at high risk of collapsing during an earthquake have said "yes" to urban transformation projects with the hope of renewing their houses but thousands of them have been disappointed due to several wrong policies, which has paved the way for the appearance of hundreds of contractors who have not kept their promise to build.

A group gathered and demonstrated in front of the Neve Shalom synagogue in Istanbul's Beyoğlu district late on July 20 to protest the Israeli government's recent move to place metal detectors at the entrance to al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem. 

If it had remained as a peaceful protest, you may have said it was the wrong address but was still legal.

A new mobile transportation initiative by the Istanbul municipality has drawn angry reaction from the public over enabling audio and video recording in cabs during travels, with legal experts describing the move as a "violation of the right to privacy."

A heavy rainfall has been in effect in Istanbul in the early hours of July 18, paralyzing daily life and causing floods.

Millions of local in Istanbul struggled and waded to work on July 18 morning after early-morning thunderstorms boomed over the city, dumping torrents of rain and swamping transport networks.