Sarah Holland and Carla Harrison were playing bingo for a
drink at a bar in
Altinkum Turkey and had no idea of the misfortune that was about to befall
them. The women were playing bingo with 30 other tourists when police arrived.
The Turkish police singled the two women out, hustled them into a van, and took
them to the local police station. Armed police forced the tourists to fill out
forms identifying themselves and confiscated the bingo ball.
While the women were not arrested they were held for several
hours and questioned into the wee hours of the morning over a game of bingo! Said
Sarah Holland, “We thought we were on Candid Camera until we were hustled
into a van and taken to the police station.” While they were not arrested they
soon discovered that the forms they were forced to fill out were an agreement
to pay a fine of approximately $97. Not only were the women terrorized for
hours the police confiscated their tickets.
While only a few tourists were
questioned both women said that every member of the group was extorted in a
similar manner. Again from Ms Harrison, “I didn’t even know it was
illegal to gamble in Turkey
without a license. I’ve even seen betting shops out here, so how would we know?
“My advice to anyone else coming to Turkey is, don’t play bingo, unless it is internet bingo”. Given
the crime rate in Turkey
one would think the police have more important things to do rather than harass
tourists. The bottom line is simply if you come to Turkey don’t play bingo. Take your
laptop and stick to online bingo. Bingo bonuses and bingo promotions are two more perks of playing online bingo.
