Four Jailed Over Hotel Poisoning

On June 26, a Turkish court convicted three pest control company workers and a hotel owner over the deaths of a family of four from Germany who were poisoned by insecticide while on vacation in Istanbul. They were sentenced to between 18 and 12 years in prison. The Turkish-German Bocek family were staying at the Harbour Suites Old City hotel in November 2025 when they fell ill. They attended hospital complaining of nausea and vomiting before returning to the hotel on Nov. 12. The following day they were taken to a hospital by ambulance, where 6-year-old Kadir Muhammet and his sister Masal, 3, died. Their mother, Cigdem, died on Nov. 14, while their father, Servet, died on Nov. 17. The deaths were initially believed to be due to food poisoning, but once Turkish media reported the hotel was dealing with a bedbug infestation, this theory was dismissed and police began investigating the possibility of insecticide poisoning. An inspection found traces of the insecticide phosphine on towels, masks and swab samples taken from the family’s room.