Couple claims birthday trip ended with torture by police officers who “beat, kicked and poured water over a man’s head” and “sexually abused” his partner

• A 30-year-old and his 23-year-old girlfriend flew to Antalya to celebrate her birthday

A couple claims a birthday trip to Turkey ended in torture by police who “beat, kicked, poured water on a man’s head” and “sexually abused” his partner.

The 30-year-old man and his 23-year-old partner flew to Antalya, Turkey, to celebrate the woman’s birthday and spend two days in Kemer – a coastal town 50 minutes south of the airport.

What followed was a horrific trip to a “military base,” where officers took turns torturing the couple by brutally beating the man and giving his girlfriend a “black liquid” to drink.

The Foreign Ministry said it was supporting the couple following the “incident.”

The holiday nightmare, which occurred on May 11, one day after the couple arrived in the country, began when they decided to return to their hotel after an evening spent sipping cocktails.

The man said a local tried to take his girlfriend’s bag. He told him to stop and went back to the hotel when he heard a police car stop near them.

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Afterwards, six officers got out of the car, said the 30-year-old, and told the couple that they had to come back to the police station.

Given the length of time they spent in the car, he now believes the location was a military base.

When they arrived, the two were taken to separate rooms and tortured individually by the Turkish police squad.

The man said: “In the end, about six police officers beat me, punched me and slapped me on the head and face. Everyone took turns.”

“They took me to a back garden. I was still handcuffed. They told me to get on my knees.

“I thought, ‘This is it, I’m going to die.’ The atmosphere felt like death.”

“They were all standing around me, smoking cigarettes and laughing.”

“Then they sprayed me with cold water for half an hour. I was shaking.”

He described hearing his girlfriend screaming as he returned from outside and claimed she had been “sexually assaulted.”

He added: “They forced her to drink a black liquid and threatened her if she did not do so.”

The nightmare ended abruptly when a “good sergeant” arrived and asked the officers what was going on.

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The couple were subsequently released but soon realised that their phones, money and belongings had been taken. They also suspect the woman was injected with a substance after later discovering a needle-like wound on her body.

And the horror vacation was not over yet, because the man later saw the officers at the hotel as they were preparing to leave the next day.

Shortly afterwards, the couple were handed a phone at the airport by an officer who asked for help. To their horror, they heard one of the officers from the previous evening on the other end, threatening them to “be quiet”.

The man said: “He came back to me and said there was someone on the phone who wanted to speak to you. I thought, ‘Thank God, it’s the British Embassy.'”

“But they were the same police officers who had attacked us. They said: ‘Go back to your country. If you talk about our police like that again, there will be trouble.'”

“I was close to collapsing and thought, are they coming here? My girlfriend and I ran around the airport hiding.

“As soon as we checked in and were in the air, I said to my girlfriend, ‘We’re going home.’

“It was the worst experience of my life.”

The couple’s flight departed Turkey on May 12 and landed early the next morning, May 13.

When the couple landed at Birmingham Airport, they were stopped by West Midlands Police officers who were concerned for their welfare, the man said.

“As soon as we got off the plane, the (West Midlands) police saw us,” he said. “They came and grabbed me and thought, ‘Are we having domestic violence here?’ I didn’t even say anything, my girlfriend started crying and said, ‘Look at his body.'”

The man said when police officers saw his injuries, the couple were asked what had happened. West Midlands Police confirmed they had spoken to the couple and given them advice.

The man added: “We just want justice.”

A West Midlands Police spokesman added: “Officers spoke to two people at Birmingham Airport on 13 May who made multiple claims they had been attacked abroad. They were supported and provided with advice by officers.”

A spokesman for the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said: “We are supporting a British couple following an incident in Turkey and are liaising with local authorities.”