Landlord accuses tenant of setting Istanbul house on fire over rent dispute

Atenant is accused of setting his house on fire in Istanbul and causing an explosion that destroyed the house and tore apart the walls of an adjacent house after an alleged argument with the house owner.

Mehmet Yılmaz, his landlord, claimed the suspect, identified as O.E., had earlier threatened him to burn his house down when they engaged in an argument over an increase in rent.

The fire on the first floor of a three-story building in the city’s Avcılar district on the European side early Monday gutted the place. Firefighters rushed to the scene and extinguished the blaze, which devastated the first floors of the two adjacent buildings.

Yılmaz told Ihlas News Agency (IHA) that O.E. was his tenant for the past seven years and he was paying TL 700 for years. “I told him that I’d raise the rent to TL 1,500 but he opposed this and threatened me. So, I filed a complaint at the police station,” he said. O.E. allegedly evacuated the house before pouring gasoline on the flat and fleeing the scene.

Yılmaz, who lives on the upper floor, said he heard a noise early in the morning and saw the smoke. “I went out and saw the explosion. I also saw him and his family. They got into a car and left when they saw me,” he added.

Police said in a statement that the fire and ensuing explosion was the result “of a dispute between tenant and landlord” but did not elaborate further, adding that an investigation was underway.