Story By Marija Stojkoska
News Editor Ajda Ender
A 30-year-old woman who survived the devastating earthquakes that left her family homeless has been shot dead alongside her 65-year-old father by her jealous ex-fiance.
Lamiya Azazi and her father Yusuf Azazi pose in undated photo. They were killed by her ex-fiance when she decided to end their engagement. Note: Private picture. (Newsflash/NX)
The killings happened at a container settlement in the Defne district of Hatay province, southern Turkey, on 18th June, after she ended their engagement.
The shootings took place in an area housing families displaced by the devastating earthquakes that struck southern Turkey and northern Syria on 6th February 2023.
More than 53,000 people were killed in Turkey alone, and millions were displaced, with many families in badly hit Hatay province forced to live in temporary container settlements after their homes were destroyed or left unsafe.
Lamiya Azazi and her fiance Ustun C. pose in undated photo. She and her father were killed by her ex-fiance when she decided to end their engagement. Note: Private picture. (Newsflash/NX)
Lamiya Azazi had reportedly ended her engagement to Ustun C. following a series of disagreements between the couple, who had become engaged around six months earlier.
The engagement was called off by Lamiya after he allegedly tried to force her to quit her job as a hairdresser, amid escalating obsessive jealousy and controlling behaviour.
The suspect allegedly went to the container home where Lamiya was living with her family after learning of her decision to leave him.
Yusuf Azazi poses in undated photo. He and his daughter Lamiya Azazi were killed by her ex-fiance when she decided to end their engagement. Note: Private picture. (Newsflash/NX)
An argument broke out between the former couple and Lamiya’s father Yusuf Azazi.
Prosecutors say the dispute escalated when Ustun C. pulled out an unlicensed pistol and opened fire on Yusuf, who collapsed.
After Ustun C. shot her father outside the container, Lamiya reportedly ran inside to hide, where she was cornered and fatally shot in a bathroom.
A witness said Lamiya’s final words to the suspect during the argument were: “I don’t want you. Take your wedding gold back, I don’t want it,” moments before he drew the weapon.
According to witness statements, Ustun C. allegedly held emergency services at gunpoint, standing at the door of the container with the weapon pointed at himself while preventing ambulance crews from entering to treat the victims, before eventually fleeing the scene.
Paramedics pronounced both victims dead at the scene.
Their bodies were later taken to the Hatay Forensic Medicine Institute for post-mortem examinations.
Gendarmerie officers launched a manhunt and quickly tracked down the suspect.
Ustun C. was arrested and later remanded in custody by a court.
Lamiya’s mother, Temem Azazi, said: “My daughter’s fiance came yesterday. They had separated the day before. He shot her father first and then my daughter.
“There were no problems between them and there was no argument. My daughter had decided to leave him.
“They got engaged in December and had decided to separate the day before the murder. I leave him to God’s judgment.
“My husband was outside drinking tea and coffee. When he arrived, I called my husband. Before he could reach the container, he shot him.
“My heart is broken because I lost both my daughter and my husband.”
Investigators said they obtained CCTV footage from a jewellery store recorded 10 days before the murders, showing Lamiya confiding in the shop owner while visibly distressed.
Lamiya Azazi confides in a shopkeeper about her issues with her fiance days before the murder. She and her father were killed by her ex-fiance when she decided to end their engagement. Note: Picture is a screenshot from video. (Newsflash/NX)
In the footage, she said Ustun C. was relentlessly tracking her movements, flooding her phone with calls, and becoming enraged if she failed to answer.
A close friend said Lamiya had contacted her exactly two minutes before the shooting and told her she was relieved the relationship was finally over.
The friend claimed the suspect had repeatedly threatened Lamiya in messages and had previously warned: “Either I will have you or I will kill you.”
Yusuf and Lamiya were buried side by side at Aknehir Cemetery in Defne as grieving relatives gathered to pay their respects.
(Marija Stojkoska / Newsflash)
