Man agrees to go on impromptu Tinder date to Turkey – and ends up being caught up in violent COUP
A BRITISH man thought he'd have a bit of fun with a woman he matched with on Tinder - but instead he found himself in Turkey as an attempted military coup took place.
Phil Stephenson, 22, is from Darlington, County Durham, and decided to throw caution to the wind when he began talking to a woman on the dating app.
She revealed she was jetting off to Turkey on Friday, but was upset because family members she'd meant to be holidaying with had pulled out.
Despite only exchanging "about five words" with Phil on Tinder she asked him to come along - and he obviously did the gentlemanly thing and said yes.
Hours after they landed members of the military launched a bloody attempt to overthrow the government, and Phil is now stuck at Marmaris’ Club Lyka hotel. Even worse, he doesn't even like the woman he's there with.
"We met for the first time at the airport and ended up in Turkey – I’ve done a lot of (mental) things in my time but nothing like this," he .
“I’ve had loads of people messaging me about what’s happening here and people by the pool are saying there has been shootings and a helicopter brought down in Icemeler, which is just down the road.
“I want to come home and I’ve booked a flight for tonight, but if it settles down, I might stay for the rest of the week.
“It’s not just because of what’s happening in Istanbul that I want to come home – I think the girl thought she was getting a romantic holiday with me, but I just wanted a bit of banter."
Phil thought his Turkey trip would be full of wild nights out, so he was horrified when he realised his date had romance on her mind.
"We got here and there were two single beds but she pushed them together – I told her I was upset about everything that was happening in Turkey and slept on the sofa," he explained.
Phil's habit of wearing his headphones by the pool has also irritated the woman, who's apparently been moaning about him to other guests.
He's now trying to decide what to do. His friends are encouraging him to stick things out because it's a great story, but Phil's not so sure he can hack his date's advances.
He hasn't seen or heard any trouble from outside the hotel either, and surprisingly his experience hasn't put him off further blind dates.
"If someone else asked me if I wanted to go on a free holiday, I’d do it again for a laugh," he said.
Chaos erupted across Turkey last night as a bloody military coup in the streets of Ankara and Istanbul saw more than 160 killed and 1,400 injured - and President Erdogan has warned more bloodshed could be on the horizon tonight.
Officials have warned 2,839 members of the army who have been arrested for the "black stain on Turkey's democracy" could face the death penalty as they consider reinstating capital punishment, while "many" military commanders have been taken hostage at the army HQ.
