Tuğrul Başar had been convicted of three robbery crimes committed while impersonating a public official in 2010, but had managed to escape in 2018 to avoid a three-year prison sentence. Authorities had been looking for him ever since, but they only recently managed to identify him in the Kadıköy district of Istanbul, during a special operation designed to bring fugitives with unserved prison sentences to justice.
What made Başar’s case stand out from others resolved during the special operation was the shocking discovery that he had been living as a woman for years, adopting his sister’s identity and changing his appearance to the point where he became unrecognizable.
It’s unclear how police officers tracked down Tuğrul Başar after so many years, but it is believed that they used surveillance to monitor his family and known associates. That’s how they came to discover that there were two young ladies living in his sister’s home, both of whom apparently used the same identity when going out.
According to police reports, Başar’s transformation was so radical that they could no longer rely on mugshots from years ago to identify him. They resorted to following the mysterious woman posing as his sister and gathering evidence until they were certain she was him.
When police finally descended on Tuğrul Başar’s home and arrested him, he was carrying his sister’s identity card, but a fingerprint test confirmed the fugitive’s identity. Although some sources only mention his impeccable disguise and feminine appearance, others claim that he had undergone a gender transition to achieve this drastic of a change. So far, neither version has been confirmed.
What is known is that Tuğrul Başar will serves his prison sentence in a men’s prison, regardless of how he identifies himself. Becausee he never officially updated his name or gender in Turkey’s civil registration system, he will be asigned according to the gender on his ID, regardless of his physical appearance or self-identification.
