Story By: Feza Uzay, Sub-Editor: Marija Stojkoska, Agency:  Newsflash

This pretty young student who had a promising career in music ahead of her has tragically died after reportedly drinking bootleg liquor.

Many people in Turkey have been turning to homemade hooch after Turkey’s Islamist government introduced huge tax hikes on alcoholic beverages.

According to an October 2020 report by Balkan Insight, the price of alcoholic drinks rose by an astonishing 1,800 percent over the preceding 18 years.

The tax hikes have been accompanied by a huge uptick in deaths and intensive care admissions, with people falling ill after producing their own alcohol using ethyl alcohol or ethanol.

Berna Ozcan passed away at the age of just 25 in hospital in the western Turkish city of Izmir after she woke up feeling ill on Sunday, 27th June.

The young woman, who was studying at the renowned Ege University State Conservatory of Turkish Music, had been drinking with friends at her home on Saturday night.

She fell asleep and woke up the next morning feeling unwell, prompting her friends to call the emergency services.

Paramedics arrived at the residence in the neighbourhood of Erzene and took the young woman to hospital in an ambulance.

Doctors tended to the young woman, who, despite their best efforts, passed away. Her body was then taken for a post-mortem, which will clarify if she did indeed die from methanol poisoning.

The young woman’s two friends, who also fell asleep at the property after also allegedly ingesting the home brew, apparently did not require hospitalisation.

The public prosecutor’s office has since launched an investigation into the young woman’s death, which it regards as suspicious. The investigation is ongoing.