ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — A famous pizza chef and restaurateur from New York City has been detained in southeastern Turkey while on vacation with his wife.
Hakki Akdeniz and his wife were detained in the town of Silvan in Diyarbakir and then taken to the district’s security directorate at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Turkey’s Hurriyet news reported.
The reason for the detention of the American was not immediately announced.
Akdeniz posted a photo from his Instagram account on Friday standing in front of an old stone wall in Diyarbakir, writing “Diyarbakir is my heart #hometown.”
Silvan is a mostly Kurdish city about 75 kilometers east of the city of Diyarbakir.
“Born and raised in a desolate village in Turkey, Akdeniz always dreamed of a better life and a big success as he worked at a very young age to support his big family,” reads his biography. “He did not have time to attend school. Instead Akdeniz learned how to make money on the street.”
Akdeniz’s family first immigrated to Canada and then to the United States when he was 21, when his biography says he worked 60 hours per week making $300 “doing menial, back-breaking labor in the kitchen.”
The chef has become renown not only for his restaurant Champion Pizza Soho in Manhattan, New York, but for his pizza tossing and displays often involving fire. Recently he has begun baking meter-long pies in public.
He has now opened seven pizzerias in five years, and has won the world championship for pizza acrobatics, in addition to other forms of recognition and acclaim.
He has been featured on nearly 70 food shows on American networks including the Food Network, ABC, Telemundo, and The CW.
The US embassy in Ankara has posted seven travel warnings for US citizens over the past month. There was no immediate announcement from the embassy, or from the consulate in Adana regarding Akendiz’s detainment.
“Born and raised in a desolate village in Turkey, Akdeniz always dreamed of a better life and a big success as he worked at a very young age to support his big family,” reads his biography. “He did not have time to attend school. Instead Akdeniz learned how to make money on the street.”
Akdeniz’s family first immigrated to Canada and then to the United States when he was 21, when his biography says he worked 60 hours per week making $300 “doing menial, back-breaking labor in the kitchen.”
The chef has become renown not only for his restaurant Champion Pizza Soho in Manhattan, New York, but for his pizza tossing and displays often involving fire. Recently he has begun baking meter-long pies in public.
He has now opened seven pizzerias in five years, and has won the world championship for pizza acrobatics, in addition to other forms of recognition and acclaim.
He has been featured on nearly 70 food shows on American networks including the Food Network, ABC, Telemundo, and The CW.
The US embassy in Ankara has posted seven travel warnings for US citizens over the past month. There was no immediate announcement from the embassy, or from the consulate in Adana regarding Akendiz’s detainment.
Following last summer's failed military coup in Turkey, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government has continued to extended state of emergency periods, which allow security officials wide-ranging powers until the country is deemed to be secure.
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