Turkey: Junk dealer returns gold coins found in stove

By Bilal Altiok

BURDUR, Turkey (AA) - A selfless junk dealer in southwestern Turkey returned 100 gold coins he found hidden away in an old stove.

Asir Ozturk, 36, has been making a living by collecting and selling junk materials in Burdur for the last 20 years.

It was a usual day for him until he was given an old stove, oven and a refillable gas cylinder by a man named Ayhan Yaman.

Inside the stove, he found 100 gold coins, worth almost 30,000 Turkish liras ($7320.12), apparently forgotten by the owner.

Without any hesitation, Ozturk headed to Yaman's house to return the newfound treasure.

"I wanted to return the gold coins without any hesitation. I immediately went to the person I took the stove from. The owner of the coins said: 'I did not know what was in it'," Ozturk said.

When he saw the coins Yaman realized that his father had been keeping his savings in the unused stove.

"We never make our living with ill-gotten money," Ozturk said, "but I was really surprised when I first saw the coins."