Erdogan Ceren Suicide Video: Heartbroken Turkish Man Takes His Own Life During Facebook Live Video

Erdogan Ceren was heartbroken after splitting up with a girlfriend and made a decision that would turn him into a morbid viral figure — taking his own life during a Facebook Live video.

The disturbing footage from Turkey has made international headlines, the latest example of a high-profile and very public suicide to make the news. It is also another case of Facebook Live making headlines for a shocking and disturbing broadcast.

The Turkish man posted the footage of his suicide on the social media site this week, saying in the video that he had decided to end his life after his girlfriend broke up with him. As the Sun noted, Erdogan started with a message about his plans.

“No one believed when I said I will kill myself – so watch this,” said the 22-year-old man.

It was then that Erdogan Ceren made an attempt to take his life, pulling the trigger of a shotgun but initially failing as the trigger jammed. Erdogan tried again, with the camera in one hand and the gun in the other, the Sun noted. His second attempt was successful.

The Facebook Live video of Erdogan Ceren’s suicide has been shared thousands of times and garnered tens of thousands of comments, some expressing sympathy for the heartbroken man and others criticizing him for subjecting family and friends to the video. Some even posted at the time the video went live, pleading with Ceren not to shoot.

As the Sun noted, Erdogan had posted a status update just hours before his death saying he was “feeling broken.” And just before taking his life, Erdogan publicly criticized his girlfriend, who he said had been cheating on him.

“Before the act he also shared a poem that he had written to his allegedly adulterous girlfriend, saying: ‘Our love was going to be a saga, our eyes were not going to shed tears, now tell me love, are you leaving, will my hands burn without you.'”

Erdogan Ceren is not the first person to take their own life and broadcast the suicide on Facebook. In what has become a disturbing trend, a handful of people have used the Facebook Live application to show their final moments, including a Thai man who videotaped his hanging.

As the News-Chronicle noted, the man posted the disturbing video after posting a desperate message on the social media site.

“Titled ‘Just a man going to die,’ the live video showed a calm Charoen making preparations for about 19 minutes to hang himself from a ceiling fan. He is mostly silent the entire time apart from some comments about his family

‘I have nothing left,’ he says at one point.

His body remains suspended motionless for another dozen minutes or so. The video is still available but a content warning had been added by Facebook by Tuesday afternoon.”

Facebook Live has been used to capture a number of other graphic moments, including the aftermath of the shooting death of Philando Castile outside of St. Paul, Minnesota. The man’s girlfriend used her cell phone camera to record his dying moments after being shot by a police officer, with her footage helping the moment go viral and making his killing part of a nationwide backlash against police killings.

.@Facebook Stands By Technical Glitch Claim, Says Cop Didn't Delete Philando Castile Video https://t.co/q2osAs7juy (by @williamturton)

— Maxamegalon2000 (@Maxamegalon2000) September 24, 2016

Police in Turkey said they have launched an investigation into the suicide of Erdogan Ceren. A censored version of his suicide video can be found here.

Anyone who might be struggling with suicidal thoughts can find help at the National Suicide Prevention Hotline at 1-800-273-8255 or at Crisis Chat. A full list of international suicide help hotlines can also be found here.

[Featured Image by Vereshchagin Dmitry/Shutterstock]