A mix up with the police

For the second time in the two months since I've been here I have had to shift my two suitcases of belongings across the Bosphorus from one continent to the other. I had to leave my apartment on the Asian side because the lease was up, and the school has now placed me in another apartment on the European side. It must be admitted that this second move was considerably easier that the first. Instead of battling through the ever-teeming and letally uneven streets of Istanbul with two suitcases that probably equate to my own weight, the school provided me with the company car. This car is a large, imposing black van with blacked out windows, driven by the company's driver, whose name is Mehmet. After we had crossed the bridge into Europe and were about 10 minutes from my new apartment, we were waved over by the police. I thought nothing of this at first, expecting it to be just some kind of random, routine check for a driver's license or something. However, the policemen soon started to take a distinctly aggressive tone with Mehmet, and then demanded to see my passport, which, after much huffing and puffing and eye-rolling, I managed to retrieve from the depths of my suitcase. After I showed it to them, one if the policemen gestured me back into the passenger seat of the car, where he attempted to interrogate me in Turkish. After much repetition and gesticulating, I eventually understood that he was asking me if I knew Mehmet, and, for some reason, if I had paid him any money, or if he had paid me any money. In my limited Turkish all I could do was say again and again 'ogretmenim Ingilize!' (I'm an English teacher), which did little to enlighten the increasingly exasperated police officer. After several calls to their superiours, the policemen eventually seemed to decide that it was all more hassle than it was worth, and so let us go. It was only later that evening after talking to some friends that I realised what it was all about. They thought Mehmet was traffiking me for the sex trade. Mistaken for a prostitute - first time for everything.