2021 January Report*

In January, 23 Femicides, 14 Suspicious Deaths

The struggle to stop femicides has been continuing for 10 years in Turkey. Our platform has been announcing femicide data since we identified the need to the public in 2010.The Ministry, which is responsible for announcing the data has to systematically explain

how many women were killed, why, how and by whom. According to the Istanbul Convention, the state has an obligation to disclose statistics however, after years, we see that the Ministry of Interior started to announce data as a result of our struggle. In addition to explaining the reality of femicide and suspicious deaths of women, it is also the duty of the state to put into practice concrete solutions to stop femicides.

We will continue to fight to activate all relevant ministries and all mechanisms in order to fulfill this task.

The reason of 16 femicides could not be determined

This month, 23 femicides were committed, 14 women were found suspiciously dead. It could not be determined why 16 out of the 23 women were killed, 2 women were killed out of economical reasons and 5 were killed because of making a decision about their own life, such as wanting to divorce, refusing to make peace, refusing to marry and be in relationship.The fact that the reason 16 femicides could not be identified is as a result of making violence against women and femicides invisible.Unless it is determined by whom and why the women were killed; unless a fair trial is made, suspects, defendants and murderers receive deterrent punishments and preventive measures are not implemented, violence against women continues increasingly.

By whom were women killed?

Of the 23 women murdered in January, the perpetrators of 7 women were the men they were married to, 6 were the men they were with, 2 were the men they were with previously, 2 were their relatives, 1 was the man she was married to, 1 was her father,1 was her son. The proximities of the people who caused the death of 3 women could not be determined.

Women were killed the most in their own homes

16 women were murdered in their houses, two were murdered in the streets, one was murdered in a car, one was murdered in a landed property and one was murdered in a deserted area, one was murdered in a hotel. One woman’s place of death could not be identified. 70% of femicides committed in this month were in their homes.

Women were killed the most by firearms

12 women were murdered by firearms, six were murdered by sharp objects  and four were strangled to death. One woman’s cause of death could not be determined.

Women’s employment statuses still cannot be determined

Identifying women’s working conditions and employment statuses is very hard. These important statistics should also be taken into consideration by pressmen. According to the statistics published by TÜİK (Turkish Statistical Institute) this month, the number of women “busy with housework” decreased by one million and five hundred forty seven compared to last year. As a result, the number of those determined not to be a part of the workforce by TÜİK ended up being  ten million and two thousand (September, 2020). The revealing of these statistics by TÜİK aims to cover up the degree of women unemployment.Women who are not accepted into the workforce and hindered from employment are more vulnerable and susceptible to gender-based discrimination, violence, and becoming a victim of femicide. According to the accessible statistics, none of the women’s working conditions and employment statuses are known.

Istanbul Convention will be implemented, Impunity will be removed

The Minister of Justice has responded to criticism of the judiciary and calls for arrest made by social media users. The minister who has said "We come across decisions that hurt the public conscience." has also said that the main address of the criticism is the laws, not the judges. We would like to remind Abdulhamit Gül: You are the minister responsible for justice, you are one of the officials who will offer solutions to the deficiencies. The Minister of Justice has continued his statements "Women's dignity is paramount." Women do not want grace or to be blessed, women want to implement their existing rights. Women want equality. For the reason of the İstanbul Convention and the Law No. 6284 not being implemented effectively, they are forced to fight for their right to live. Despite women making complaints over and over and applying for protection orders, they are murdered by men. Although the crimes of the perpetrators are definite, they are released and their release is celebrated. In order to eliminate this deep contradiction as soon as possible, to provide effective protection for women and to have an effective investigation and prosecution, the implementation of the Istanbul Convention is a must.

Women who are fighting are on trial while the perpetrators are free.

Our friends in Izmir were tried for Las Tesis’ performance. Instead of retrying women who point out responsible units of the state, all units must be mobilized for the protection and empowerment of women. These trials cannot stop women’s fight. We will continue to fight and point out responsible people and units.

One year has passed and we are still asking: Where is Gülistan Doku?

No news has been received from Gülistan Doku for more than a year.

In the first year of Gülistan Doku’s disappearance, we continued to ask "Where is Gülistan Doku?" The suspect Zeynal Abarok, who was known to detain Gülistan Doku before her disappearance, has not even been testified. It was decided to bring Zeynal Abarok to the country, but this decision was also not implemented.

The search for Gülistan Doku has been finalized without an explanation from the  Ministry of Interior. It ended before it was done. Following the developments and reactions, the authorities are still not conducting an effective process to find Gülistan.

Requests submitted during the investigation process should be considered as soon as possible and the decisions made must be applied. We will continue our figth until Gülistan Doku is found.

The DNA of Aleyna Çakır will be matched with Ümitcan Uygun's DNA

Aleyna Çakır was found suspiciously dead in her home last year. Although there was a video recording of the moments when Ümitcan Uygun used violence and fainted Aleyna, he had not been processed for months but he was arrested when drug use footages of him shared on social media. DNA sample was taken from Ümit Can Uygun as part of the investigation. The DNA samples of Aleyna Çakır and Ümitcan Uygun will be matched with the DNA found on Aleyna. Investigation process must be carried out effectively, the deficiencies in the file should be corrected as soon as possible and Aleyna Çakır’s suspicious death should be clarified.

Ministry should explain the difference

The Ministry of the Interior announced the femicide data. According to the explanation of the ministry in 2020 there were 266 femicides, but according to our data there were 300 femicides and 171 suspicious deaths. We are announcing the definition of femicide and our resources in every report. What is the meaning of the femicide concept according to the Ministry of the Interior who started to announce femicide data as a result of our decisive fight? The ministry

should explain which femicides have not been included in their data and they should terminate this contradiction. The Minister of Interior stated that femicides decreased with their fight. The steps that are just taken are not enough to stop femicides. The ministries should implement their concrete solutions to stop femicides. The ministry should release to the public the suspicious deaths of women like femicides.

We will have the Istanbul Convention implemented

In a program, Oğuzhan Asiltürk stated that authorities from AKP told him Istanbul Convention will definitely be withdrawn.

In a period where impunity has increased so much and women have to kill in order not to die, what should be discussed is how to effectively implement the Istanbul Convention. The authorities should take action with all institutions and organizations to implement Istanbul Convention as a priority.İstanbul Convention which has vital importance can’t be a topic of alliance conditions. Women will not let you open İstanbul Convention for discussion again.

University students want an elected rector, not appointed

Erdoğan assigned rectors to 5 university.It is unacceptable to appoint rectors to universities, which are centers of qualified and contemporary education, through trustees.University students fight against appointed rector for days.University Women Councils also take part in the protestos and fight for equal and scientific education rights. The students who are not leaving universities to appointed rectors are not alone.

The Minister of Interior has targeted the LGBTQ+ students, who are fighting at Boğaziçi University for their rights, on Twitter. Hate speeches deepen the discrimination and inequality existing in society. All kinds of discrimination against LGBTİQ+ is a crime and on the contrary with İstanbul Convention.

The Law No. 6284 and its results

The Law No. 6284 regulates lots of measures including restraining orders and protection orders for those who were exposed to violence; entitles women lots of rights from strengthening them economically to changing their identities. If 6284, that has entered in force as a result of women organization’s fight for years, is implemented effectively, it protects women. Law No. 6284, which has entered into force to protect women and prevent violence, became law after the signing of the Istanbul Convention.

While it is unknown if 22 women who were murdered in January had a protection order; it’s known that only 1 woman didn’t have any police complaint, divorcement process, forensic application such as restraining or protection order.

On the case of Ayşe Tuba Arslan who was murdered by the man she divorced  and had made 23 complaints against, the judge of Eskişehir Family Court has reported that there is no need to prosecution  reason being there had already been examination held by Eskişehir Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office about K.G, therefore no further investigation needed and case ought to be closed. In regard of  police’s negligence, it has been deduced that ‘Security units have no negligence and there is no need to run an investigation.’

In Konya, Ali Ay , the man 23 years old Rukiye Ay is married to, poured hot water on Rukiye Ay. Hot water splashed onto 1,5 years old Eylül who was there with her mother while the incident occured. Rukiye Ay’s lawyer raised an objection to Ali Ay’s release on bail. Due to the objection Ali Ay has been taken into custody and arrested by the  court he was shipped to.

The man wh sexually abused Ç.Y., also threatened  Ç.Y.’s lawyer Bilgenur Yalçın with sexual assault. The perperator is still unimprisoned, due to this injustice, Ç.Y. has committed suicide and remains %99 handicapped.

The uncle Osman Ç. who has abused his niece Z.Ç. is released by the court pending a trial. A celebration took place upon his release by the relatives and  Z.Ç. tried to commit suicide upon hearing the court’s decision.

The Court of Appeal assented to the acquittal of defendants due to absence of proof. Once again Aslı baş’s death stayed  suspicious. The rejection process to the Supreme Court has started to reveal the truth.

The Supreme Court reversed the judgement on Handan Sevin case. The reason for the reversal of the decision was the punishment to be given from the upper limit. The Court had given the defendant punishment from the upper limit due to attempting to kill Handan and her sister and had applied good conduct time.

These examples show us how vitally important it is to women to apply the İstanbul Convention  and Law No. 6284 effectively. In order to protect women, injunction orders should be applied, the process should be followed, all units of government should protect women’s rights and officials who malfunction should not go unpunished.

Suspicious women deaths should immediately be clarified

As we announced in our reports for a while now, with the pandemic there is a serious increase  of suspicious women deaths which are presented as natural death or suicide and the number of women wh were found suspiciously dead. Unfortunately suspicious women deaths can be more challenging than femicides. It should be clarified whether the women were murdered or not, were dead by an accident or not, whether the murders were gender-based or not (if it’s a femicide or not), whether it was a suicide or forced to a suicide.

In Istanbul, Esenyurt,  Arife Nayır , mother of 4, was found dead in the middle of the street.

In Istanbul, 17-year-old Zerda Curka suspiciously fell from the 8th floor of the hotel she was staying at and died. It was learned that Zerda had previously complained of sexual assault.

In Istanbul, Beyoğlu, a Morrocan woman who couldn’t be  identified was found dead, in the living room wrapped in a blanket, due to her neighbours' report to the police officers caused by smell.

Ece Küçükbaltacılar, 24, was found hanging in the attic of her house the day after fighting with the man she was with in Istanbul. Ece's family claimed that her daughter's death was wanted to be portrayed as a suicide.

14 women’s suspicious deaths we have discovered in January should be clarified immediately. The thing to do is obvious; The Protection Law numbered 6284 and Istanbul Convention should be applied actively and entirely within all institutions and organizations. The investigations of suspicious deaths of women should be examined carefully and be concluded immediately.

What happened about women in January?

Saadet Party (one of the Turkey’s opposition parties) High Advisory Board Chairman Oğuzhan Asiltürk: “AK Party competents came to me and they said that the Istanbul

Convention would definitely abrogate. I know that the President has also stated, the Istanbul Convention will definitely abrogate. " He stated as such.

In Puerto Rico, women's fight against male violence for years forced the regional government to sit at the table. According to 2019 numbers, a state of emergency was declared to prevent violence against women in Puerto Rico, where on average a woman dies each week due to violence.

The Pakistani court decided that the virginity test is against the Constitution. In Lahore, the capital city of the Punjab state, the Supreme Court decided that virginity tests against victims of sexual assault were 'illegal and unconstitutional'.

Philippine's leader Rodrigo Duterte said that the presidency is not a job for a woman. Philippine leader Rodrigo Duterte explained that the presidency is not a job for a woman compared to the sensuality of men and women, and denied speculation that her daughter will replace her next year.

In Poland, it was announced that the abortion ban, was previously postponed by the Supreme Court’s decision, has officially came into force.

In the face of the fact that gender discrimination against women at management level in the business world cannot be prevented by incentives and voluntary initiatives in Germany, the cabinet management accepted that, the draft law requiring companies which have 4 or more members in their administrative board, have to include at least 1 female member.

The story of  struggle for life of 23 women who were murdered in January:

Selma Taşkafa (25), who lives in Bursa, was killed with a shotgun by Fahri Küçükcivan whom she was with. It was learned that the perpetrator said in his statement that "I shot her in her leg because I did not want her to go to someone else."

Vildan İnce (24), who lives in Kırşehir, was killed by her family with a shotgun on the pretext of marrying someone whom they did not approve of.

Sevgi Tekin (32), a mother of 3 children living in Ankara, was killed with a shotgun on the pretext of jealousy, in front of her family, by Gökhan Ağtaş, whom she used to be with.

Aslıhan Dal (29), mother of 3 children living in Çorum, was strangled to the death by Polat Hatal whom she was with. It was learned that the perpetrator had a criminal record for various crimes.

SevdaKösecik (33), a mother of 3 children living in Kocaeli, was killed with a sharp object in front of her children by İsa Kösecik, whom she was in divorce phase.

Ayşe Yaylan (41), who lives in Mersin, was killed with a shotgun in a car by her previous husband Mustafa E., on the pretext of jealousy.

Hatice Soysal, a mother of 1 child, living in İstanbul, was locked in the room with her son by Adnan Soysal, whom she was married to, and then was murdered with a sharp tool.

Neriman Kıvrak, a 68-year-old living in İstanbul, was murdered by Cemal Ş., who claimed to be with her, with a sharp tool. It was found out that the perpetrator has fled from prison previously.

Döndü Bakır, a 47-year-old mother of 1 child, living in Kahramanmaraş, was murdered by Hasan Bakır, whom she was married to, with a firearm in front of her child’s eyes. The perpetrator committed suicide with the same gun after then.

It was revealed with the confession of the perpetrator that Zeynep Güngör, a 34-year-old mother of 4 children, who disappeared in İstanbul in 2019, was murdered with a sharp tool by Ecevit Bahçecioğlu. It was found out that Zeynep's older brother and sister were also detained after the statement of the perpetrator.

Aleyna Yurtkölesi, a 22-year-old living in Denizli, was strangled to death by Shayan Kheyrian, whom she used to be with.

Ferdane Kurt, a 43-year-old mother of 1 child, in İstanbul, was strangled to death in front of her child’s eyes, in the hotel she was staying in, by a person staying at the same hotel.

Nergiz Beyaz, a 39-year-old mother of 3 children, living in Malatya, was murdered in front of her child’s eyes, with a sharp tool by Hüseyin Ördek, whom she was with. The perpetrator committed suicide with the same tool after then.

Aygül Çakan, a 48-year-old, living in İstanbul, was shot in the head with a firearm by Tacettin Çakan, whom she was married to. Aygül, who was taken into intensive care, passed away after 5 days.

Melek Ayaz, a 39-year-old, living in İstanbul, was strangled to death, under the cover of not wanting to exchange her wedding ring, by Süleyman Güngörmüş, whom she was married to.

Hatice Bodur, a 73-year-old, living in Denizli, was murdered with a firearm, by her grandchild Mahmut Bodur, under the cover of being in charge of the divorce of his parents.

Gonca Pekşen, a 39-year-old, living in Konya, was murdered by Özkan Can in the middle of the street with a firearm.

Şadiye Öztürk, an 86-year-old, living in Antalya, was murdered by N.K. and S.D. who entered the house on the purpose of theft.

Dilan Kok, a mother of 2 children, living in Iğdır, was murdered with a firearm by Maruf Kok, whom she was at the phase of divorce. The perpetrator entered the house by breaking the window.

Şükran Biroğlu, a 70-year-old, living in İstanbul, was murdered with a sharp tool, by her son Uğur Biroğlu.

Feride Yılmaz, a 26-year-old, living in Gaziantep, was murdered with a firearm by her father H.İ.S. It was found out that after the incident by calling the police, the perpetrator said that “Come, I killed my daughter”

It was revealed that Arzu Aygün, a 35-year-old mother of 2 children, living in Samsun, who has not been heard from her for 42 days, was shot in the head and murdered with a firearm by Muharrem Coşkun, whom she was with. It was found out that the perpetrator then wanted money by calling Arzu’s mother and told her that her daughter is okay.

Süryan Büyük, a mother of 6 children, living in Diyarbakır, was murdered with a firearm by Mehmet Büyük, whom she was married to and previously used violence against her.