2021 April Report of We Will End Femicide Platform
April 2021 Report*
16 femicide, 14 women suspiciously found dead in april
The fight for ending femicides going on for 10 years in Turkey. As a platform we release femicide data to the public since 2010, when we detected the need. On the other hand the Ministry of Interior is telling that the femicide datas are wrongly prepared and corrupting the truth instead of telling people how many women were murdered. Why and how they were murdered and who murdered them. It's the government's job to explain femicide and suspicious women deaths reality and come up with tangible solutions to end the femicides. We will continue fighting for his job to be effectuate properly by all the connected ministries and units.
The reason couldn’t be detected for 11 womens murder
In this month 16 femicide occured and 14 women suspiciously found dead. 11 of 16 femicide the motive of the murder couldn’t detected, 5 of them murdered for motives like wanting a divorce, refusing proposals, refusing getting back together and basically just because they are making decisions on their lives. The reason for 11 femicides that they couldn’t find the motive is a reason of making violence against women and femicides invisible. Unless women murdered and whom they were murdered by are detected; making trials fair and giving the suspects, murderers and defendants disincentive punishments, and taking preventive measures the violence continues in different forms.
Whom are women murdered by?
8 of 16 women who were murdered by the man whom they were married to, 1 of them by someone they know, 1 of them by a relative, 1 of them by the man she used to be married to, 1 of them by her brother. 2 of the victims' connection with their murderers is unknown.
Women murdered the most at their homes
7 of the women were murdered at their home, 2 of them at the middle of the street, 1 of them at somewhere deserted, 1 of them at a terrain, 1 of them at their workplace, 1 of them at a hotel, 1 of them in a shed, 1 of them in the entrance of apartment. %44 of the women who were murdered this month were killed at their homes.
By whom are women murdered?
8 out of 16 women who were killed in April were murdered by the man they were married to, 1 of them by family, 1 of them by her father, 1 of them by who she was with, 1 of them by the person she used to be with, 1 of them by her brother. 2 women’s closeness with the perpetrator is unknown.
Women murdered the most in their homes
7 of the women were murdered at their homes, 2 of them in the middle of the street, 1 of them at deserted place, 1 of them at a terrain, 1 of them at their workplace, 1 of them in a hotel, 1 of them in a shed, 1 of them at the entrance of apartment. %44 of the women who were murdered this month were killed at their homes.
Women murdered the most with cutting tools
8 of the women were murdered with cutting tools, 6 of them with gunshots, 1 of them with drowning. It could not be determined how one woman was murdered.
Employment status of women still can not be determined
It is so hard to determine women’ employment status. We think that it is important data should be taken into consideration too by press members. According to the data announced by TURKSTAT last month, the number of women 'busy with housework' decreased by 1 million 050 thousand compared to the previous year. So according to TURKSTAT, the number of women who are not even considered in the labor force reached 10 million 309 thousand in January 2021. TURKSTAT's explanation of the data in this way is to try to cover up the true extent of women's unemployment. Women who are not taken into working life or removed from employment is becoming more vulnerable to the dangers of genderbased discrimination, violence and femicide. To the datas which we can reach, the 5 women who were murdered were working in a business and 11 women’s employment status is unknown.
Istanbul Convention is a must to stop femicides
The General Directorate of Security shared a post this month, announcing that 34 women died before the Istanbul Convention was terminated and 25 women died after it was terminated. When public institutions release the femicide data, we always ask the same questions: How do you keep the data on femicides? How come we can't learn the details of public institutions data? The statement "died" in the post made by the General Directorate of Security causes manipulation since it is not clearly stated
whether the dead women were killed by male violence, suspicious or natural causes. Another point of discussion on this issue is that the state says 25 women died in a month, saying that femicide decreased by 26%. Is the killing of 25 women a month something to be proud of for the state? Is it a small number that 25 women were killed in a month? While women are shouting "We do not want to die" in the squares every day, while struggling to survive, the "death of 25 women" after withdrawing from the Istanbul Convention cannot be explained as something to be proud of.
The Ministry of Interior announced the femicides and "male murders" in 2020. The concept of femicide arises from gender inequality and fits this definition if the perpetrator is a man. A concept called male murder is not found in the literature, and the perpetrators of the aforementioned murders and their reasons are unknown. Does the Ministry of Internal Affairs try to manipulate femicides by mentioning a concept called "male murder" and publishing its data, while it does not even reveal the details of the data they publish under the heading "femicide"?
In line with the data published by the Ministry, it is not possible to comment on the course of femicides by looking at a single month. The ministry's statement that the number of femicides is decreasing is unfounded, whose scope of data generation is still unclear. The Ministry should explain the measures and policies implemented in this regard. Just as we cannot interpret a possible decrease in femicide in such a short time, it is also impossible to associate it with withdrawal from the Istanbul Convention alone.
While the Ministry claims that the number of femicides has decreased, it is said that the access of the press to news on femicides has become limited as a result of a regulation. We will follow this process as well. The decision to withdraw from the Istanbul Convention cannot eliminate our gains in our organized struggle that we have been conducting for years. As we will follow every step to be taken, we will continue to struggle in all areas of society at all times in a determined and organized manner.
A distribution of tasks was made in the Turkish Grand National Assembly Violence Against Women Investigation Commission. There were also those who advocated the annulment of the Istanbul Convention among those who took part. While it is necessary to implement the Istanbul Convention in order to stop the violence against women, it is contradictory to withdraw from the contract and establish such a commission, it is an effort to legitimize the withdrawal from the Istanbul Convention.
Following the decision to withdraw from the Istanbul Convention, it was published in the Official Gazette (Official Gazette is the national and only official journal of Turkey that publishes the new legislation and other official announcements.) that the contract expiry date would be July 1, 2021. We will not back down and continue our struggle until the contract is implemented.
Woman’s giant complaint petition which we arranged as ‘We will stop femicides platform of Turkey women’s councils’ was hanged in İstanbul this month. The night of the day that the petition was hanged, it was abated with a decision whose is unknown. Authorities could not tolerate even one of the thousands of complaints that women fill out in police stations and courthouses on the wall we hang, as they struggle with violence every day. Then, in many districts of Turkey’s many cities, municipalities have hanged our giant complaint petition. We would like to tell those who try to abate our petition: In order not to have petitions filed by women on the walls, you are obliged to withdraw the termination of the Istanbul Convention, and to stop all kinds of violence and femicides.
With a decision published in the official newspaper, the Ministry of Family, Labor and Social Services was divided into two and the Ministry of Family and Social Services, and the Ministry of Labor and Social Security were established in its place. Instead of ministries that we do not know what their duty in under the name of “family” ministry, deepen gender inequality, restrict women under the name of family, and ignore discrimination against women and LGBTIQ+ members; ministries that will develop policies against discrimination should be established.
Following the separation of the ministries, the Minister of Family and Social Services Derya Yanık, violated the protected child’s privacy by sharing the face and name of him who was invited on April, 23.
We were protesting in Giresun on April 12 for the death anniversary of Rabia Naz Vatan, who died suspiciously three years ago. We have been with Vatan family in their struggle for years to reveal the suspicious death of their daughter and we will not stop asking what happened to Rabia Naz Vatan.
Tried on grounds for killing a man who systematically inflicted violence on Melek İpek was released for self-defense. The decision made for Melek İpek is precedent, we know that women would not be subjected to violence if the Istanbul Convention was implemented and we will continue to struggle for this.
Las Tesis trail in Izmir has been postponed this month. Judge murderers, not women who come uo together to end femicide and violence against women. We will not give up our struggle for equality and freedom.
Our friends who wanted to protest against the decision to withdraw from the Istanbul Convention on April 8 in Tokat, encountered police intervention before they started to protest. After the intervention, seven of our friends were detained. You will not be able to prevent women’s organized struggle. We will continue to meet women who are fighting for their rights all over the world and to fill the squares.
University Women’s Assemblies: We organize for equality and freedom bluntly
In the statement made by Tokat Gaziosmanpaşa University rector regarding the establishment of Tokat University Women Councils, there are sayings such as “an illegal formation that is supported by some political parties and marginal groups”. We do not accept these statements about the organization of young women and we will continue to organize in every city, university bluntly.
A lecturer at Yıldız Technical University dropped out the student who has a profile photo that wrote “Istanbul Convention saves lives” in an online class from the class. Upon this, all students have changed their profile photos that say “Istanbul Convention saves lives' ' and participated in the class. We say that the Istanbul Convention saves lives and we will keep saying. Women will Express their opinions wherever they wish.
High School Women’s Assemblies: High Schooler Women Will Earn Equality and Freedom
Violation of rights against women in high school continues. High schooler women come together saying there cannot be exams during the pandemic. The ones who put restrictions with the excuse of the
pandemic decide that the exams will be face-to-face, disregarding the lives of the students. Together with the women in high school who continue to struggle for their rights, we are and will continue on establishing High School Women’s Assemblies in every single place across the country.
Refuse Exploitation, Unemployment, Violence, And All the Inequalities
This year, we welcomed the 1st of May with the so-called full closure. From the beginning of the pandemic we did not hear of any precautions for women, workers, unemployed people, youngsters, LGBTQI+s. We will come together and be organized for our own precautions.
The liberation of women and all of society will be earned by getting rid of all of the inequalities. We refuse all the inequalities to end exploitation, unemployment and all kinds of violence. Even though we can’t go out to the squares this year, we celebrated the 1st of May by saying “Exploitation, unemployment, violence; refuse all the inequalities!” from our houses and balconies. We will again meet at the squares saying “Long live 1st of May, long live the women!” we will be everywhere with our fight.
The Law Numbered 6284 and its consequences
If the Law 6284, which regulates many measures such as suspension, close protection for those who commit violence, recognizes many rights from financially empowering women to changing their credentials, and entered into force as a result of women's organizations fighting for years is effectively applied, it protects women. 6284 that was brought into force to protect women and end violence became law only after the İstanbul Convention was signed.
While it remains unknown whether the 14 women killed in April had a protection order or not, only 2 of the women have known legal applications such as protection order, divorce procedure, restraining order, police complaint and so on.
In the case of Duygu Delen’s death, according to the report of the commission of experts, it was not possible that she could have fallen off by accident.
Boxer Selim Ahmet Kemaloğlu, who was arrested on charges of inflicting violence on Zeynep Şenpınar and killing her with 37 knife strokes, was sentenced to life imprisonment with a reduction in good conduct time in the case where he was on trial with aggravated life imprisonment.
This month, in the Pınar Gültekin trial, the perpetrator Cemal Metin Avcı said, "She was not my lover, she was an escort." And demanded Pınar's mobile phone messages to be read.
Two women who went to a shopping mall in Eskişehir were subjected to harassment by a man named Ziya Işık for wearing shorts. Zozan Güneş complained about Işık who insulted the women by saying "You cannot dress like this in Turkey", walked on them and spit from afar; received the answer "Where will you see it again?" after demanding protection from the police. The police, who made a protection request upon the reaction of the lawyer, said, "It will be rejected in court anyway." Ziya Işık was released after his testimony.
In Muğla's Bodrum district, the defendant, who was charged with "sexual harassment" and "disturbing the peace and tranquility of the people", was sentenced to 3 years, 1 month and 15 days in prison at the first hearing.
The person who argued with his wife in Adana took his 4-year-old daughter hostage and tried to throw her off the housetop. Because of arguing with his wife, Mustafa A. took his wife and child hostage and took them to the housetop. He threatened to throw his daughter off the housetop because he got angry with Eda A., who she managed to give him the slip. The mentioned person tried to throw his daughter, sometimes by hanging her off her foot and sometimes from her hand. Mustafa A. was detained by the teams that came to the scene.
Fatma M.,23, living in Adıyaman, was stabbed several times in the middle of the street by Islam M., whom she wanted to divorce. While seriously injured Fatma M. was taken to the hospital, the perpetrator, who wanted to be neutralized by the people around, fled the scene.
All these examples show how vital the full and effective implementation of the Istanbul Convention and 6824 is for women. In order to protect women effectively, cautionary decisions should be implemented, the process should be followed, all units of the state should protect women's rights and public officials who do not fulfill their duties should not go unpunished.
Suspicious female deaths must immediately be enlightened
As we have explained in our reports for a while, there has been a serious increase in the number of suspicious female deaths presented as suicide or natural death and the number of women who were found dead in a suspicious way, along with the pandemic process. Suspicious female deaths, unfortunately, can be even more difficult than femicide. Whether women were killed or not, whether they actually died by accident, whether women were killed on a gender basis (whether it was a femicide or not), whether they committed suicide or whether they were driven to suicide need to be revealed.
Bahriye Buket İlhan, 20, living in konya, was found shot in the head with a firearm on the roadside in an empty field. The man who was with her at the time of the murder said that she was committed suicide. However, he said that after the case, he asked for help from a friend and his father and that they also hid the gun. 3 suspects were arrested.
Dilek S., 42, living in Malatya, was found suspiciously dead in the hotel she was staying in. On the day of the murder, it was revealed that the hotel staff had called the police after hearing the sounds of fighting came from the room where Dilek S. and Münir İ stood in.
Melek Aslan, 39, living in Kocaeli, was found dead in a cave by the sea after she left home, saying that she will visit her father's house with the man she was married to.
Aynur Şirin, 24, who was sought as missing in Aydın, was found dead on the coast of İzmir two days later.
Elif Uzundağ, 21, living in Hatay, died suspiciously after falling into the apartment space from the 6th floor of the building she lived in. It was learned that Elif Uzundağ was pregnant and had just separated from the man she was married to, and the divorce proceedings were continuing.
Suspicious deaths of 14 women that we have learned in April should be revealed as soon as possible. What to do is obvious; The termination decision of the Istanbul Convention should be withdrawn, the protection law no 6284 and the Istanbul Convention should be implemented effectively and fully together with all institutions and organizations. Investigations of suspicious female deaths should be carefully examined and concluded quickly.
What happened about women in April?
President Erdogan, upon the question of a young person in the Library Talks, said "Violence against women is forbidden in our religion. We will make this contract fairer, more beautiful, and stronger, and continue with it."
On April 6, during the meeting President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, President of the European Council Charles Michel was given an equal seat next to Erdogan, while Von der Leyen, who has the same status with Charles Michel, sat on the sofa corresponding to the same status as the Minister of Foreign Affairs, since there was no other chair. Von der Leyen later stated that this attitude is because she is a woman.
The cooperation protocol to be signed between Esenyurt Municipality and Istanbul Bar Association to provide lawyers for supporting the women who were subjected to violence was rejected by the votes of the AKP-MHP group, which has the majority in the district council.
The commission members of the Turkish Grand National Assembly, which was established to investigate violence against women, were published in the Official Gazette. It was noteworthy that among the commission members there were those who favored withdrawal from the Istanbul Convention.The decision stating that the Istanbul Convention will end on July 1, 2021 for Turkey was published in the Official Gazette.
Stories of the struggle for life of 16 women were killed in April
Fatma Abravcı, 43, living in Kayseri, was stabbed to death by Yasin T., with whom she was married to, on the pretext of the photos she shared on social media.
Seda Kayadelen, 28, living in Balıkesir, was killed by Emrah Kayadelen, whom she was married to, with a sharp object on the pretext of jealousy. It was learned that the perpetrator was caught with the crime tool at the place where he hid.
Emine Fulya Akçelebi, 18, using the pseudonym "Bahar Bal" and living in Elazığ, was stabbed to death by Salih Yılmaz C. It was learned that the perpetrator later called his friends and said "I killed my beloved" and was caught at his grandfather's house.
Arzu İlhan Koca, 39, mother of 4 children and living in Istanbul, was killed with a sharp object in front of her children by Gökhan Koca, to whom she was married. It was learned that Arzu, who had been
subjected to violence before, had a suspension order against the perpetrator and despite this suspension order perpetrator came home to commit the murder.
Selma Örenç, 51, mother of 3 children and living in Samsun, was killed while she was working in the field with a shotgun by Mehmet Örenç, whom she was married to. It was learned that the perpetrator later attempted suicide with the same weapon.
It was revealed thatLeyla Ganigülü, who was 41 years old and has been missing since 2010, was killed in Gaziantep. M. N. A was arrested regarding the murder.
Mevlüde Parlak, 60, mother of 8 children and living in Sivas, was stabbed to death by Rahmi Parlak, whom she was married to, on the excuse that she did not cook.
Akgül Yıldız, 45, living in Bursa, was murdered with a firegun by Mehmet Yıldız whom she was in divorcement process. It was learned that the perpetrator attempted to kill himself with the same gun but then he was arrested and taken into custody.
Yıldız Gül, 38, living in İstanbul, was stabbed to death by her brother Kemal B. on the pretext of honor.
Filiz Gültekin, 36, living in Afyon, was murdered with a firegun by the father of the man she was married to.
Zeynep Yılmaz, 14, living in İstanbul, was strangled to death by her father Cüneyt Yılmaz on the pretext of her mother cheating on her father. It was learned that the perpatrator tried to kill himself with a firegun after the murder.
Koçer Dönmez, 56, living in Kırıkkale, was stabbed to death by Mehmet Dönmez who she was married to. It was learned that the perpetrator fired the home and the car to cover the murder.
Ayşe Cenikli, 39, mother of two children and living in Samsun, was murdered by Bülent Cenikli whom she was married to, on the pretext that she did not meet children with the perpetrator. It was learned that Ayşe had a restraining order against the perpetrator.
Esra Çelik, 26, police officer and living in Ağrı, was murdered by her colleague Mesut Doğan with a firegun.
Hatice Işık, 28, mother of two children and living in Burdur, was murdered with a firegun by Ramazan T. in her business place. It was learned that the perpetrator said Hatice’s husband by saying ‘’I’m not done with you.’’
Tuba Menek, 23, pregnant, mother of one child and living in Konya, was murdered by a sharp object by Ramazan Menek whom she was married to. It was learned that the perpatrator was released from the prison 3 days before the murder.