We Will Stop Femicides Platform October 2023 Report
In October 2023, 19 women were killed by men, and 18 women were found suspiciously dead.
2023 October Report*
19 Femicides and 18 Suspicious Deaths of Women in October
The fight to stop femicides in Turkey has been going on for 13 years. As the Platform, since we identified the need in 2010, we have been disclosing femicide data to the public. Instead of explaining how many women have been killed, why, how and by whom, the Ministry of Interior distorts the facts by saying that the data on femicides are incorrectly prepared. It is the duty of the state not only to disclose the reality of femicides and suspicious deaths of women but also to implement concrete solutions to stop femicides. We will continue to fight for the mobilization of all relevant ministries and mechanisms to fulfil this duty.
5 women were killed on the pretext of wanting to take decisions about their life
This month, 19 femicides were committed, and 18 women were found suspiciously dead. 5 women were killed on the pretext of wanting to take decisions about their own life, such as wanting a divorce, refusing to reconcile, refusing to marry, or rejecting a relationship, and 1 woman was killed on the pretext of an argument. The reason behind 13 of the 19 femicides could not be determined.. The inability to determine the excuse behind the murder of 13 women is the result of violence against women and femicides being rendered invisible. Unless it is determined by whom and why women were killed, unless a fair trial is conducted and the suspects, defendants and murderers are given deterrent punishments and unless preventive measures are implemented, violence continues to increase in size.
We would like to share the names of the women, each of whom was a life:
Femicide data in the month of October, by city:
By whom were the women killed?
Of the 19 women killed in October, 11 were killed by the man they were married to, 2 by the man they were with, 1 by the man she used to be married to, 1 by the man she used to be with, 1 by her brother, 1 by her son and 1 by a relative. The relation of the perpetrator could not be determined for 1 woman. This month, 58% of the women who were killed were killed by the man they were married to.
Women were mostly killed in their homes
13 of the women were killed at their homes, 3 in the middle of the street, 1 in a public place and 1 in a deserted place. It could not be determined where 1 woman was killed. 68% of the women killed this month were killed in their homes.
Women were mostly killed with firearms
12 of the women killed this month were killed with firearms, 3 by strangulation, 2 with sharp objects and 2 by being beaten to death. 63% of the women killed this month were killed with firearms.
NEGLECTS WILL BE EXPOSED, THOSE RESPONSIBLE WILL BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE!
THE YOUTH WILL LIVE!
In Aydın, university student Zeren Ertaş died due to an elevator crash in the dormitory of the Credit and Dormitories Institution, where she was staying. Fourteen other students in the same elevator were injured. Although students have been filing official complaints to the Presidental Communication Center and the dormitory management for a long time, these complaints were disregarded. The negligence of management caused the death of a student. The Young Feminists Federation filled campuses, dormitories and squares in dozens of cities to demand accountability for their friends who were killed or driven to suicide and to remind young women that they will never walk alone.
All these have shown us that it is not easy for young people to access free and qualified education. For a long time, students have been facing housing problems. The few students who can stay in these dormitories live under unhealthy conditions. Students even face death. The political power needs to organize a housing system guaranteeing minimum living standards for all students. Femicides occur because state institutions fail to enforce the law and fulfil their duties. State institutions fail to provide students with the safe education environment they are obligated to provide. Zeren Ertaş’s death is a murder, and the perpetrators are the institutions which failed to fulfil their duties. We will ask for the account for the students who committed suicide out of poverty, for Zeren Ertaş who died in her dormitory due to the neglect of the management and for the students who were left to the hands of Islamic sects.
WITH OUR STRUGGLE, WE WILL GIVE NO PASSAGE TO ABUSE
Crimes against children are both increasing and trying to be covered up, but with our struggle, we will not allow abusers and perpetrators to be exonerated and crimes to be covered up. As a result of our struggle, in the case of H. K. G., Kadir İstekli, the man H. K. G. was forcibly married to as a child, was sentenced to 30 years, her father Yusuf Ziya Gümüşel to 20 years and her mother Fatima Gümüşel to 16 years and 8 months. According to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the state is obliged to protect children from all forms of ill-treatment by parents or other persons responsible for the care of the child. Despite this, many children still face the threat of forced marriage and abuse. In Konya, a report stated Ayhan Şengüler had sexually abused 15-year-old H. Ş. and then 4-year-old D. Ş. However, the file was closed, and the incident was tried to be covered up. We will not abandon children to the darkness of abusers and authorities who whitewash abuse. You will not be able to cover up the abuses.
ON NOVEMBER 12, WE ARE AT KARTAL SQUARE
Unable to stop femicides, the government is opening up the Civil Code, women’s right to alimony, mixed education, and protection Law No. 6284 to discussion. We see these as efforts to limit secularism and our freedoms. Yet we know that women will continue to seek their rights in the streets and squares without fear. We will march together against these reactionary ideas, the negligent government, abusers, and bigots. On November 12, we are meeting for secularism and our freedom. Women from all over Turkey are coming to the Women’s March for Secularism and Freedom. Come to Kartal Square on November 12 at 14:00. Together with you, our voice will be louder and our movement stronger!
Case Developments in October
In the lawsuit filed against Muhammet Balcı, who shot and killed 24-year-old lawyer Belen Nesil Coşgun with a firearm in Ankara, it was revealed that Coşgun asked for help from the KADES (Women’s Emergency Support Notification System) application on her phone three times during the incident. The defendant is demanded aggravated life imprisonment for ‘intentional murder against a woman’.
72-year-old Hasan Yağal, who was acquitted of killing 3-year-old Müslüme Yağal due to lack of evidence, was sentenced to 28 years in prison for ‘qualified sexual assault’ against his daughter-in-law and 5 years, 7 months and 15 days in prison for ‘molesting’ his own daughter that he had with his daughter-in-law.
Last year in Denizli, Sabour Sakhizadeh murdered his girlfriend Nadia Noori by mixing rat poison in her food. In the case against him, the perpetrator was sentenced to aggravated life imprisonment.
Suspicious deaths of women should be revealed immediately
As we have been stating in our reports for a while, there is a very serious increase in the number of suspicious deaths of women presented as suicides or natural deaths and in the number of women who were found suspiciously dead during the pandemic. Unfortunately, shedding light on the suspicious deaths of women can be even more difficult than femicides. It is necessary to reveal whether women were killed, whether they were killed by accident, whether women were killed on the basis of gender (whether it was femicide), whether they committed suicide or whether they were driven to suicide.
Of the 18 women who were found dead suspiciously in October, 10 were found dead at home, and 3 were found dead by the water.
In Antalya, 14-year-old Dila Nur Şatır was found dead in a construction site. Suspect Erdoğan Ç. was arrested on charges of sexual abuse.
In Samsun, Şennur Ekiz was found dead in her house.
In Bursa, 22-year-old Nevrigül Alan, mother of two, was found hanging from a tree. Suspect Doğan A. was taken into custody but was later released.
In Istanbul, Zülay Öz was found dead in her house. According to the first investigations, it was determined that Zülay Öz died after her neck was broken.
In Nevşehir, 34-year-old G. A. was found dead in her house.
In Mersin, 6-year-old Nisa Ceviz was found lying on the roadside. She was taken to the hospital, where she lost her life.
In Antalya, 26-year-old Eslem Zehra Kızıltuna was found hanging at her friend’s house.
In Bursa, 40-year-old Gülay Özen was found dead hanging from a tree in a children’s park. Gülay’s boots were found on the fence.
In Muğla, the body of a woman without an upper body was found by the sea.
What happened regarding women in October?
The Constitutional Court annulled the first paragraph of Article 286 of the Turkish Civil Code, which allows the husband and child to file a lawsuit for the denial of paternity, but not the mother, as unconstitutional. Now, a mother will be able to file a case for denial of paternity on the grounds that the child she gave birth to was not from the man she was married to.
Women in Iceland went on strike for the first time in 48 years, walking off from their jobs to draw attention to the gender pay gap and gendered violence. Previously, in 1975, women had gone on strike as part of “Kvennafri” (Women’s Day), and 90% of the women had participated.
In Iran, Armita Garavand was murdered for not complying with the mandatory headscarf rules. In the wake of Mahsa Amini, women continue to stand up for their freedoms at the cost of their lives.
Iranian human rights defender Narges Mohammadi was awarded the 2023 Nobel Peace Prize for her struggle for Iranian women’s freedom from oppression.
The stories of the life struggles of the 19 women killed in October
In Mardin, 36-year-old Semra Durak, mother of four, was shot dead in the middle of the street by Ömer Durak, the man she was married to. The perpetrator committed suicide after the incident. It was learned that Semra had gotten a restraining order against the perpetrator, and the perpetrator had previously been detained for breaking the order but was released after his statement was taken.
In İzmir, 42-year-old Elvin Özütaştan was shot dead in the middle of the street by Adnan Erman Özbek, the man she used to be with. The perpetrator committed suicide after the incident. It was learned that he was a police officer and had been threatening Elvin for a while.
In Sakarya, Tansu Akcan was shot dead in the middle of the street by İlkay Akcan, the man she was married to, on the pretext of cheating.
In Gaziantep, 31-year-old Fulya Aslan, mother of two, was shot dead by Erkan Dağcı, the man she used to be with. The perpetrator also wounded Fulya’s mother, Gülçin Gürkan and committed suicide after the incident.
In Mardin, 33-year-old Sahra Yıldırım was shot dead by İsmail Yıldırım, the man she was married to and wanted to divorce. The perpetrator was arrested.
In Bayburt, 56-year-old Radiye Köse was shot dead by her brother with a firearm. The perpetrator was taken into custody.
In Edirne, 67-year-old Bahriye Şahin was stabbed to death several times by Barış Şahin, her son. The perpetrator was taken into custody.
In Trabzon, 67-year-old Banesha Mamisheva was killed by Murat Baytar, who hit her in the head with a hard object. The perpetrator was arrested.
In Bursa, 39-year-old Neslihan Köker was stabbed to death by Sehat Köker, the man she was married to. The trial of the perpetrator is continuing.
In Ankara, 60-year-old Münevver Ayan was first strangled and then stabbed by Ahmet Ayan, the man she was married to. The perpetrator was taken into custody.
In Ankara, 22-year-old Beyzanur Kaya was shot dead by Ege Rüştü Akoğlu, the man she was with. The perpetrator was taken into custody.
In Mersin, 42-year-old nurse Ayfer Kaya, mother of two, was shot dead with a service rifle by Şuayip Kaya, the man she was in the process of divorce, in the parking lot of the hospital where she worked. The perpetrator committed later suicide with the same gun.
In Kocaeli, Züleyha Acar was shot dead, along with her son, by retired specialist sergeant Nevzat Acar, the man she used to be married to. The perpetrator also wounded her daughter, Nur Seda Acar. It was revealed that the perpetrator had previously threatened her family because of the divorce and that he carried out the attack three days after the divorce was finalized. It was learned that Züleyha had previously gotten a restraining order against the perpetrator.
In Adana, Ayşe Cebeci, who had a disability due to old age, was killed with a firearm by İbrahim Cebeci, the man she was married to, on the pretext that she did not take care of him. It was learned that although after the incident, the perpetrator had opened fire in the air from the window and resisted the police officers, he was released.
In Adana, 35-year-old Seda Ergül, mother of four, was shot dead in front of her children by retired sergeant Yaşar Ergül, the man she was married to. It was learned that an argument broke out after Seda told the perpetrator not to take the car when going out of town. The perpetrator was taken into custody.
In Adana, 21-year-old Hatice Demir, who was four months pregnant, was strangled to death by Emrah Demir, the man she was married to. The perpetrator was taken into custody.
In Konya, 35-year-old Bedriye Kılıç, mother of three, had been missing for 4 months. It was revealed that she was murdered and thrown off a cliff by Tayfun Kılıç, the man she was married to, on the pretext of jealousy.
In Mersin, Serap Akdağ was shot dead, along with her husband and son, by Ceyhun Tiken, her nephew, after an argument. The perpetrator and his father, Mustafa Tiken, who instigated the perpetrator, were caught.
In Istanbul, Şerife Buğdaycı, mother of three, was shot dead by Mehmet Buğdaycı, the man she was married to. The perpetrator later committed suicide with the same gun. It was learned that Şerife had been subjected to violence by the perpetrator before and stayed in a women’s shelter for a while.
*Our Report: Every month, the news on violence against women in the press includes cases, new incidents and details about the women’s movement. We compile the news reflected in the press and the applications that come directly to us, reach a number and prepare our report within this framework. We analyze, compile and evaluate our Femicide Report according to the concept of femicide. In other words, the conceptualization of femicide is; “the killing or forcing into suicide of the female gender, from embryo to fetus, from infant to child, from adult to elderly, by a man, simply because of their gender or on the pretext of their actions contrary to the gender stereotypes and the perception of gender identity. Femicides should not be perceived sorely as murders in which people of the female gender are killed. In these murders committed with hatred, what is attacked is the female identity itself”