2023 November Report*
33 Femicides and 24 Suspicious Deaths of Women in November
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.
9 women were killed on the pretext of wanting to take decisions about their life
This month, 33 femicides were committed, and 24 women were found suspiciously dead. 9 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, 2 women were killed on economic pretexts, 1 woman was killed with her mother while she was trying to protect her. The reason behind 21 of the 33 femicides could not be determined. The inability to determine the excuse behind the murder of 21 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 November, by city:
By whom were the women killed?
Of the 33 women killed in November, 14 were killed by the man they were married to, 7 by an acquaintance, 4 by the man they used to be married to, 2 by the man they used to be with, 2 by the man they were with, 2 by their son and 1 by her brother. The relation of the perpetrator could not be determined for 1 woman. This month, 42% of the women who were killed were killed by the man they were married to.
Women were mostly killed in their homes
23 of the women were killed at their homes, 3 in the middle of the street, 3 in a deserted place, 2 in a public place, 1 in an hotel and 1 in a car. 70% of the women killed this month were killed in their homes.
Women were mostly killed with firearms
20 of the women killed this month were killed with firearms, 7 with sharp objects, 3 by strangulation and 1 by being beaten to death. The weapon which was used to kill 2 women could not be determined. 61% of the women killed this month were killed with firearms.
WE WERE AT THE WOMEN’S MARCH FOR SECULARISM AND FREEDOM
25TH of November was the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. Women’s rights are trying to be taken away from them, and their bodies, ideas and lives are trying to be dominated. Despite all this, women have resisted and challenged oppression throughout time. We were in the squares on the 12th and 25th of November with women from all over Turkey, fighting for our rights, secularism, and freedom.
On the 12th of November, we held the Women’s March for Secularism and Freedom in Kartal with hundreds of women. These days, when we are face to face with the most reactionary parliament in our history, attacks on women’s acquired rights are increasing day by day.
With the closure case against our association, withdrawal from the Istanbul Convention, Protection Law No. 6284 being brought up for discussion, and attacks on the right to alimony, the pressure on us is increasing, and our rights are being targeted. In addition, religious officials are appointed at every level of education instead of professionals in their field, and co-education is becoming opened up for discussion. The political power and its partners attack the equal citizenship rights of LGBTIQ+ people at every opportunity and turn them into a target in public opinion. We women stand firmly against your reactionary ideologies. As the We Will Stop Femicide Platform Women’s Assemblies, we will continue to fight against all these reactionary discourses and moves.
WE WILL NOT LET PROTECTION LAW NO. 6284 BE TOUCHED
In his speech on the 25th of November, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, President Erdoğan stated that the withdrawal from the Istanbul Convention hasn’t had the slightest negative impact. Since the abolition of the Convention on the 21st of March 2021, 833 women have been murdered, and 646 women have been found dead in suspicious circumstances. We ask the President: are 833 women being killed by men, not a negative development? We will continue to fight for every woman who has been murdered. We will not let their story be forgotten.
The President, who says these things about the Istanbul Convention, boasts of Law No. 6284. The AKP government knows they cannot touch Law No. 6284, which offends those they allied with during the election period. Law No. 6284 was won through women’s struggle in this country. Women who claim their rights to live will not let Law No. 6284 be touched. We will not allow the AKP government to turn Law No. 6284 into a promotion and propaganda material. Your sole responsibility is to carry out Law No. 6284. According to our data, in 9% of the femicides that took place in the first 11 months of 2023, women were murdered despite having filed a complaint with the police or prosecutor’s office.
In the same speech, the President stated that the family is the greatest opportunity to combat violence against women. In November alone, 17 women were murdered by their families. 14 of them were killed by the man they were married to, 2 by their son and 1 by her brother.
THE RESPONSIBILITY OF CARE CAN NOT BE IMPOSED ON WOMEN
The Minister of Family and Social Services stated they are working on a flexible working model for women. However, such a system will increase the burden of domestic work on women and will turn women into low-paid and precarious labourers. If such a model is to be implemented, it should be applied equally for all genders. Nevertheless, since unpaid domestic labour and caregiving are seen as worthless work and are imposed on women, even if this model is defined as equal, the responsibility of care will continue to be imposed on women. The political power should meet the need for care not through the family but through institutions and organizations, a requirement of being a social state. With its current policies, the political power imposes the burden of care on the family and women.
Case Developments in November
Mustafa Neşeli, who threatened Hande Baladın by saying, “I will throw acid in your face”, was given a verdict of non-prosecution.
In Şanlıurfa, the aggravated life imprisonment sentence given to 37-year-old Mahmut Elen, who was on trial for the murder of Arzu Elen, a 34-year-old mother of three, was reduced to 18 years and 4 months with an ‘unjust provocation discount’ and a ‘good behaviour discount’.
In Konya, Ali Rıza Yüzer, who killed 6-months pregnant Sadife Yüzer by shooting her with a rifle on the pretext that the baby was not his, was sentenced to 23 years in prison with ‘unjust provocation discount’ and ‘good behaviour discount’. However, this decision was overturned by the Supreme Court.
In Eskişehir, Beyhan Gökçe was killed by İdris Güneş, the man she used to be married to, by hitting her with his car. In the trial where he was demanded aggravated life imprisonment, he was sentenced to 4 years and 3 months for ‘causing death by negligence’ with a ‘good behaviour discount’.
Justice was achieved in the case of Gamze Uslu, who was killed by being pushed from a height. With the approval of the Supreme Court, the perpetrator, who was released pending trial for 10 years, was arrested. The perpetrator was sentenced to 25 years in prison with a ‘good behaviour discount’. Although the objection to the discount was rejected, an arrest warrant was given to the perpetrator after 10 years. We will continue our struggle to reveal the truth behind suspicious deaths of women. We will reveal the truth behind every suspicious death labelled as suicide.
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.
In Aydın, 35-year-old Beste İçel was found dead in her apartment. Beste had previously filed a criminal complaint against her workplace manager, who was threatening to kill her.
In Aydın, 30-year-old Ulviye Öztürk, mother of two, who had been missing for a while, was found dead.
In Trabzon, 19-year-old university student Ümran Aslan was found dead in the sea.
In Antalya, 45-year-old Lina Tubol was found dead in her apartment.
In Kocaeli, 25-year-old Kumsal was found dead on the beach.
In İstanbul, 31-year-old Rabia Keleş died falling from the 44th floor.
In Kayseri, 51-year-old Hasibe Soykuk was found dead near her home with her head crushed. Seyit Ahmet, the man she was married to, and her 2 sons were taken into custody.
In Şanlıurfa, 24-year-old Fidda Uzun, who was 5 months pregnant, was found shot dead by a shotgun in her apartment. Ahmet Uzun, the man she was married to, was taken into custody.
In Diyarbakır, 28-year-old H. K. died after falling from a height. It was revealed that H. K. called her family before her death and asked for help, saying, “Save me”.
What happened regarding women in November?
It was revealed that dozens of Palestinian women who were arrested in the besieged Palestine and sent to Israeli prisons and released under the ceasefire were harassed and abused, subjected to violence and threatened to be burned.
It is learned that Mehmet Ölmez, an employee of the Ministry of Family and Social Services who harassed a woman in need, was promoted to manager by the Ministry.
The lack of precautions in the state dormitories of the Credit and Dormitories Institution (KYK) continues to put students’ lives at risk. An elevator in a KYK dormitory in Rize malfunctioned and crashed to the ground after a student got out of it. In a KYK dormitory in Muş, 3 students got trapped in an elevator.
The stories of the life struggles of the 33 women killed in November
In Izmir, 23-year-old Neşe Keçkin, mother of two, was stabbed to death by Alaattin Keçkin, the man she was married to, in front of the courthouse minutes before the divorce case.
In Bitlis, 42-year-old N. G. was shot dead, and her body was cut into pieces and burned by U. E and M. E., her relatives. 5 people were taken into custody in connection with the incident.
In Bursa, 28-year-old Zeynep Özdemir and her 4-year-old and 9-year-old children were shot dead by Samet Özdemir, the man she was married to. It was learned that Zeynep Özdemir had previously gotten a restraining order against the perpetrator. The perpetrator committed suicide after the incident.
In Manisa, 68-year-old Atike Eroğlu was killed with a screwdriver and a knife when she refused to give money to Onur Toroman. The perpetrator was caught and arrested days later.
In Istanbul, 42-year-old Filiz Çilingir and her 14-year-old daughter Selin Akçay were shot dead by Barbaros Tüzün, the man Filiz used to be with. The perpetrator committed suicide.
In Malatya, 51-year-old Ayten Nazin, mother of eleven, was shot dead with a shotgun by Abdurrahim Nazin, the man she was married to. The perpetrator was taken into custody.
In Istanbul, 41-year-old Işıl Deniz Palabıyıklar was shot dead by Miraç Palabıyıklar, her brother. Işıl’s lifeless body was found in a parking lot 19 days later. The perpetrator was arrested.
In Diyarbakır, 35-year-old Esma Yücel, mother of five, was found shot dead with a gun in her home two years ago. It was revealed that she was killed by Süleyman Yücel, her son.
In Bursa, N. M. T., who was 5 months pregnant, was strangled to death by Y. A. M. A., the man she lived with. In a statement by M. A., who used to be married to the perpetrator, it was learned that the perpetrator tried to terminate her pregnancy by strangling her and pressing her stomach every time she got pregnant. The perpetrator will be tried for aggravated life imprisonment.
In Istanbul, 42-year-old Pınar Bektaş, mother of two, was stabbed to death by Tuncay Sağ, the man she used to be married to, under the pretext of jealousy.
In Istanbul, 40-year-old Sevilay Nayman, mother of three, was shot dead with a firearm by Özgür Nayman, the man she was married to. The perpetrator also killed her three children and attempted suicide.
In Konya, Zekiye E., mother of three, was shot dead by Durmuş E., the man she was married to and had been separated for a while. The perpetrator also seriously wounded Zekiye E.’s mother, Ayşe Ç.
In Denizli, 38-year-old Özlem Ülker was shot dead with a shotgun in the middle of the street by Emin Ülker, the man she was married to. Yusuf Cavlak, who was with Özlem Ülker at the time, was also shot and killed. The perpetrator committed suicide after the incident.
In Istanbul, Ayan Mohamed Dhoba was stabbed 41 times with a screwdriver in her throat and various parts of her body by Ahmet Yasin M., the man she was married to, in the hotel where she was staying.
In Izmir, 38-year-old Çiğdem Dıvrak, mother of two, was shot in the head by Erdoğan Dıvrak, the man she was in the process of divorce. The perpetrator then committed suicide with the same gun. Their divorce case was to be heard three days after her murder.
In Balıkesir, 46-year-old Ayşe Acar was killed by her throat being slit by Cemil Fidan, the man she used to be married to. It is learned that Ayşe Acar had a restraining order against the perpetrator.
In Manisa, 48-year-old Devrim Güler and her 18-year-old daughter Doğa Etyemez were strangled to death in the elevator of the building they lived in by Atalay Yüksel, their neighbour. The perpetrator was arrested for ‘premeditated murder against women’.
In Ankara, A. N. K. was shot dead with a firearm by the neighbourhood patrol İ. Ö. K., the man she was married to. The perpetrator then committed suicide.
In Istanbul, İpek L., mother of four, was murdered by Yılmaz L., the man she was married to, in front of her children.
In Adana, 44-year-old Halime Kaya, mother of four, was shot dead with a firearm by Nurettin Kaya, the man she was married to. The perpetrator also seriously wounded her mother, Fahriye Kaya.
In Konya, Ayşe Öner, mother of three, was beaten to death with a gas cylinder tube by M. Ö., the man she was married to.
In Antalya, 46-year-old Yaşar Ş., mother of three, was found shot in the head. N. Ş., the man she was married to, and her 19-year-old son were taken into custody.
In Muğla, 42-year-old Irina Dvizova and her 15-year-old daughter Dayana Dvizova were found dead on the roadside. It was learned that I. S. Y., the man Irina used to be married to, killed them on the pretext
*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”