In June 2026, 31 women were killed by men, and 31 women were found suspiciously dead.

 

2026 June Report*

31 Femicides and 31 Suspicious Deaths of Women in June

The fight to stop femicides in Turkey has been going on for 16 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.

 

We would like to share the names of the women, each of whom was a life:

 

 

Femicide data in the month of June, by city:

 

 

Data Highlights:

The reason behind 25 femicides could not be determined

This month, 31 femicides were committed, and 31 women were found suspiciously dead. 4 women were killed on the pretext of wanting to make decisions about their own life, such as wanting a divorce, refusing to reconcile, refusing to marry, or rejecting a relationship, and 2 women were killed on economic pretexts. The reason behind 25 of the 31 femicides could not be determined.

The inability to determine the excuse behind the murder of 25 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.

 

Women were most often killed by the man they were married to.

Of the 31 women killed in June, 15 were killed by the man they were married to, 3 by their father, 3 by an acquaintance, 2 by the man they used to be with, 1 by the man she was with, 1 by the man she used to be married to, 1 by her son and 1 by a relative. The relation of the perpetrator could not be determined for 4 women. This month, 48% of the women who were killed were killed by the man they were married to.

 

Women were most often killed in their homes

17 of the women were killed at their homes, 4 in the middle of the street, 2 in a deserted place, 1 at her workplace, 1 on a waterfront and 1 in a picnic area. It could not be determined where 3 women were killed. 55% of the women killed this month were killed in their homes.

 

Women were most often killed with a firearm

15 of the women killed this month were killed with firearms, 8 with sharp objects, 3 by strangulation, 1 by being pushed from a height, 1 with a chemical substance and 1 by being thrown from a moving vehicle. The weapon which was used to kill 3 women could not be determined. 48% of the women killed this month were killed with firearms.

 

We will not give up on our rights, our lives, and our struggle!

We women will not remain silent against this system that targets our labour, our bodies, our rights, and our future. The fact that teachers have been driven to go on hunger strike, that our right to alimony is once again targeted, that the 12th Judicial Package has intensified assaults on rights and freedoms, and that students are losing their lives in the state-run KYK (Credit and Dormitories Institution) dormitories is no coincidence. Our struggle against the policies that condemn women, children, youth, and workers to insecurity in this country will continue.

 

Teachers are on hunger strike: Those who deprive others of their rights, not those who seek them, will be held accountable.

Teachers are on hunger strike demanding humane working conditions, job security, fair appointments, and an end to unfair hiring practices. The fact that education workers are forced to put their bodies on the line to make their voices heard is a clear indication of how labour is devalued in this country. We do not accept the mindset that seeks to suppress the demands of teachers, isolates them, and ignores their struggle for their rights. The struggle of education workers is the struggle of us all. We stand with teachers against precariousness, poverty, and oppression.

 

We will not give up our right to alimony!

The right to alimony has been systematically targeted for years. This right, which enables women to sustain their lives after divorce, is being delegitimized through narratives of the ‘victimized man.’ Yet we know: It is this unequal order that impoverishes women, makes it harder for them to escape abusive relationships, and turns divorce into a struggle for survival. The attack on the right to alimony is an attack on women's right to divorce. The attack on the right to alimony is an attack on women's ability to escape violence. Women's earned rights cannot be subject to negotiation. We will not give up our right to alimony.

 

What is happening in KYK dormitories?

The deaths of students in the state-run KYK (Credit and Dormitories Institution) dormitories reveal how young people are being left vulnerable and alone. The right to housing cannot be left to the mercy of the market. Students must be able to live in safe, healthy, and dignified conditions.

Every death in the dormitories must be properly investigated. Allegations of neglect, dormitory conditions, security gaps, and students' access to psychosocial support mechanisms must be fully disclosed. We do not accept this system that fails to protect young people’s lives.

 

Same system, same attack: We will fight together

Teachers’ hunger strike, attacks on the right to alimony, the 12th Judicial Reform Package, and the deaths in KYK dormitories are not isolated incidents. These are all the results of policies that devalue labour, seek to confine women to the domestic sphere, punish children, and abandon young people to conditions of insecurity.

We women are strengthening our collective struggle against these policies. We will continue to stand together against those who seek to deprive us of our rights, render our lives insecure, and rob us of our future.

 

We will not give up our right to alimony.

We will not give up our right to secure employment.

We will not give up our right to safe housing.

We will not give up the right to life for women, children, and young people.

We will not give up our struggle for an equal, free, and violence-free life.

 

Case Developments of June

At the third hearing in the trial regarding Ayşe Tokyaz, who was killed by former police officer Cemil Koç, videos emerged showing that the defendant had previously committed acts of violence against other women. Cemil Koç, Cemal Aslan, and Oğuz Kal will stand trial on the charge of ‘premeditated murder committed with savage intent’ and could face aggravated life imprisonment.

In the reopened case regarding the disappearance of Ceylan Aktepe, who went missing 16 years ago in Diyarbakır, statements emerged indicating that Ceylan Aktepe was killed by Ömer Aktepe, the father of the man she was with, and her body was thrown into a cave.

 

What happened regarding women in June?

In Nairobi, the capital of Kenya, hundreds of women marched to demand that the rising cases of gender-based violence and femicide be declared a national crisis. The protesters called on the government to launch an urgent investigation and implement policies regarding femicides and the disappearances of children.

 

UN Women’s June report noted that the number of women and girls in Sudan in need of support against gender-based violence under war conditions has quadrupled since the start of the conflict. In Haiti, where gangs are using sexual violence as a weapon, the opening of the first state-supported safe houses for women and girls was brought to the agenda.

 

The Argentinian government shared the information of approximately 13,000 people who owe child support with FIFA. The government requested that these individuals be barred from entering stadiums during World Cup matches.

 

Recent initiatives such as the Family Institute and the Family and Population Bulletin demonstrate that family-centred policies are being strengthened at the expense of women’s rights. Without addressing women’s poverty, their exposure to violence, and the burden of unpaid care work placed on women, social crises cannot be swept under the carpet with the rhetoric of the ‘family’.

 

In June, the bans, police interventions and arrests targeting Pride Week once again demonstrated that LGBTI+ people have been made a target. Attacks on the LGBTQI+ communities cannot be separated from attacks on women’s rights. It is the same system that seeks to confine women to the family, erase the LGBTI+ community, and to force everyone into acceptable norms. We will not give up on equality, freedom and the right to life in the face of policies driven by hate.

 

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 Istanbul, 31-year-old Şeyma Azın died after allegedly being thrown from a height by Semih Öner, the man she had divorced. The perpetrator committed suicide after the incident.

 

In Burdur, 22-year-old university student Zehra Kaçar died after falling from the sixth floor of the state-run KYK dormitory where she was staying. An investigation into her death was launched.

 

The stories of the life struggles of the 31 women killed in June

In Aydın, 25-year-old Nurgül Aslan was shot and killed with a firearm by Erkan Aslan, the man she was married to. Nurgül was pregnant when she was killed. The perpetrator was arrested.

 

In Bursa, Ayşe Sözer was stabbed by her son, İsmail Sözer. She was taken to hospital in critical condition, where she passed away. The perpetrator remains under medical treatment.

 

In Bursa, 29-year-old Müjde Güngür was stabbed to death by Zafer Güngür, the man she was married to. After Müjde said she wanted a divorce, the perpetrator killed her in front of their 10-year-old child. The perpetrator was caught.

 

In Konya, 70-year-old N. Ş. was stabbed to death by her neighbor, A. G. The perpetrator was taken into custody.

 

In Denizli, 35-year-old Metanet Altunpolat was shot and killed with a rifle by Sabit Ö., the man she used to be with. Metanet's sister Turna K. was also injured in the attack.

 

In Kocaeli, 32-year-old Elif K., mother of five, was stabbed to death in the middle of the street by Erdal K., the man she was married to. The perpetrator was taken into custody.

 

In Muğla, a woman was thrown from a moving vehicle and killed by Emrah Gezgiç, the man she was married to. The perpetrator committed suicide after the incident.

 

In Izmir, 43-year-old Ayfer Karakayışlı was burned with acid and killed by Hakan Ş., the man she had divorced. Ayfer's 13-year-old daughter was also seriously injured in the attack. The perpetrator was apprehended at the hospital where he went for treatment and was taken into custody.

 

In Hakkari, 45-year-old Hamide Çiftçi was killed by Lezgin Çiftçi, the man she was married to. Hamide's death was initially recorded as suspicious, but  during the investigation the perpetrator confessed to the murder. The perpetrator was arrested.

 

In Van, Nurgül Sadak, mother of three, was shot and killed with a firearm by Yakup Sadak, the man she was married to. It was learned that Nurgül had previously stayed in a women's shelter.

 

In Konya, 50-year-old Yüksel Sarıkaya was shot with a firearm in the middle of the street by Ali Sarıkaya, the man she was in the process of divorce. She died in the hospital. The perpetrator committed suicide after the incident.

 

In Antalya, 40-year-old Aslıhan Öztürk Bulak was killed with a shotgun by Orhan Bulak, the man she was married to. The perpetrator also killed Aslıhan's father Cafer Tayyar Öztürk. The perpetrator was arrested.

 

In Manisa, 55-year-old Ulviye Yılmaz was shot and killed with a firearm by Vedat Yılmaz, the man she was in the process of divorce. The perpetrator, who had several restraining orders against him, also injured their daughter E. D. Y.

 

In Hakkari, Adilşah Gezer, Habiba Demir, and Keve Demir were shot and killed with a firearm by Musa Gezer, the man Adilşah was married to. It was learned that the perpetrator, who attempted suicide, was a specialist sergeant.

 

In Hatay, 30-year-old Lamiya Azazi was shot and killed with a firearm by Üstün Ç., the man she used to be with, under the pretext that he did not want her to work.

 

In Bursa, Banu Özdağ was shot and killed with a firearm by Zafer Yılmaz under economic pretexts. The perpetrator committed suicide with the same weapon after the incident.

 

In Istanbul, 34-year-old Sultan Çağan was beaten and then strangled with a clothesline by Vedat Ç., the man she was with, under the pretext that Sultan wanted to leave him.

 

In Malatya, 56-year-old Feray Timurkaan and her 21-year-old daughter Beyza Timurkaan were shot and killed with a firearm by Nevzat Timurkaan.

 

In Manisa, 23-year-old Birsen Yıldırım was stabbed multiple times and killed by her father, Ü. Yıldırım. It was learned that Birsen had returned to her family's home after her divorce.

 

In Ankara, Zahide S., mother of two, was stabbed to death during a picnic by Davut S., the man she was married to. It was learned that the perpetrator had previously assaulted Zahide and that a restraining order had been issued against him.

 

In Şanlıurfa, it was revealed that Türkan K., who was found dead under suspicious circumstances in 2023, was killed by İ. K. and S. K., who staged her death to appear as a suicide.

 

In Şanlıurfa, 39-year-old Emine Kurt, mother of four, was strangled to death by Mehmet Kurt, the man she was married to.

 

In Ordu, 36-year-old Emine Sanmak, mother of four, was stabbed to death by Serkan Sanmak, the man she was married to.

 

In Ankara, Havva Karayel was stabbed to death by E. Ç., the man her daughter used to be married to. During the attack, her daughter Yağmur Karayel was also injured.

 

In Erzincan, 42-year-old Suna Koçak was shot and killed with a firearm by Bekir K., the man she used to be married to. The perpetrator also killed Suna Koçak's friend who was with her. The perpetrator was arrested.

 

In Diyarbakır, it was revealed that Ceylan Aktepe, who had been missing for years, was shot and killed with a firearm. It was learned that the bones of Ceylan and Arif Uğurlu were found in a cave. As part of the investigation, Ömer Aktepe was arrested.