In August 2026, 22 women were killed by men, and 33 women were found suspiciously dead.

2026 August Report*

22 Femicides and 33 Suspicious Deaths of Women in August

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 August, by city:

 

 

Data Highlights:

The reason behind 16 femicides could not be determined

This month, 22 femicides were committed, and 33 women were found suspiciously dead. 5 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 1 woman was killed on economic pretexts. The reason behind 16 of the 22 femicides could not be determined.

The inability to determine the excuse behind the murder of 16 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 22 women killed in August, 9 were killed by the man they were married to, 3 by an acquaintance, 2 by their son, 2 by the man they used to be with, 2 by a relative, 1 by her father, 1 by the man she used to be married to, and 1 by the man she was with. The relation of the perpetrator could not be determined for 1 woman. This month, 41% of the women who were killed were killed by the man they were married to.

 

Women were most often killed in their homes

12 of the women were killed at their homes, 3 in the middle of the street, 2 in a deserted place, 2 in a car, 1 in a hotel, 1 at her workplace and 1 in another public space. 55% of the women killed this month were killed in their homes.

 

Women were most often killed with a firearm

14 of the women killed this month were killed with firearms, 3 with sharp objects, 2 by being pushed from a height, 1 by being burned to death, and 1 by strangulation. The weapon which was used to kill 1 woman could not be determined. 64% of the women killed this month were killed with firearms.

It’s Not the Women’s Deaths that are Left Suspicious, But the Facts

The rise in suspicious deaths of women in recent years is becoming an increasingly serious issue regarding women’s right to life. Developments in the cases of Rojin Kabaiş, Gülistan Doku, and Aysun Yıldırım once again demonstrate just how vital it is to conduct an effective investigation until all doubts are resolved whenever a woman’s death or disappearance is involved.

The unresolved suspicions surrounding Rojin’s death, the fact that Gülistan has not been found for years, and the fact that Aysun’s death remains unexplained despite the passage of time all point to the same structural problem. The failure to collect evidence in a timely manner, the inadequate investigation of inconsistencies, and the hasty classification of women’s deaths as suicides or accidents not only make it difficult to uncover the truth but also deepen impunity.

In this context, where suspicious deaths of women are becoming more visible with each passing year, no woman’s death should be left unresolved. Every suspicious death must be effectively investigated to determine whether male violence was involved; the struggle must continue until the truth is revealed for Rojin, Gülistan, Aysun, and all women who have lost their lives under suspicious circumstances.

 

Not a Technical Regulation, but Women’s Right to Equal Citizenship

Women’s hard-won rights cannot be opened up for debate under the guise of a ‘technical regulation’. A woman’s last name, her right to alimony, her civil status, or her legal standing within the family are not merely details pertaining to population records; they are a matter of whether women are recognized as equal and independent individuals.

We do not accept the reproduction, in various forms, of the mindset that defines a woman first through her father’s household and then through her husband’s. The rhetoric of “protecting the family” cannot serve as a justification for curtailing women’s rights or eroding the principle of equality.

Every regulation deemed ‘technical’ today has a concrete impact on women’s daily lives tomorrow. We will not give up any of our rights, our status as equal citizens, or any of the rights we have won through years of struggle.

This month, the Minister of Health stated regarding the free access to the HPV vaccine, “There is an intention; the Scientific Committee will evaluate it.” He also made a statement along the lines of, “Why should the state spend money on something that won’t be beneficial?” Free access to the HPV vaccine is not a matter of intention; it is a health right. Whether or not to establish this right is not a matter for the minister to choose or evaluate: it is an obligation. On the very same days that these statements disregarding women’s access to healthcare were being made, the Istanbul Provincial Health Directorate conducted inspections at the private practices of approximately 20 obstetricians and gynecologists. Reports were filed on the grounds that abortions are prohibited in doctor’s offices, and statements were made suggesting that doctors who perform abortions could face penalties. We stand against these practices, which, through their implementation, make it impossible for us to access our hard-won rights.

Case Developments of August

In Istanbul's Esenyurt district, Y. Ş., who was sentenced to 12 years in prison for aggravated sexual assault against a woman, was released after approximately four years in custody, even though his sentence had been upheld by the Court of Appeal. It was reported that following his release, Y. Ş. violated the protection order issued against him by threatening the woman over the phone, and that despite a complaint being filed, he was not subjected to coercive detention.

 

In the investigation into the suspicious death of Rojin Kabaiş, family attorney Abdurrahman Karabulut pointed out that reports from the Forensic Medicine Institute indicated the presence of Rocuronium in Rojin’s stomach and internal organs, and Ornidazole in her stomach, raising the allegation that Rojin was drugged, rendered unconscious, and killed by respiratory paralysis. While the Forensic Medicine Institute assessed that Rocuronium had been used during a surgery Rojin underwent 34 days prior to her death and that, based on the available data, there was no medical evidence of poisoning, the family’s attorney objected to this assessment, stating that the presence of the drug in her stomach contents 34 days later could not be scientifically explained. An expert opinion included in the investigation file also revealed that Rojin’s Google account was accessed while she was missing and that a ‘device wipe’ was performed. The family’s lawyers filed a request with the prosecutor’s office to have the two individuals with whom Rojin communicated on the day she went missing taken into custody and to have their DNA samples collected.

 

In Edremit, Balıkesir, the owner of a bakery where a 15-year-old girl worked under the MESEM program (Vocational Training Centres Program under the Ministry of National Education) was found to have fled the country after being accused of sexually abusing the girl for approximately nine months.

 

The Supreme Court unanimously upheld the sentence of aggravated life imprisonment and an additional 8 years in prison handed down to Kaffar Yeğin for killing Hülya Şellavcı while they were in the process of divorce. Before her murder, Hülya Şellavcı had filed complaints with the police four times due to threats from Kaffar Yeğin, obtained a restraining order and requested detention against the perpetrator for violation of the protective order. Despite this, the protective measures failed to safeguard Hülya’s life.

 

Following the Constitutional Court’s decision to annul the provision of the Turkish Civil Code regarding indefinite alimony, a decision for which, despite months having passed, not even the reasoning has been drafted, we submitted requests for information to four ministries. We asked whether they had any data, research, or impact analyses regarding the consequences this decision would have on women’s lives, and we posed various questions about the data the government is required to maintain. Although the legal deadlines for responding have passed, the Ministry of Justice answered only one of our questions; the Ministry of Family and Social Services, the Ministry of Labor and Social Security, and the Ministry of the Interior left our requests unanswered. This means that decisions directly affecting women’s lives are being made without data, without research, and without consulting women. We will continue to monitor these decisions and the process; we will not give up our right to alimony.

 

What happened regarding women in August?

The Constitutional Court did not find the regulation requiring a married woman’s civil registry entry to be transferred to her husband’s household to be unconstitutional. The decision sparked debate regarding women’s rights to equal citizenship and identity.

 

Investigations targeting women based on their social media posts and their bodies came to the forefront. Fatma Soydaş was arrested on the grounds of her social media posts, while an investigation was launched against Bennu Gerede on charges of ‘obscenity’ on the pretext of her posts, and she was given a travel ban. Nesibe Yıldırım, meanwhile, was threatened because of her social media content. Turning women’s posts and bodies into grounds for punishment, repression, or threats constitutes a violation of freedom of expression.

 

Sexual Violence Increases, Impunity Protects the Perpetrators

In Istanbul, E. Ö. filed a lawsuit, stating that she had been sexually assaulted by Y. Ş., the man she used to be with. The local court and the Court of Appeal sentenced Y. Ş. to 12 years in prison for sexual assault. However, the Supreme Court overturned the decision and ordered the defendant’s release. Following his release, Y. Ş. violated the protection order twice, an order issued against him to protect E. Ö.

 

In Balıkesir’s Edremit district, a 15-year-old girl was subjected to sexual abuse for approximately nine months by İ. Ç., the owner of the bakery where she was doing an internship under the MESEM program (Vocational Training Centres Program under the Ministry of National Education). The case file reportedly contains messages, audio recordings, and surveillance footage from the workplace as evidence. It was also noted that the family had been subjected to threats by the suspect. It was determined that İ. Ç., for whom an arrest warrant had been issued, had left Turkey and fled to Greece.

 

In Gaziantep, 23-year-old S. P., who had hearing and speech impairments, used sign language to explain that after leaving her home, she was forcibly taken into a vehicle by strangers and sexually assaulted at the location which she was taken. S. P. was found by police hours later, and a forensic examination confirmed findings consistent with the allegation of sexual assault. The suspects were arrested.

 

Suspicious deaths of women should be revealed immediately

As we have been stating in our reports for some time, there has been a very significant increase, coinciding with the pandemic, in the number of suspicious deaths of women presented as suicides, accidents, or natural deaths, as well as in the number of women found dead under suspicious circumstances. 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 Elazığ, 51-year-old Hasret Kuş was shot dead with a hunting rifle by M. K., the man she was married to. M. K. claimed he thought a wolf had entered the barn and fired because he saw movement in the dark. The perpetrator was released under judicial control conditions.

 

In Diyarbakır, 31-year-old Gülistan Karadağ was found dead in a rural area. A car was found approximately 100 meters from her body. L. A. and A. E., who said they had gone to the scene with Gülistan, claimed they had used drugs and did not know how Gülistan had died. The investigation into the cause of death is ongoing. The two men detained in connection with Gülistan’s death were arrested and sent to prison.

 

In Samsun, 23-year-old Sevilay Dönge lost her life after falling from a balcony on the third-floor of a house she was in. It was determined that Sevilay was not wearing any clothing at the time of the incident. Following her death, a man named F. K. was taken into custody.

 

In Istanbul, 57-year-old Latife İbadova was found dead in her home. An initial examination revealed no signs of battery, cuts or stab wounds on her body. However, it was alleged that a man named Ferhat, who was reportedly living with Latife, had left the house approximately 15 minutes before the police were notified.

 

In Bursa, 35-year-old Ekram Hassan, a mother of one and seven months pregnant, died while attempting to escape the violence of Ferdi Solak, the man she was married to. While trying to climb from the window of their fourth-floor apartment to the balcony of the building across the street, she fell and lost her life. It was revealed that Ekram had previously moved into a women’s shelter due to her husband’s threats and verbal abuse, and had returned home about a month ago. The suspect has been arrested.

 

In Izmir, obstetrician Özlem Gültekin died under suspicious circumstances at her clinic. According to the forensic medical report, the cause of death was poisoning from a high dose of propofol. Özlem had filed a complaint against Erhan, the man she was married to and was in the process of divorce, alleging domestic violence and blaming him for her possible death in a video released before her death. Although the suspect had previously been sentenced to 14 months in prison for threats and assault, he has not been charged or arrested in connection with her death, and he denies the allegations.

 

The stories of the life struggles of the 22 women killed in August

In Istanbul, 26-year-old Nilda Müge Şahin was shot and killed with a firearm by Nazir Ilgın, the man she used to be with. Nilda had filed a complaint against the perpetrator shortly before she was killed. The perpetrator had been released under judicial supervision and a restraining order had been issued against him. Despite this, Nilda was killed in the street while she was waiting for a friend. The perpetrator was arrested.

In Niğde, 37-year-old İpek Gezer, mother of two, was shot and killed with a firearm by Ömer Oğuz, the man she was previously with. İpek was shot in a parked car. After killing İpek, the perpetrator shot himself with the same weapon.

In Diyarbakır, 18-year-old Figen Baran was shot and killed inside a vehicle during an armed clash between two families. Several people have been taken into custody as part of the investigation into Figen’s death, who had gotten married about two months ago.

In Kütahya, 63-year-old Sebire Dönmez was stabbed to death by her brother-in-law Ali Dönmez. The perpetrator was taken into custody.

In Bursa, 27-year-old Canan Matur was shot and killed with a firearm by İsmail Matur, the man she was married to. The perpetrator was arrested.

In Mardin, 68-year-old Asya Cebe was stabbed to death by S. C., the man she was married to. The perpetrator was taken into custody.

It was revealed that the long-unsolved case of 41-year-old Gülizar Aydın in Aydın was a femicide. A dismembered body found around the time Gülizar disappeared, whose identity could not be determined at the time, was identified as hers years later through DNA analysis. Selami Aydın, the man she was married to, was arrested.

In Muğla, 74-year-old Fatma Sütçü was shot in the head and killed with a firearm at her home by her son, Volkan Sütçü, The perpetrator committed suicide after the incident.

In Kayseri, 28-year-old Selin Gökhan was stabbed by Nurettin Can Şahin and then thrown from a window on the fifth floor of the hotel where they were staying. In a video he recorded after the murder, the perpetrator said that he had thrown Selin from the window. The perpetrator was arrested.

In Yalova, 19-year-old Sultan Pelit Demir was shot and killed with a pump-action shotgun by Muhammed Demir, the man she was married to. Sultan was eight months pregnant. While her baby was saved following an intervention at the hospital, she lost her life. The perpetrator committed suicide after the incident.

In Mardin, the death of 27-year-old Bedriye Naz, mother of four, was initially recorded as a fall from the window of her fifth-floor home. As the investigation progressed, it was determined that there was sufficient suspicion that Levent Naz, the man she was married to, had thrown Bedriye from the window and killed her. The perpetrator was arrested.

In Antalya, 38-year-old Elina Şengün, mother of two, was shot and killed with a firearm by retired police officer Hüseyin Durmaz, the man she had been with for approximately two years. Elina was shot in the parking lot of Antalya Airport, where she worked. The perpetrator was arrested.

In Manisa, 50-year-old Hacer Saydan was strangled to death by Sait Saydan, the man she was married to. Hacer was taken to hospital unconscious but died following the attack. The perpetrator was arrested.

In Istanbul, 41-year-old Şerife Gezer was shot and killed with a firearm by Hakan Sayacı, the man she used to be with two years ago. Şerife, who was being followed by the perpetrator, took refuge in a workplace, but the perpetrator followed her there and shot her. Şerife's family said that the perpetrator had been harassing her for a long time and that a restraining order had been issued against him. The perpetrator was arrested.

In Diyarbakır, 32-year-old Sultan Kara was shot and killed with a firearm by Ersan Akdemir, the man she was in the process of divorce. It was reported that Sultan had previously been subjected to violence by the perpetrator, that a restraining order had been issued against him, and that he had threatened to kill her. Sultan was killed next to her child. The perpetrator was arrested.

In Adana, 25-year-old Asya Aydoğan, mother of three, was shot and killed with a firearm by Yusuf Aydoğan, the man she was in the process of divorce. After shooting Asya in the street, the perpetrator went to the home where Asya’s family lived and also shot and injured Asya's 16-year-old sister. The perpetrator was arrested.

In Istanbul, 61-year-old Süheyla Yıldırım was shot and killed with a firearm by Mehmet Ali Yıldırım, the man she was married to. The perpetrator also killed their 27-year-old daughter, Elif Gülşah Yıldırım. The perpetrator committed suicide after the incident.

In Batman, 55-year-old Seve Cihangir was stabbed to death by her son, Haşim Cihangir. Seve's body was found in a trash container in the courtyard of their home. Haşim Cihangir later went to the police station and said that he had killed his mother. The perpetrator was arrested.

In Ankara, Neslihan K. was shot in the head and killed with a firearm by Aslan Çimen. The perpetrator committed suicide after the incident.

In Kahramanmaraş, A. O., mother of two, was shot and killed with a firearm by A. K., the man she had recently divorced. It was reported that A. O. had obtained a restraining order against the perpetrator. The perpetrator committed suicide after the incident.

In Şanlıurfa, 32-year-old Sevilay Kabadayı, mother of four, was shot with a firearm and killed. Her body was later found inside a burned-out vehicle in the Karacadağ region. Her case also involves an investigation into the destruction and concealment of evidence of the murder. Cengiz Uran, Delil Uran, Hüseyin Uran, and Ramazan Uran were arrested on charges of ‘harboring an offender’ and ‘destroying, concealing, or altering criminal evidence’, while Sidar Uran and Yusuf Uran remain fugitives.

*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 individuals of the female gender, from embryo to fetus, infant to child, 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”