In September 2026, 28 women were killed by men, and 19 women were found suspiciously dead.

2026 September Report*

28 Femicides and 19 Suspicious Deaths of Women in September

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 September, by city:

 

 

Data Highlights:

The reason behind 23 femicides could not be determined

This month, 28 femicides were committed, and 19 women were found suspiciously dead. 2 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 23 of the 28 femicides could not be determined.

The inability to determine the excuse behind the murder of 23 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 28 women killed in September, 15 were killed by the man they were married to, 6 by the man she used to be married to, 3 by an acquaintance, 1 by her son, 1 by the man she used to be with, and 1 by a relative. The relation of the perpetrator could not be determined for 1 woman. This month, 54% of the women who were killed were killed by the man they were married to.

Women were most often killed in their homes

14 of the women were killed at their homes, 6 in the middle of the street, 2 at their workplace, 1 in a car, 1 in a field and 1 in another public space. It could not be determined where 3 women were killed. 50% 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, 7 with sharp objects, 2 by strangulation and 1 by being beaten to death. 54% of the women killed this month were killed with firearms.

 

Alimony Is Not a Favor, It Is a Right

The debate over alimony is never just about alimony. The real issue is how patriarchy renders women’s labor invisible and presents the care, domestic, and emotional labor that women undertake within marriage as a natural duty.

Women cook, clean, give birth to and raise children, bear the burden of care, and often sacrifice their own careers and economic independence. All of this is rendered invisible under the guise of “love,” “motherhood,” and “self-sacrifice.” While men benefit from the time and opportunities afforded by this labor, the professional and economic losses women experience are often overlooked.

Then, when it comes to divorce, the same system asks the woman, “Why can’t you stand on your own two feet?” This is because patriarchy treats the unequal burden women assume within marriage as natural, while presenting the consequences of this inequality after divorce as if they were an individual problem. Alimony is not a favor, an act of kindness, or a payment at the man’s discretion; it is a legal right. Constantly framing the discussion of this right through the lens of “male victimhood” ignores the invisible labor women undertake within marriage and the economic inequality they face after divorce.

Targeting alimony alone without addressing women’s caregiving burdens, career losses, economic dependence, and the risk of falling into poverty is not equality. We cannot speak of justice while disregarding the labor women have undertaken for years and the economic consequences this has had on their lives.

Alimony is not charity; it is a right. What needs to be debated is not this right of women, but the patriarchal system that renders women economically vulnerable.

 

Suspicious Deaths Must Be Investigated

When we look at suspicious deaths of women, one of the most common story we encounter is, once again, the same: falling from a height.

According to our data, 47 women have lost their lives after falling from a height since the beginning of the year. 47 women. 47 lives. 47 individual cases. And for each one, we must ask the same questions: How did she fall? Who was with her? What happened beforehand? Was there a history of violence, threats, or arguments? Was the evidence truly examined?

We cannot simply brush off the fact that women are ‘falling’ from balconies, windows, and high floors. The fact that a death is recorded as ‘falling from a height’ does not mean that the death is not suspicious.

Femicides are not limited to women who were clearly murdered. Every woman’s death that is left as a mystery, or quickly closed off as a suicide or accident, must be effectively investigated with the possibility of male violence in mind.

 

47 women fell from a height.

We are still asking: Did they really fall?

 

In the second year since the murders of İkbal Uzuner and Ayşenur Halil, the murder of 18-year-old Gökçe Alkan has shown us once again that femicides are not isolated incidents, but a persistent political and social problem. Names change, cities change, news headlines change; yet the system that fails to protect women’s right to life remains unchanged. The failure to implement protection mechanisms, the ineffective enforcement of Protection Law No. 6284, the perception of impunity, and attacks on women’s hard-won rights are making women’s lives even more precarious.

The demand for justice we raised two years ago for İkbal and Ayşenur continues today for Gökçe. We do not accept the mindset that normalizes the killing of women and renders accountability invisible by presenting every murder as an isolated incident.

Our struggle continues for İkbal, for Ayşenur, for Gökçe, and for all women torn from life. It is not the names of women that need to change, but this system itself.

 

Case Developments of September

A verdict has been handed down in the trial regarding the death of Ayşe Tokyaz. The Küçükçekmece 2nd High Criminal Court sentenced Cemil Koç to aggravated life imprisonment for the crime of “intentionally killing a woman by torturing and with monstrous brutality.” Koç was also sentenced to 3 years in prison for “blackmail” and 7 years for “depriving a person of their liberty.”

Mekiye Akyel had set out to visit her children on 18 October 18 2024, the day after her divorce, and has not been heard from since. An indictment has been drawn up against the suspects, including Mekiye Akyel’s former husband and his relatives, on charges of premeditated murder motivated by honor, and deprivation of liberty. Although the indictment has been drawn up thanks to the efforts of her family and her sister Halime, Mekiye’s body has still not been found and she still has no grave. We will ensure that Mekiye has a grave, and we will ensure that the perpetrators receive the punishment they deserve. We will secure justice for Mekiye.

The verdict has been handed down in the trial of Dilshod Turdimurotov and Gofurjon Kamalkhodjaey, who murdered Durdona Khakımova and Sayyora Ergashaliyeva. The court sentenced both perpetrators to two consecutive terms of aggravated life imprisonment for the crime of “murder committed with premeditation, with savage intent or by inflicting suffering”.

In the case concerning Aleyna Çakır’s death, the 34th Ankara High Criminal Court sentenced the defendant, Ümitcan Uygun, to four years’ imprisonment on charges of “inciting suicide and reinforcing the decision to commit suicide”. Uygun was acquitted of the charge of “inflicting torture”. Uygun has previously been convicted of a violent offence against Esra Hankulu and is currently in custody in connection with that case.

Aynur Kanbur was killed in a shooting outside her home in Şişli, Istanbul, in 2016. The murder was solved 10 years later, when her relative, Bülent Gündüz, confessed to killing Kanbur on the pretext that she was working as a belly dancer. In September, it was decided that there were no grounds for prosecution against 15 people who had been investigated as suspects for years prior to the murder being solved.

 

What happened regarding women in September?

In Sivas, it was reported that 11-month-old Büşra Balıkçı went missing on 10 September from the tent on the mountain pasture where her family kept livestock. Her mother, Elif Balıkçı, alleged that Büşra’s father, Yusuf Balıkçı, had killed the child and left her body in the field. Clothes belonging to Büşra were found in the field, and the results of forensic analysis of the biological evidence on the clothes are awaited. Büşra has not been found for 23 days.

 

Sexual Violence Increases, Impunity Protects the Perpetrators

In Çanakkale, 69-year-old Ş. T. was arrested on charges of “sexual abuse of a child” for allegedly abusing two 15-year-old children at a hotel. The hotel’s manager, M. P., was arrested on charges of “forgery of official documents”, “failure to report a crime” and aiding the abuse. The hotel’s operating license was revoked and the premises were sealed indefinitely. It was alleged that Ş. T. had previously stayed at the same hotel with children and that the children’s records were kept on a separate system without being reported to the police.

In İzmir, 29-year-old N. M. filed a complaint stating that she had been beaten and sexually assaulted by six men in a house. The gendarmerie apprehended five of the suspects in İzmir and one in Batman. Of the six suspects brought before the court, five 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 Karaman, 45-year-old Fatma Özcan was found dead at her home alongside Namık Özcan, the man she was in the process of divorcing. A note reading ‘There is cyanide in the house – do not enter’, along with a substance believed to be cyanide and various chemicals, was found at the scene. The police are investigating the possibility that Namık Özcan may have killed Fatma with cyanide and then committed suicide.

 

In Diyarbakır, 23-year-old Nurcan Akpirinç, mother of two and two months pregnant, was found hanged at the home of M. A., the man she was living with and was in an unofficial religious matrimony. Before her death, Nurcan had phoned her mother to say she had an argument with M. A. When her mother went to the house after Nurcan was reported missing, she was told, ‘Nurcan isn’t at home’. The family learnt approximately two hours later that Nurcan had been found hanging in the guest room of the same house. Her sister stated that Nurcan had sent her a message before her death, saying she had been threatened by her mother-in-law.

 

The stories of the life struggles of the 28 women killed in September

In Muğla, 28-year-old Berfin Zelal Kaya, who ran a restaurant, was shot and killed with a firearm at her home by Mehmet Akkaya, the man she used to be with. The perpetrator committed suicide with the same weapon. An unlicensed handgun was found on the perpetrator.

 

In Istanbul, it was revealed four years later that 17-year-old Zeynep Yıldırım, who went missing in 2022, had been killed. It was determined that the last person Zeynep had spoken to was Fethi Dağlı and that the last signal from her phone came from Dağlı’s home. Fethi Dağlı had been convicted of murder in 2007 and released from prison under supervised release in 2021. Dağlı was also arrested in 2024 for killing 23-year-old Erva Raziye Asar.

 

In Mersin, 46-year-old Narin S. was shot and killed with a handgun at her workplace by İsmail S., the man she was married to. The perpetrator, who was serving as a specialist sergeant, had been subject to a restraining order for approximately 1.5 years. The perpetrator committed suicide with the same weapon.

 

In Kahramanmaraş, 49-year-old Dilek Bağrıaçık, mother of four, was shot and killed with a pump-action shotgun in the middle of the street by Tevfik Bağrıaçık, the man she was married to. The perpetrator opened fire on Dilek, with whom he had argued in the street, and then committed suicide with the same weapon.

 

In the Saruhanlı district of Manisa, 31-year-old Gül T. was shot and killed in a car by Hasan T., the man she was married to. The perpetrator opened fire on the moving vehicle she was in. Gül T.’s aunt, R. G., was seriously injured in the attack. The perpetrator fled the scene.

 

In the Korkuteli district of Antalya, 35-year-old Ayşegül Coşkun was killed with a hunting shotgun by Sefer Coşkun, the man she was in the process of divorcing. In the same attack, the perpetrator also killed Ayşegül’s 61-year-old mother Cemile Engel. Her three children who were in the house at the time were taken into protective custody.

 

In Çorum, Yasemin Yanık, who worked at a market, was shot and killed with a handgun at her workplace by İsmail Balcı, the man she used to be married to. The perpetrator committed suicide with the same weapon.

 

In Adana, 49-year-old Kezban K., who was staying at her sister’s home, was shot and killed with a handgun by Enes D., the man she had divorced 1.5 months earlier. The perpetrator had come from Muğla to Adana. Kezban's 13-year-old son, Yağız Ege, was seriously injured in the attack. The perpetrator committed suicide after the incident.

 

In Diyarbakır, M. K. was shot and killed with a handgun in front of a library by Ö. K., the man she had divorced. The perpetrator fled in his vehicle and committed suicide during the police pursuit.

 

In Osmaniye, 20-year-old Didar Filiz, mother of two and six months pregnant, was beaten to death by K. F., the man she was married to, and three other relatives. Didar, who suffered severe blows to the head, could not be saved at the hospital. K. F. was arrested.

 

In Batman, 27-year-old S. G. was killed with a sharp object by A. G., the man she was married to. The perpetrator also killed their 2- and 1-year-old children and then committed suicide.

 

In Kahramanmaraş, the body of 54-year-old Ayşegül Yaşar, who had been missing since August 26, was found buried with her hands tied in a wooded area in the Andırın district. T. K., who was taken into custody, confessed to strangling Ayşegül in his vehicle, burying her body, and keeping the gold he had taken from her at his home.

 

In Gaziantep, 27-year-old Merve K. was killed with a pump-action shotgun by Harun K., the man she was married to. The perpetrator opened fire randomly, also injuring four people, three of them children.

 

In Hatay, 47-year-old Emine Çil was shot and killed with a hunting shotgun by K.Ç., the man she was in the process of divorcing. The perpetrator was taken into custody.

 

In Konya, 63-year-old Fadime Sarıca was strangled to death at night by Mehmet Ali Sarıca, the man she was married to. In the morning, the perpetrator called their daughter to the house and confessed that he had strangled Fadime.

 

In Tekirdağ, 78-year-old Fadime Ünlü was stabbed to death at her home by Mehmet Ünlü, the man she was married to. The perpetrator was arrested.

 

In Isparta, 35-year-old Ayşe Kapçı, mother of two, was shot and killed with a pump-action shotgun in the middle of the street by Fatih Kapçı, the man she was married to. Ayşe was going to her parents’ home after an argument.

 

In Ankara, 26-year-old Buse Akgün was stabbed to death in the schoolyard she had gone to in order to give a gift to her child, by Bayram Gök, the man she used to be married to. It was learned that, despite Buse having custody, he was preventing her from seeing her children. The perpetrator had also repeatedly threatened to kill Buse and had placed a tracking device in their children’s bag.

 

In Sakarya, 34-year-old İpek İpek was shot and killed with a handgun by her 16-year-old son B. İ.

 

In Denizli, 43-year-old Ayşe Pabuccu was stabbed seven times and killed by Ali Avcı, the man her sister, who had a speech disability, was in unofficial religious matrimony.

 

In Manisa, 30-year-old Hasret E., mother of three, was stabbed to death by S. E., the man she was married to.

 

In Diyarbakır, 32-year-old Ayfer Çakmak was shot and killed with a hunting shotgun by Osman Çakmak, the man she was married to. Ayfer was shot on the stairs while trying to flee the house.

 

In Siirt, Mekiye Akyel, mother of four, married İsa Güç in 2015. She left home in 2024 due to violence and sought refuge in women's shelters, and later got a divorce in September 2024. On 18th of October 2024, İsa Güç took her from her home in Batman and Mekiye was never heard from again. Her body has not been found. According to the accepted indictment, it was assessed that Mekiye was killed by İsa Güç and his father Hüseyin Güç. It was also stated that three people, including her former father-in-law, had instigated the killing. Three suspects remain in custody.

 

In Kocaeli, 37-year-old Fatma Çiğil was chased through the street and shot by İ. Ç., the man she used to be married to. Fatma died at the hospital.

 

In Sakarya, 50-year-old Betül Arık, mother of six, was stabbed to death by Ömür Arık, the man she was married to.

 

In Kütahya, 51-year-old Nalan Temelkıran, mother of two, was repeatedly stabbed and killed at a gift shop by Salih T., the father of Nalan’s son’s former girlfriend. The perpetrator said he committed the murder under the pretext that Nalan had had a spell cast on his daughter.

 

In Artvin, it was revealed 30 years later that Nigar Bilgin, who had been missing since 1996, was killed by Z. B., the man she was married to. It was learned that Nigar was subjected to violence from the perpetrator. Bone and clothing fragments believed to belong to Nigar were found at the location indicated by the perpetrator, who had been living alone in a cave for approximately 20 years.

 

 

*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”