Twenty-nine women were murdered by men in Turkey in April and another 14 died under suspicious circumstances, the We Will Stop Femicide Platform reported.
Of the 29 women who were murdered, 19 were killed by their husbands or boyfriends and three by other relatives.
At least seven of the victims were killed over their decisions concerning their own lives, such as asking for a divorce, rejecting reconciliation with a romantic partner or declining a marriage proposal or romantic relationship.
On April 12 Sevilay Yaztırmak was killed in İstanbul by her husband, Şaban Yaztırmak, from whom she was seeking a divorce and had obtained a restraining order. On the same day Zeliha Çinibulak was murdered by her ex-husband, Serdar Harmancı.
Emine Akpınar was shot and killed in Samsun on April 16 by Emrah Akpınar, who was under a restraining order.
On April 29 Hatice Gül was shot dead in Kayseri by Mustafa Bozkurt, a former partner against whom she had also obtained a restraining order.
Femicide and violence against women are chronic problems in Turkey, where women are killed, raped or beaten almost every day.
According to the We Will Stop Femicide Platform, at least 394 women were murdered by men in 2024.
Many critics say the main reason behind the situation is the policies of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) government, which protects violent and abusive men by granting them impunity.
Turkish courts have repeatedly drawn criticism due to their tendency to hand down lenient sentences to offenders, claiming that the crime was merely “motivated by passion” or by interpreting victims’ silence as consent.
In a move that attracted national and international outrage, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan used a presidential decree to withdraw the country from an international treaty in March 2021 that requires governments to adopt legislation prosecuting perpetrators of domestic violence and similar abuse as well as marital rape and female genital mutilation.
The Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence, better known as the İstanbul Convention, is an international accord designed to protect women’s rights and prevent domestic violence in societies and was opened to the signature of Council of Europe member countries in 2011. Turkey had been a party to the convention until 2021.
Erdoğan’s allies have also been calling for further rollbacks, urging the repeal of a domestic law that stipulates protection mechanisms for women who either have suffered or are at risk of suffering violence.
