Turkey has had a grim start to the new year, with 33 women murdered by men in January and another 32 dying under suspicious circumstances, according to the We Will Stop Femicide Platform.
Of the 33 women who were murdered, 13 were killed by their husbands or boyfriends and 13 by other relatives.
At least eight of the victims were murdered 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 January 3 in Bursa, 25-year-old Fatma Elif Zorlu was shot and killed in her home by her jealous husband.
On January 5 in İstanbul, Burcu Seymen, a mother of two, was shot and killed by her partner, Melik A., after refusing his request to reconcile.
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 and an additional 259 women died under suspicious circumstances 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 attracted 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 Istanbul 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.
