A deputy from the Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) has submitted three parliamentary inquiries following the murder of a female university student by her abusive boyfriend, the Evrensel daily reported.
MP Halide Türkoğlu directed the inquiries to the ministries of Family and Social Services, Interior and Justice, seeking to understand systemic failures in Turkey’s protection mechanisms for women facing domestic violence. The inquiries focus on alleged police negligence, potential corruption in the investigation and broader institutional accountability in the victim’s death.
Twenty-one-year-old Ayşe Tokyaz was found dead on July 13, her body stuffed in a suitcase abandoned by the roadside. Her sister, Esra Tokyaz, says Ayşe had been subjected to domestic violence by her boyfriend, former police chief Cemil Koç. Despite reporting the abuse to police, nothing was done to protect the young woman.
In the days leading up to her death, Koç had locked Ayşe in a house while her sister desperately tried to find a way to rescue her.
In the final days before Ayşe’s body was found, Esra Tokyaz made repeated attempts to help her sister escape the dangerous situation. However, her pleas to the local police were dismissed, and they refused to investigate despite being told that Ayşe was a victim of domestic violence and in imminent danger.
Determined to help her sister, Esra went to the local police station to file an official complaint against Koç. There, she discovered that some of the officers were acquaintances of Koç. The following day, Koç called her directly, read her statement back to her line by line and told her that nothing would happen to him.
Following the discovery of Ayşe’s body, Koç was detained on accusations of killing the young woman, while five others were detained for allegedly helping him dispose of the body and later cleaning up the murder scene.
After Koç’s detention, reports emerged that a previous girlfriend had died under suspicious circumstances. The girlfriend, Turkmenistan national Ece Gül Ovezova, died after falling out a window.
Women’s rights activists said if the first death had been properly investigated by the authorities, Ayşe Tokyaz might still be alive today.
Regarding the murder, Türkoğlu said, “Ayşe Tokyaz repeatedly sought help [through her sister] and clearly stated she was experiencing violence, but all state mechanisms systematically failed to act. Her right to life was not protected. This is not only a femicide, but the result of a chain of negligence.”
She urged all relevant institutions to transparently inform the public and take decisive action against the police officers who ignored the sisters’ complaints, those responsible for leaking Esra Tokyaz’s statement to Koç and anyone else involved in negligence.
Femicides and violence against women are serious problems in Turkey, where women are killed, raped or beaten every day. 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.
Despite opposition from the international community and women’s rights groups, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan issued a decree in March 2021 that pulled the country out of an international treaty 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 member countries of the Council of Europe in 2011.
Women’s rights advocates have repeatedly called on authorities to take effective measures against femicide, especially effectively implementing Law No. 6284, which aims to protect women against violence.
