Following the tragic murder of two young women, Turkish social media has become a platform for sharing the stories of women who have fallen victim to femicide, highlighting their repeated pleas for protection from authorities.
Social media users have taken to X to share stories of numerous women who repeatedly sought help and protection but were failed by the police and judiciary. According to women’s rights activists and academics, femicide in Turkey is a political issue, as existing policies and regulations are insufficient to ensure women’s safety, and perpetrators are often granted impunity with lenient sentencing.
“Medine Memi was never photographed. She was never sent to school. She was buried alive by her own father and grandfather. Her body was unearthed in a sitting position, and an autopsy report confirmed she was still alive when buried. Although Medine asked for protection several times, she was sent back home,” said one social media post.
According to other social media posts, Memi was only 16 years old when she was killed.
“Yasemin Unlu was my aunt. She was shot by her husband. The murderer then went on to kill his own daughters. We are now in the middle of a lengthy trial. The murderer pretended to be insane, despite medical reports confirming his sanity,” said another tweet.
“Başak Cengiz was a close family friend. We had attended the same university. She was stabbed to death in the middle of the street by a man she didn’t even know. She was young, successful and an animal lover. She had dreams. Do not forget her!”
Cengiz, 27, was murdered in November 2021 in Istanbul in broad daylight. The perpetrator killed the young woman with a samurai sword, and his lawyers argued that he was suffering from a mental illness. Speaking to the media, Cengiz’s mother has repeatedly called on the judiciary for harsher sentences.
“Ada was my best friend. She was murdered on April 30, 2023 by her stalker. Nobody cared but her family.”
“Ayşenur was my teacher,” said one social media user who shared a news clipping of a teacher named Ayşenur, who was killed in Istanbul by her husband, whom she was trying to divorce.
Femicides and violence against women are serious problems in Turkey, where women are killed, raped or beaten almost every day. Many critics say the main reason behind the situation is the policies of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) government, which protects violent and abusive men by granting them impunity.
Last week, two young women, 19-year-old Ayşenur Halil and Ikbal Uzuner, were murdered by Semih Çelik in the heart of Istanbul. Çelik dismembered Uzuner’s body and threw her head from the city’s historic walls. The terrible incident was witnessed by many, including the young woman’s parents. Çelik then jumped from the walls and died.
Graphic images of the incident were widely shared on social media and caused an uproar among the public.
Speaking to the media, Çelik’s mother said she was aware her son’s mental health had been deteriorating for a while and had tried to get him hospitalized several times. Unfortunately, she was not taken seriously by hospitals, doctors or the police.
Women and activists across the country have been protesting the brutal murders and the lack of political will to tackle increasing violence against women.
According to the We Will Stop Femicide Platform, between 2010 and 2024, 4,255 cases of femicide have occurred. Furthermore, suspicious deaths of women have increased by 82 percent in the last seven years. Since Turkey withdrew from the Istanbul Convention, an international treaty aimed at combating domestic violence, in 2021, there has been an increase in the number of women killed by men.
The Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence 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 in 2011.
Despite opposition from the international community and women’s rights groups, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan issued the decree on March 20, 2021 that pulled the country out of the international treaty, which requires governments to adopt legislation prosecuting perpetrators of domestic violence and similar abuse as well as marital rape and female genital mutilation.
In 2022, one year after Turkey’s withdrawal, femicide cases increased by 20 percent.
Women’s rights advocates are now worried that the future will be even more grim for women as the government and its allies have been calling for further rollbacks, urging the repeal of Law No. 6284, which is a domestic provision that provides protection mechanisms for women and children who have suffered or are deemed at risk of suffering domestic violence.
Many human rights advocates have been saying the law is not being implemented by the authorities, anyway.
