A nurse at a community health center in Turkey’s central Karaman province was shot and wounded by a would-be suitor on Monday because she refused to have a relationship with him, one of three attacks that occurred in the past two days, the BirGün daily reported.
Hüseyin B. went to the health center and allegedly shot Emine A. in the chest when they started arguing, and then turned the gun on himself. Karaman Governor Tuncay Akkoyun said both sustained critical injuries and are currently in surgery.
Emine A.’s colleagues said Hüseyin B. came to see her many times while she was working, although she always refused to talk to him.
Another woman, Huriye Zeybek (60), was stabbed to death by her husband Zafer Zeybek (65) in western Manisa province on Sunday. Zafer Zeybek was taken into police custody after the incident.
In addition Saadet K. (41) was stabbed on Monday in a public park in Karaman by her husband Harun K. (43), whom she is in the province of divorcing. Following the incident, Harun K. was taken into police custody, while Saadet K. continues to receive treatment at a hospital.
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.
According to the latest statistics from the We Will Stop Femicide Platform (Kadın Cinayetlerini Durduracağız Platformu), 246 women have been murdered to date in Turkey in 2022.
In a move that attracted national and international outrage, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan through a presidential decree pulled the country out of 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 signature of member countries of the Council of Europe in 2011.
Since Turkey’s withdrawal from the treaty, Turkish authorities have been pressuring women’s rights organizations for their activist work.
Despite the pressure organizations have said they would continue monitoring violence and femicide in the country.
