Twenty women were killed by men in Turkey in July, while 12 others died under suspicious circumstances, according to the latest report released by the We Will End Femicide Platform.
The report showed 10 of the women were killed by their husbands, two by their boyfriends, two by an acquaintance, one by her father, one by a relative, one by her ex-boyfriend and one was killed by a man who wanted to start a romantic relationship with her, while the relationship between the woman and the murderer in the one remaining case could not be established.
The platform said it would continue to hold demonstrations across the country in protest of Turkey’s decision to withdraw from an international treaty aimed at combatting domestic violence, better known as the Istanbul Convention.
Despite widespread violence against women, Turkey withdrew in July from the Istanbul Convention, aimed at protecting women against violence after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan issued a decree on March 20 that pulled the country out of the convention, which requires governments to adopt legislation prosecuting perpetrators of domestic violence and similar abuse as well as marital rape and female genital mutilation. Erdoğan’s move sparked protests across Turkey and attracted global condemnation.
“Our struggle is not the kind of a struggle that will go backward due to the obstacles set before us by politicians. We will put the constitution, laws and the treaty into action and continue our struggle for equality, freedoms and an end to discrimination,” said the platform.
In the meantime, the alleged killer of 21-year-old Azra Gülendam Haytaoğlu was arrested on charges of premeditated murder on Monday after he confessed to the murder.
Mustafa Murat Ayhan, 48, was jailed in connection with the murder of Haytaoğlu, a journalism student who was sexually assaulted, strangled to death and dismembered. Her body parts were buried in a suitcase in a forest in Antalya, according to media reports. She went missing last week.