3 women murdered in a single night in Türkiye

ISTANBUL

Three women fell victim to femicide in a single night — two in Istanbul and one in Ankara— each killed by their husbands, underscoring the ongoing struggle to address this pervasive issue.

In Istanbul’s Küçükçekmece district, 23-year-old Öznur Akkaya was stabbed in the street by her husband after she announced her intention to divorce.

Despite her attempts to flee, she was attacked, then succumbed to her wounds at the hospital. Bystanders at the scene attempted to lynch the assailant while the police apprehended him.

In a separate incident in the Bağcılar district, a woman identified only by her initials, K.Ç., was fatally stabbed by her husband, İ.Ç., at their home.

The perpetrator subsequently turned himself in to the authorities and was taken into custody.

The third instance unfolded in Ankara around the same time, where local media reported that a couple, in the throes of divorce, began arguing inside a vehicle.

The man shot the woman with a firearm before turning the weapon on himself. Both died in the incident.

A total of 166 women in Türkiye have fallen victim to femicide in the first half of 2024, Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya earlier announced. On Feb. 27, seven women were killed — the highest known number of such killings there on a single day.

At least 403 women were killed in Türkiye last year, most of them by current or former spouses and other men close to them, according to the We Will Stop Femicides Platform. Femicide and violence against women in Türkiye are pervasive, particularly at the hands of spouses. Intimate partner violence is one of the most common forms of violence experienced by women worldwide and in Türkiye.

Statistics indicate that 42 percent of women are murdered by their husbands, 10 percent by former spouses, 9 percent by their fathers, 5 percent by former partners and another 5 percent by relatives.