Turkey fails to protect women for yet another day

Turkey’s failure to protect vulnerable women was once again brought into sharp relief on Oct. 3, with two separate incidents involving the killing of one woman and the injuring of another.

Violence against women is among the country’s bleeding wounds, with reports of a woman’s killing - even if they are under state protection - occurring almost every day.

In one of the recent incidents, a woman who took refuge in a women’s shelter due to being subjected to violence from her husband was killed by him in the northern province of Kastamonu on Oct. 3.

The woman, identified only as Naime K., applied to the Family and Social Policies Ministry to escape from her husband’s violence six months ago and had been staying at a protection shelter ever since.

After six months, Naime K. wanted to see her mother, sister and 15-year-old son, so left the shelter in order to head to the ministry’s provincial directorate. She was escorted by a women’s shelter official, identified only as Dürdane Ç.

She left the ministry building after seeing her relatives and was about to get onto the service bus belonging to the ministry when her husband, identified only as Engin K., shot her from behind.

While Engin K. was trying to escape from the scene Naime K.’s brother, identified only as Emin K., also took out a pistol and shot at the vehicle of his brother-in-law.

Naime K., who was wounded in the back with two bullets, and Dürdane Ç., who was wounded in her leg, were rushed to Kastamonu State Hospital after initial treatment at the scene.

Naime K. succumbed to her injuries at the hospital, though Dürdane Ç.’s condition was not said to be life-threatening.

Engin K. and Emin K. were both detained by police shortly after the incident.

An investigation into the murder is currently ongoing.

In a separate incident, a man - who was the subject of a restraining order - stabbed his wife in front of their eight-year-old son in a street in the southeastern province of Gaziantep on Oct. 2.

Özgür Meriç, 32, and his wife Hakkın Meriç, who are reportedly in the process of getting divorced.

The attack occurred after an argument, during which the husband took out a knife and stabbed his wife several times in front of their child,