Turkey fails to prevent women killings despite signature

ISTANBUL

CİHAN photo

It’s been a year since the Istanbul Convention, a landmark treaty of the Council of Europe (CoE) dedicated to preventing and combating general and domestic violence against women. Although the convention entered into force Aug. 1, 2014, the country has failed to take steps on this road.

Despite Turkey being the convention’s first signatory in May 2011, violence targeting women is widespread in the country, even with attempts to beef up legislation and training programs for officials.

Main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) Ankara deputy Gülsün Bilgehan has voiced concerns over the rise of women killings despite the convention and called on the government for the urgent implementation of an action plan.

In Turkey, 258 women were killed by men between Aug. 1, 2014 and June 2015, said Bigehan in recent statement, citing the statistics from “Platform to Stop Women Killings.”

“Although the Istanbul Convention rejects the decrease of penalties due to ‘provocation,’ men who killed women have received smaller jail terms due to being provoked by the victim’s words,” Bilgehan sad. She cited an example from Konya, where Kamil Çolak, who brutally killed his ex-wife Ö.I., was sentenced to 18 years rather than a life term, on the grounds that the victim told him that their children were not his.