Ozgecan Aslan was the last passenger on a minibus that carried her through Mersin, a city on Turkey’s Mediterranean coast. A psychology student of modest background, Aslan (20) thought the pepper spray she carried would protect her against any potential danger or attention. Tragically, she was mistaken.
Her body was found in a riverbed close to a village 15km north of her university town on February 13th, two days after the brutal attack.
According to the 26-year-old bus driver charged with her murder, Aslan reacted angrily at being taken on a non-designated route. Local reports say she was raped, beaten and her body burned so badly she could only be identified by particles of her clothing.
Two other men, the bus driver’s father and a friend, have been charged with complicity in her murder.
“My angel-faced daughter,” her mother cried shortly after the attack, which has caused outrage. “I gave my all to ensure my children got a good education and lead good lives. And this monster comes and kills my child. My child didn’t deserve this.”
Away from this sad and ghastly killing, one which has shocked Turkey and raised the spectre of violence against women in an ostensibly secular and modern country, activists say comments from political leaders may be contributing to a marked increase in attacks on women.
Sheltering in secret
At a secret location in central
Istanbul
, Turkey’s largest city, about 20 women and children are staying at the Mor Cati (“Purple Roof”) women’s shelter. Its exact site is known to only a few volunteers and the women and children who have sought refuge there to guard against the possibility that husbands, fathers or other family members might come calling.
“Every situation is bad,” said Ilke Gokdemir, an activist at the foundation overseeing the shelter. “It could be a 10-year-old being beaten or a case of incest, sexual violence or women forced out of their homes . . . they are mostly coming because of violence from their partners and husbands.
“Most of the murder and infanticide happens when [the women] say ‘no’.”
Gokdemir said as many as five women are murdered in Turkey every day. There are many reasons for the attacks, she added, but one has stood out in recent years.
“The growth of conservatism. Politicians, the government saying women should have more children, that they are mothers first, that family is really important. This is not a new thing, but it has become more prevalent.”
According to one activist group, more than 100 women were homicide victims in the first six months of 2014. In a single day, three women were murdered for seeking divorce.
In the 13 years since Turkey's ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) came to power, the number of women murdered have risen exponentially. Increasingly, senior government ministers, as well as president Recep Tayyip Erdogan, have taken to public forums to offer their thoughts on the role of women in society.
Pregnant women should not be seen in public, said a well-known scholar on state TV. Women should not laugh out loud, said Turkey’s deputy prime minister.
Equal footing
In November, Erdogan told a conference in Istanbul: “You cannot put women and men on an equal footing . . . Feminists don’t understand that. They reject motherhood.” Women, incidentally, hold just 14 per cent of seats in Turkey’s parliament.
The sense that women do and should play a submissive role in Turkish society is having real consequences in everyday life. Last year a man convicted of murdering his two previous wives appeared on a television dating show.
Although the show’s host asked the man to leave after he admitted to his murderous past, the producers said they knew of his criminal history but allowed him to participate because he had served his sentences.
Last month, a criminal complaint was filed in the resort city of Antalya following attempts by a secondary school vice-principal to deter female students from wearing skirts by calling for student “harassment teams”.
Labelling violence against women by male family members crimes of “honour” is misleading as well as dangerous, says activist Gokdemir.
“It’s not ‘honour’,” she said. “The terminology is not right. Killing is killing. The reason is male violence and inequality in society in all aspects.”
For some women, Gokdemir says, big cities offer essential anonymity that smaller towns and villages can’t. But the politics of Turkey’s leading party is carried by most of the country’s mainstream media outlets into homes across the country. That, say some, makes for a frightening future.
“If conservatism increases,” said Gokdemir, “it dramatically affects women. All signs suggest that’s happening.”
