According to the Turkish Daily News website, in a report on Turkey's family protection laws, the Turkish daily Radikal enumerated some of the 18 reported "honor killings" that had taken place in Turkey since August 2006 including:
A widow who started working at a bus firm and was shot to preserve her family's honor
One whose husband cut her throat for “taking too many showers"
An 18-year-old girl killed by her brother for talking to her boyfriend on the phone
Another strangled by her husband in front of the couple's three-year-old son because she prepared breakfast late.
The paper said that the Law on Family Protection (No. 4320), passed in 1998, was perfect but was not being enforced properly.
Radikal quoted lawyer Hülya Gülbahar of the Turkish Penal Code Women's Platform organization as saying: "According to [the family protection] this law, courts should issue a ruling to protect anyone under economic, psychological, sexual or other kinds of violence. If the aggressors violate this ruling, they might face up to six months in jail. We have been struggling for this law to be enforced for eight years... Last month, the Gaziantep Family Court ordered a husband who was committing psychological violence against his wife out of the family home. This was published in newspapers as an example-setting ruling."
According to Radikal, most judicial and security forces personnel are insensitive and not-well-informed about the law.
Source: TurkishDailyNews.com (1/4/07)
