Country of origin information report Turkey March 2007

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22.36 The IHD (Human Rights Association) 2005 Balance Sheet on Human Rights Violations in Turkey reported a total of 68 deaths (39 women; 29 men) and 29 cases of people being injured (15 women; 14 men). (Honour related attacks) [73a] 
22.37 The International Helsinki Federation (IHF) for Human Rights June 2006 Turkey report noted:
“Thirty-nine women and 29 men fell victim to ‘honor killings’, and 116 women and at least 45 children were killed as a result of domestic violence. The year was also characterized by increased government and public awareness of the violence against women and children, a women’s rights NGO working in the southeast and among IDP communities in other parts of Turkey preventing a substantial number of ‘honor killings’.” [10a]
22.38 The Norwegian Country of Origin Information Centre ‘2004 Report of fact-finding mission to Turkey noted that:
“Like other forms of violence against women, honour killings happen in all parts of the country. They appear to be more frequent in the Black-Sea Region and in Kurdish inhabited areas in the Southeast, where tribal customs play an important role in everyday life. From the sunni-dominated areas of central-Anatolia (such as Konya) however, fewer cases are reported…Just like other kinds of violence within the family, no comprehensive recording or statistical monitoring is conducted as to the prevalence of honour killings. Most of the NGO’s representatives I talked to, estimated that the number of unreported or undetected cases was significantly higher than the official numbers. Honour killings are often hushed up and some women who have apparently committed suicide have in fact been killed or even forced to kill themselves by their family.” [16] (p33-34)
22.39 The European Commission 2006 report recorded that:
“Crimes in the name of honour and suicides committed by women due to the influence of the family continue to occur, especially in the regions of the East and Southeast. Nonetheless, there is still a lack of reliable data on such events as well as on domestic violence more generally. According to the preliminary results of the UN Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women, causes of suicides are early and forced marriages, domestic violence and denial of reproductive rights. Poverty, urbanisation, displacement and internal migration, and thus changing socioeconomic situation of women are the contexts within which suicides occur. Women’s suicides are not always properly investigated, especially in the Southeast. In parts of the South East it still occurs that girls are not registered at birth. This hampers the fight against forced marriage and crimes in the name of honour since these girls and women cannot be properly traced” [71a] (p18)
22.40 Amnesty International’s report of June 2004 reported two of cases of those found guilty of honour crimes being sentenced to life imprisonment. According to the report “These cases have shown the positive steps that have been taken and the efforts being made within the Turkish judicial system to treat ‘honour killings’ as seriously as other murders… However, although some courts appear to have begun implementing the reforms, the discretion accorded to the courts continues to permit the perpetrators of domestic violence unwarranted leniency.” [12j] (p17)
22.41 In February 2004 the BBC reported that “A Turkish women had been murdered in an Istanbul hospital where she was already being treated for injuries sustained in a so-called honour attack. Guldunya Toren 24, was being treated after being shot and left for dead, when the second attack happened. Early on the morning of the 26 February 2004, a man claiming to be a relative told staff he wanted to visit her, before shooting her dead.” [66s] The BBC reported in March 2004 that in response to the killing Muslim clerics across Turkey were told by the government to deliver sermons upholding women’s rights and condemning so called honour killings. [66t]
22.42 As noted in the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) Human Rights Annual Report 2006, released in October 2006:
“Honour killing remains an issue of concern. The new penal code, which came into force in June 2005, has made progress in addressing this issue by removing the sentence reductions for murders motivated by ‘honour’, thus treating ‘honour killings’ as seriously as any murder. Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan issued a directive on 17 July 2006 aimed at reducing honour killings and domestic violence and calling for ‘new and urgent’ action. The directive includes setting up a free helpline for victims of domestic violence and a

number of educational and awareness-raising initiatives about ‘honour crimes’. This builds on the work of a parliamentary commission set up in November 2005 to investigate the incidence and causes of honour killings in Turkey which produced a number of recommendations.” [4n] (p138)