Preachers told to condemn "honor killings"

"Honor killings" involve the murder of women by male relatives to defend what is regarded as family honour. They are not uncommon in Turkey’s conservative, impoverished southeast.

State Minister Mehmet Aydin made his appeal after Turkish newspapers reported the fatal shooting of a woman on Friday by her two brothers as she lay in a hospital bed in Istanbul recovering from an earlier assassination attempt.

"In the coming weeks, I think sermons will be read in the mosques on the rights of women," the Anatolian state news agency quoted Aydin as saying.

"Our people and our laws already define the killing of people for traditional reasons (honor killings) as ‘murder’… Taking the life of another, and indeed suicide, are deemed a sin in our religion and are forbidden," he said.

"It is not people but laws which punish the guilty," said Aydin, who is a professor of the philosophy of religion.

In overwhelmingly Muslim but secular Turkey, a department of state writes the sermons which are read out in the mosques every Friday. Aydin, who is not responsible for the sermons, said he would urge the Religious Affairs Department to act.

The European Union, which Turkey hopes to join, and human rights groups have long urged Ankara to do much more to stamp out "honor killings" and improve its rights record.

Turkey recently revised a planned new penal code after the EU and rights groups said it failed to punish such killings in the same way as other forms of homicide.

Guldal Aksit, minister responsible for women affairs, stated that the government would protect the baby of Guldunya Toren, who was killed by her two brothers on Friday. Guldunya, from Erler village in the southeastern province of Bitlis, was the latest victim of "honour killing" in Turkey. Her fate was decided by her family, who sent her two brothers to kill her. They shot and wounded her on a street, and then killed her later while she lay in a hospital bed.

"If the baby’s family does not allow government protection, the government can not do anything else. However, if the baby remains without any protection the government will take him under care and protection," said Aksit.

The Istanbul Social Services Directorate placed the baby under its care with Aksit’s directive.

Lawyers react to Aksit’s statements
However, the lawyers from Istanbul and Izmir’s Bar Associations’ women rights commissions were surprised with by the statements of minister Aksit. The lawyers stated that there is special situation in such cases and that since there is possibility of threat to baby’s life, the court and government cannot give the baby to his family. In the court, the judge has to take necessary measures directly, and has to appoint a guardian for the baby, or place the baby under the care of relevant institutions according to Turkish Civil Code.

Guldunya previously gave her baby to another family for protection since she was afraid the baby would also be killed by her family. The family who received the baby from Guldunya said they like the baby and want to adopt him. The Istanbul Kucukcekmece police directorate have not revealed the name of the family since the suspects of the murder have not been arrested yet.

However, Guldunya’s family stated that her family assembly did not decide to kill her but that it was decision of her brothers. The family also added, "if we had wanted to kill her, we would not have wanted to receive the dead body to bury in our village."