İbrahim D. ran over his girlfriend, Ece Çelik, who is a university student, by his truck after a quarrel on July 31. Ece Çelik fell into a vegetative state after the homicidal attempt, while İbrahim D. fled the area immediately.
İbrahim D. was taken into custody upon complaints, but stated in his testimony that he just left the place without realizing that he hit someone. He, then, has been released by the state attorney’s decision.
Another recent event of violence against women happened in one of the most crowded places in İstanbul’s centre, Beşiktaş on August 16. A couple was sitting in a café when the man head-butted his girlfriend. The man was then taken into custody.
In Bodrum, Muğla, on the same day, a man working as a car parking vale was filmed while insulting and then using physical violence against a woman in her car.
Violence against women and femicide remain to be one of the most important problems in Turkey.
173 women were murdered in the first five months of 2017 in Turkey, according to a report prepared by We Will Stop Femicide Platform which is a platform striving for stopping femicide and ensuring their protection from violence. In the same period of the previous year, femicide was 137.
Despite the increase in murders, the government rejects such criticisms. However, research shows that violence against women has increased 1400% under the rule of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) between 2002-2012 in Turkey. Thousands of women were murdered, and yet more thousands confronted systematic violence and sexual abuse.
