These days, you can come across a woman who is sharing a black and white photo of herself as a "challenge." If you wondered what it meant, you may want to know the feminist agenda of Turkey.

Nowadays in Turkey, hundreds of women have protested male violence across the country while saying 'we are not mourning, we are uprising!' Many people in the world started to join this black and white photo challenge. Turkish women don't want to see black and white photos of a murdered woman on their social media. They know that one day it could be their picture, so they want to show that by sharing their photos. It is not just for awareness of people, but they also want their government to implement the Istanbul Convention.

In the past nine years, the number of women killed, and suspicious female deaths, increased fourfold, according to the women’s rights platform KCDP. In 2011, 121 women were killed in Turkey, but each year the death toll rose (1). In 2019, there were at least 474 female deaths. Along the way, the government didn’t publish data on suspicious female deaths, and instead made laws that put obstacles in the way of the freedom of women in Turkey, which goes against the Istanbul Convention. Eventually, because of the increase of femicides, Turkish women started to raise their voice all around the country.

The full name of the Istanbul Convention is ‘Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence.’ It is the most comprehensive legal framework that exists to tackle violence against women and girls, covering domestic violence, rape, sexual assault, female genital mutilation (FGM), so-called honor-based violence, and forced marriage (2). Countries that have signed this convention should provide women with protection and take an efficient investigation of violence against women. Culture, religion, sexual identity should not be a justification for such acts. Also, it provides the media and private sector with training on gender equality.

In Turkey, the lack of sufficient investigation of femicides is a serious problem. For example, 23-year-old Kadirova from Uzbekistan was found dead, on September 23, 2019, in the house of Şirin Ünal, an MP from the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP). She was claimed to have shot herself with Ünal's weapon. If this sounds suspicious to you, you are not alone. Kadirova’s death has raised doubts over whether it was, in fact, suicide. “We want them to investigate whether Nadira was sexually assaulted or not, whether she was murdered or not. That’s why we are struggling for justice,” the lawyer said. Normally, it takes six months in Turkey to have a Forensic Medicine report. In Nadira’s case, it took only two. That also makes us suspicious (3). Women kept asking, "What happened to Nadira?", on social media.

Fatma Altınmakas, a Kurdish woman and mother of six children, was allegedly sexually assaulted by her spouse's brother and killed by her spouse in Malazgirt, Muş, on July 14, the day the perpetrator was released from detention (4). It is reported that she went to the police center before she was murdered, but since she didn’t know Turkish, they didn’t understand her and didn't report the case. If the Istanbul Convention would be implemented, she could still be alive, since the Istanbul Convention protects women regardless of their race, gender identity, and nation, and requires them to have a translator for these kinds of situations.

Social media has been a driving force for activism. For instance, the killing of 23-year-old student Sule Cet in Ankara, in May 2018, struck a chord in the country, prompting demonstrations and widespread media coverage. Cet's name has become a leading hashtag in social media (5). The murderers of Sule Cet got charged because of the feminist women in the country. The government is aware of this social media activism and will bring a new social media ban.

The government planned to quit the Istanbul Convention, since they want to protect the family concept, and they think that feminism corrupts this. However, last year, Emine Bulut was murdered by her ex-husband in front of her child. Emine Bulut took refuge in a police station with her daughter for around half an hour, but the law enforcement officers could not protect her (6). By not implementing the Istanbul Convention, they don't even protect families.

Misogyny started to spread in society because of the ruling party's conservative policies. As a result of this anti-secular policy, the number of femicides increased and life became difficult in Turkey, both socially and politically, for women. In this process, the Ministry of Women was replaced with the Ministry of Family and Social Policies. Thus, society doesn't want to see women as an individual, they reduced them to this family concept, but it didn't stop the feminist movement. It developed the solidarity of the women and they started to say, "You will never walk alone!", to each other.

The recent femicide of Pınar Gültekin rocked the country and started this black and white photo challenge. Young woman, Pınar Gültekin, was found in Muğla. She was murdered just because of saying no to a man who forced her to be in a relationship with him. The police attacked the women's march for Gültekin all around the country. It is not an extraordinary situation in Turkey because every year Turkish police have fired tear gas at thousands of people who gathered in central Istanbul for a march to celebrate International Women's Day in defiance of a protest ban.

The Istanbul Convention is not just a law for Turkish women because it defines violence against women as a human rights violation. According to the Convention, countries should implement gender equality, both in their laws and in social life, to end violence. It protects victims of domestic and gender-based violence in any area such as their houses, workplaces, or streets, and penalizes murderers. It is also socially effective because it can provide women with a safe environment in society. Turkey was the first country to sign this convention. As of today, 12 countries have signed the convention without ratifying it, and 34 countries who have signed, ratified the convention and enforced it (7). Turkish women know that the government can stop this violence because there was a serious decrease in femicides in 2011. This is the year the Istanbul Convention was signed.

In Turkey, everyday women are living with the fear of being murdered by a man, but they are also trusting each other and they are defending one another. They are going to the women's right platforms first when their life is in danger. They don't trust their country because they know the justice system will do nothing.

While the government acknowledges the issue of violence against women, the feminist movement became a leading power of the country. With this challenge, a woman killed anywhere in the world became the rebellion of any woman in the world.

Turkish women took their courage from the feminist struggle and increased their solidarity. They will no longer accept these misogynistic policies. Their rage is alive, they are rebelling. They will never give up on the Istanbul Convention; there is no other option for them. They won't stop until murderers and their suppressors are put on trial.

References:

(1) Demir, Başak “Özgecan'dan sonra yaklaşık 2 bin kadın öldürüldü.” dw.com. Feb 11, 2020. https://www.dw.com/tr/%C3%B6zgecandan-sonra-yakla%C5%9F%C4%B1k-2-bin-kad%C4%B1n-%C3%B6ld%C3%BCr%C3%BCld%C3%BC/a-52338918

(2) “Istanbul Convention - Frequently Asked Questions.” eca.unwomen.org. 2018. https://eca.unwomen.org/en/digital-library/publications/2018/10/istanbul-convention---frequently-asked-questions

(3) “Investigation into suspicious death of Nadira Kadirova is still ongoing.” bianet.org. July 6, 2020. https://bianet.org/english/women/226956-investigation-into-suspicious-death-of-nadira-kadirova-is-still-ongoing

(4) “Why was the man who killed Fatma Altınmakas released?” bianet.org. July 24, 2020. http://bianet.org/english/women/227983-why-was-the-man-who-killed-fatma-altinmakas-released#:~:text=Fatma%20Alt%C4%B1nmakas%2C%20a%20mother%20of,perpetrator%20was%20released%20from%20detention.

(5) Jones, Dorian. “Women's Day Spurs Femicide Protests Across Turkey.” voanews.com. March 08, 2019. https://www.voanews.com/europe/womens-day-spurs-femicide-protests-across-turkey

(6) “Emine Bulut Asked For Help from Police Before Being Murdered.” bianet.org. October 09, 2019. http://bianet.org/english/women/214178-emine-bulut-asked-for-help-from-police-before-being-murdered

(7) Bauomy, Jasmine. “Istanbul Convention: What is the domestic violence treaty and has it had an impact?” euronews.com. July 07, 2020. https://www.euronews.com/2020/07/27/istanbul-convention-what-is-the-domestic-violence-treaty-and-has-it-had-an-impact

Turkish Women Are Not Mourning, They Are Uprising