A rise in femicides occurred after the removal of all protections for women under the influence of AKP’s religious-conservative men, encouraging impunity. The murder of two women in Istanbul, brutally planned by a man at the city walls, sparked widespread outrage.
Policies of impunity and “good behavior” reductions have emboldened killers. Semih Çelik, the attacker, murdered two young women in Istanbul’s Edirnekapı within 30 minutes. After killing Ayşenur Halil in her home and İkbal Uzuner near the city walls, Çelik committed suicide. As protests continued against these horrific murders, anger grew when two men who harassed a woman in Istanbul were released. In many cities, women came together to protest the wave of femicides that have become a massacre of women.
Women’s organizations expressed their anger, calling on all women to rise up against impunity policies and male violence. The murders of İkbal Uzuner and Ayşenur Halil by Semih Çelik were protested by women. The We Will Stop Femicides Platform, Women’s Assemblies, and the Young Feminists Federation gathered in front of the city walls in Edirnekapı, declaring, “We will end impunity. We will stop harassment and murder.” Protests echoed from Istanbul to Diyarbakır and Van, demanding an end to the state’s impunity policies.
Women Protested at the Murder Scene in Istanbul
The We Will Stop Femicides Platform (KCDP) held a protest in Edirnekapı, Istanbul. Hundreds of women from all walks of life joined, holding banners reading, “We will end impunity, we will stop harassment and murder,” alongside placards with slogans such as “Jin, jiyan, azadî,” “Ministry, open your eyes, women were killed here,” “Your government is a murderer,” “We are the voice of women who cannot complain,” “You, me, we are each other’s solution,” “What if İkbal was your sister,” and “Women’s resistance is a legacy.” Photos of murdered women were carried in solidarity.
Chants echoed frequently: “Perpetrators will not go unpunished,” “You will never walk alone,” “Women will live, implement Law 6284,” “The killer state will be held accountable,” and “We are not silent, we are not afraid, we do not obey.”
The Male Mentality Is to Blame
Speaking on behalf of the Young Feminists Federation, Güneş Fadime Akşahin stated that women were being murdered as a result of the patriarchal mentality. She added that the AKP-MHP government emboldened perpetrators, saying, “This society needs real justice for women, not just courthouses. We’ve met in these squares countless times, demanding the implementation of Law 6284, but what have you done? Absolutely nothing. You’ve done nothing for the women of this country except attack their rights and talk endlessly about ‘family.’ No one needs your condolences anymore. What women need is for Law 6284 to be implemented before violence occurs. What women need is not ‘family’ but equality. We are angry about the murders of our sisters, and we swear to stop femicides.”
‘There Is No Justice in This Country’
KCDP representative Nuran Karahan stated that they wake up every day to news of women being murdered. Özge Akman, spokesperson for the Workers’ Movement Party (EHP), added, “There is no justice in this country. There are no ministers in this country who care about women. Women are being killed at alarming rates by men, not natural disasters. We’ve been explaining this since 2010, and no minister has taken a step to help women. But we will continue to fight.”
‘We Will Not Be the Ideal Woman’
In Bursa, the Women’s Platform organized a sit-in protest in Fomara Square, where they criticized the withdrawal from the Istanbul Convention and the potential repeal of Law 6284, which protects women. They declared, “We are being killed because we say ‘no’ to the lives we don’t want. Courts are acquitting men, so we are being killed. Every day, we are being killed. Speak up, shout, so women are not killed.”
‘Women Are Going to Social Media, Not the Police’
Figen Ovat, reading a statement on behalf of the platform, said, “While a man killed two women in Istanbul, the state took no preventive or deterrent measures. In Beyoğlu, two men who harassed a woman were released despite their criminal records. The state only acted after the incident spread on social media. Women are turning to social media, not the police, to make their voices heard and to escape violence.”