Another instance of femicide in Turkey as Palestinian–Syria murders daughter for refusing arranged marriage

ORHOY, Turkey — Turkish media have reported a horrific crime took place in the city of Orhoy (Urfa), Turkey, against a 13-year-old Syrian girl named Amara at the hands of her father Mohammed who tortured and burned her to death for refusing an arranged marriage.

According to Al-Jisr Turk, the Turkish police in the city of Şanlıurfa arrested Mohammed, a Syrian of Palestinian origin. He intended to marry off his minor daughter to a man in exchange for marrying the man’s daughter.

After his arrest, he was referred to the criminal court. His second daughter, who was with him, was placed under custody.

The Turkish women’s rights organizations We Will Stop Femicides (Kadın Cinayetlerini Durduracağız Platformu, KCDP) reported that 31 women were killed in Turkey during August, with suspicion in the cases of 21 other women.

According to the report, the killings were carried out by their husbands, relatives, and friends, bringing the number of women killed since the beginning of 2021 to 177.

The KCDP condemned the murders and torture of women in Turkey, calling on the concerned international parties to intervene to stop these violations.

The government of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan withdrew from the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence, better known as the Istanbul Convention, on 1 July of this year.

In 2016, Erdogan referred to women who prioritize working over giving birth as “half persons”, saying that, ““A woman who abstains from maternity by saying ‘I am working’ means that she is actually denying her femininity.”