Two women were murdered in Turkey on Thursday as opposition legislators in parliament were debating violence against women, highlighting the urgent need for action against femicide in the country.
Speaking at the General Assembly of the Turkish Parliament, pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy (DEM) Party Women’s Council Spokesperson Halide Türkoğlu denounced the murders, which occurred just days after her party had declared 2025 the “Year of Women” in direct challenge to the government’s “Year of the Family” designation.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has announced that 2025 will be the “Year of the Family”. This declaration was made in the context of the government’s Second Development Plan, which outlines the primary objective of strengthening the institution of the family. The plan places an emphasis on “protecting the family, which is founded on the marriage bond between a man and a woman and carries national and spiritual values, from all harmful tendencies, raising healthy generations and strengthening the family institution to ensure the stable continuation of a dynamic population structure and development”. Given Turkey’s withdrawal from the Istanbul Convention, this emphasis on the family makes it more difficult to protect women from domestic violence.
“While we have been speaking from this podium today, two women have been murdered in this country,” Türkoğlu told parliament. “Servet Nur Şahin has been shot dead by her ex-husband in Nevşehir, and Ezgi Nur Bağca has been found dead under suspicious circumstances in Elazığ.”
The Women’s Council of the DEM Party, along with various women’s organisations, announced their counter-declaration on 10 February, promising to resist government policies they say threaten women’s rights and autonomy.
The government recently established a Family Institute and Population Policy Council, prompting fierce criticism from the DEM Party and women’s rights advocates. These institutions, operating under a ministry from which the word “women” has been removed, aim to examine factors affecting fertility rates and implement new family policies.
“Who did you consult when forming these councils? Which women, which women’s organisations did you ask?” Türkoğlu challenged the government. “What gives you the audacity to make decisions about women’s lives?”
The DEM Party particularly criticised the government’s plans to introduce time-limited maintenance payments, warning that this could trap women in violent marriages. They also condemned the appointment of government trustees in place of elected officials to Kurdish-majority municipalities, where women’s rights initiatives have subsequently been suspended.
“This year will not be the year of the family but the year of women’s equality and freedom – let no one doubt that,” Türkoğlu declared.
