Young woman found dead in Ağrı

Yet another woman has died in a suspicious way in Ağrı. Allegedly, the fresh high school graduate committed suicide, although she was in the middle of preparations for university studies.

A series of suspicious deaths of women shakes the province of Ağrı. The latest victim is Hüsna Y., a high school graduate from the village of Yukarıtütek in the district of Diyadin. She is said to have committed suicide, although she was in the middle of preparations for university studies. Hüsna Y. is the seventh woman to die in Ağrı in a suspicious manner since the beginning of June. Women's organizations suspect that the deaths are femicides, which the perpetrators portray as suicide. In addition, judicial authorities do not follow up on indications from relatives that the majority of these women experienced patriarchal violence within the family or partnership. Instead, the cases are declared as suicides and the investigation files are closed very quickly.

Only eleven days ago 40-year old Perihan P. from the village of Aşağı Dumanlı in the district of Taşlıçay is to have taken her own life. Her father told the media: "I do not want to answer questions about my daughter. It would be best if the incident were not covered by the media.”

On 11 June, in Taşlıçay district, 21-year-old Kübra Taşdemir died in a suspicious manner. She was found hanged in a nomad tent on a mountain pasture near her village, Dilekyazi (Gêrê Şera.) Her father Kerem Samancı stated that contact with his daughter broke off a while before her death after the young woman's mobile phone was confiscated by her husband. Samancı believes that his daughter was driven to suicide.

On June 4, 17-year-old Zana Polat died in the district of Diyadin. She was reportedly "playing" with her father's gun in her parental home in the village of Aşağı Kardeşli (Qetka Jêrê) when a shot went off and hit the young woman in the head.

On 26 May Güzel Koçyiğit was found dead in the village of Dönerdere (Elomilo) in central Ağrı. The mother of six children allegedly committed suicide.

On 19 May, Pakize Öztaş, a mother of two children from the village of Aşağı Kara Halit (Qerexalta Jêrê) is said to have taken her own life - shortly after an argument with her husband. As in the case of Kübra Taşdemir, the 23-year-old woman had also been forbidden to have contact with her family.

On 8 May, Ceylan Akpolat was found dead in the village of Aşağı Yurt (Şîrik) in Hamur district. According to official sources, she also ended her own life - with three different ropes which she is said to have put around her neck. Three days before her death, Ceylan Akpolat had reported her husband and his parents to the police for domestic violence.

In its report for the month of July, the ‘We Will Stop Femicide’ Platform (Kadın Cinayetlerini Durduracağız Platformu, KCDP) documented that a total of 36 women were murdered in Turkey within a month. Eleven more women were found dead in a suspicious manner.

92 percent of the victims were killed by violent husbands, friends, former partners or male relatives, five of them "because of financial reasons", thirteen others because they wanted to divorce or separate, rejected men or because they wanted to decide about their own lives.

According to the balance of all the murders recorded by the police and published in the media, in 18 cases it could not be established why the women were killed.

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