Özgecan Arslan

Violence is by far the biggest problem people think women face in Turkish society, although this number has fallen compared to the previous two years, according to a new poll.

"We already knew how to get beaten by him. Probably Özgecan didn't. She must have resisted or tried to fight back, which would have made my brother go completely nuts and made him hit harder." These are the words of the sister of Özgecan Arslan's murderer, speaking to daily Habertürk reporter Kübra Par. 

Par asked her what she thought when she heard of Özgecan's killing. 

Some 413 murders of women were reported by the Turkish media in 2015, the Umut (Hope) Foundation has stated in a new report, underlining that the trend has been increasing since the beginning of 2016.

The foundation called on Feb. 16 for NGOs to conduct comprehensive studies on the issue, which it described as a "mass murder of women." 

Some 109 women have been killed and 44 others have been injured in southeastern Turkey, according to 2015 Violation of Women Rights Toll released by Human Rights Association's (?HD) Diyarbak?r branch during a press statement on Feb. 5.

A Turkish court lessened the penalty of a man who stabbed his wife to death in the southeastern province of Diyarbak?r on Feb. 14, 2015, from a life sentence to 20 years in prison on the conviction that the perpetrator would not commit a murder again.

A Turkish prosecutor in the southern province of Mersin demanded life imprisonment for three suspects on Sept. 9 over the brutal killing of 21-year-old-student Özgecan Arslan, whose death in February caused massive outrage around the country.

Millions of people all across Turkey have been up in arms against violence, especially violence against women, since the brutal murder of 20-year-old university student Özgecan Arslan last week, but two recent incidents have proven that violence is just a routine of daily life in this country.

Millions of people all across Turkey have been up in arms against violence, especially violence against women, since the brutal murder of 20-year-old university student Özgecan Arslan last week, but two recent incidents have proven that violence is just a routine of daily life in this country.