Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06ANKARA5606
2006-09-26 09:00:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Ankara
Cable title:  

HONOR KILLINGS AND DOMESTIC VIOLENCE: PROGRESS IN

Tags:  PREL PGOV PHUM TU 
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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 04 ANKARA 005606 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/26/2016
TAGS: PREL PGOV PHUM TU
SUBJECT: HONOR KILLINGS AND DOMESTIC VIOLENCE: PROGRESS IN
TURKEY

REF: A. ANKARA 5584

B. ANKARA 3973

C. ISTANBUL 403

Classified By: Political Counselor Janice G. Weiner for reasons 1.4 (b)
, (d)

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 04 ANKARA 005606

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/26/2016
TAGS: PREL PGOV PHUM TU
SUBJECT: HONOR KILLINGS AND DOMESTIC VIOLENCE: PROGRESS IN
TURKEY

REF: A. ANKARA 5584

B. ANKARA 3973

C. ISTANBUL 403

Classified By: Political Counselor Janice G. Weiner for reasons 1.4 (b)
, (d)


1. (C) Summary: Since the July release of a government
circular aimed at preventing honor killings and domestic
violence, public awareness and media coverage of violence
against women has significantly increased in Turkey,
according to our contacts. Experts note that the incidence
of domestic violence and honor killings had risen steadily
over the past five years, leading Turkish Prime Minister
Recep Tayyip Erdogan to call for implementation of the
emergency measures outlined in the circular. Most of our
contacts welcomed the circular's release but said it was too
early to estimate the degree to which it might catalyze
change. No one we met with was optimistic about eliminating
honor killings in the near future, which remain strongly tied
to traditional gender roles and family honor. While the
circular focuses welcome attention on a highly sensitive
issue, the lack of mechanisms to implement the proposed
preventative measures undermines its effectiveness. Real
change is likely only to come with improvements in women's
status and economic development within Turkish society. End
summary.

-------------- ---
GOVERNMENT ACTION AGAINST VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN
-------------- ---


2. (U) Following well-publicized incidents earlier this year
(ref C),the Turkish Prime Ministry issued a circular this
summer that lists steps to prevent honor killings and other
violence directed toward women and children. Based on a
report issued by the Turkish parliament's ad hoc committee,
the circular builds on stiffer sentencing provisions
instituted for honor killings under 2005 revisions to
Turkey's penal code. Prosecutors can now charge all family
members who participate in planning an honor killing, rather
than just the actual perpetrator, in an effort to end-run the
trend of having minors carry out the murder for their
families to escape harsher sentencing. (Note: traditionally,
male family members convene to decide whether or not to kill

a female family member. End note.)


3. (U) Release of the circular focused more media attention
on the violence against women problem, which several women's
NGO representatives told us is an effective way to raise
public awareness. Prime Minister Erdogan emphasized the
responsibility to carry out the measures in the circular lies
not only with the public sector, but also with the NGO
community and ordinary citizens. The PM designated the
Directorate General for the Status of Women as the
coordinator for violence again women and honor killings.

--------------
CULTURAL DIMENSIONS ARE KEY
--------------


4. (C) Our women's groups contacts agreed that tradition is
central to the problem of violence against women in Turkey.
As women enter the workforce and gain social equality with
men, the cultural attitudes toward domestic violence and
honor killings will begin to change. Women are still
considered by many in Turkey to be de facto men's property,
according to Erbu Hanby of the Women's Salvation Foundation.
Educated women are less willing to talk about violence within
the home, while those with less education had an easier time
identifying with victims of violence and articulating their
own experiences, according to our contacts.


5. (C) Our contacts viewed the PM's circular as a positive
outcome of the efforts and demands of women activists. EU
accession process reforms are also encouraging change, they
said, and government activities on the issue are having a
positive influence on Turkish society in general. With only
one exception, all of our contacts expressed optimism about
the circular's potential positive impact.


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--------------
DOMESTIC VIOLENCE: SHELTERS NEEDED
--------------


6. (C) While women's organization representatives we met with
expressed an urgent need to address domestic violence in
Turkey, all initially were defensive and quick to point out
that domestic violence is a problem worldwide, citing
examples of violence and discrimination aainst women in the
U.S. and western European countries. Although awareness of
this issue and women's recognition of violence inside the
home has improved, they told us there is still a long way to
go. Seren Dogan, from the NGO Flying Broom, noted that
greater media coverage of the issue should not be mistaken
for an increase in occurrence; domestic violence has always
been around but is not something people usually address
publicly. Penalties for domestic violence charges were
stiffened in early 2000, according to our contacts, but
police officers reluctantly took women's reports of abuse and
continued to turn them away on grounds that these were
considered &home matters.8 Our contacts noted some recent
positive changes in the way these cases are being processed
and in the overall willingness of the police to hear them.


7. (C) Despite signs of progress from the government on the
issue of domestic violence, there is still no functional
mechanism or regular allocation of resources for shelters or
help for battered women and children. All of the women's NGO
representatives raised the issue of insufficient shelter
space for battered women. A new law requires all
municipalities with a population of over 50,000 to open a
battered women's shelter. Because there is no enforcement
mechanism to oversee implementation of this provision, the
opening of shelters often falls to local municipalities. The
NGO representatives we met also expressed concern that there
are no independent or non-government affiliated shelters for
women. According to Hanby of the Women's Salvation
Foundation, there are a total of 29 shelters in Turkey ) 12
run by municipalities and 17 by social services. Some
municipalities have taken the initiative with women's groups
to establish information centers and shelters with trained
personnel, such as in Ankara. Hanbay told us that her NGO
has worked with the Tarsus municipality in southern Turkey to
open a municipal shelter and information center.

-------------- --------------
HONOR KILLINGS TIED TO ENTRENCHED CONSERVATIVE TRADITIONS
-------------- --------------


8. (C) According to Flying Broom's Dogan, honor killings are
an issue that women's NGOs are approached about the least
because of women's reluctance to talk with outsiders. In
rural provinces where women spend most of their time inside
the home, it is difficult for them to escape or to find
someone to talk to about a threatening situation, Dogan said.
Women are more willing to raise and discuss discriminatory
treatment by fathers or brothers toward female children in
their family, she commented.


9. (C) Ayse Sucu, President of Diyanet Foundation's Women's
Auxiliary Board (ref A),said rapid urbanization in the last
10-15 years has further complicated the issue. She blamed
traditional conservative attitudes for the high incidence of
honor killings, adding that migrants carry the custom with
them as they move to big cities and abroad. By failing to
integrate newcomers into city life and society, urbanization
allows such practices to continue. In contrast, she noted
that women and men were required to abide by a city dress
code in the 1950's and were prohibited from wearing village
attire in public. Sucu referred to several Koranic verses
that she interpreted as advising believers not to blindly
follow their ancestor's beliefs and customs, as they might
not be appropriate. In order for men's views toward women
and honor killings to change, Sucu said, women must integrate
into Turkey's economic and social life, particularly in the
southeastern and eastern provinces where women are more often
confined to their homes.


10. (C) Although honor killings occur everywhere in Turkey,
the media disproportionately cover cases in the eastern and
southeastern provinces, creating the impression that honor

ANKARA 00005606 003 OF 004


killings are a southeastern phenomena, according to Hanbay.
Most women throughout Turkey are killed by people thy know,
she added, such as fathers, brothers, cousins, husbands or
boyfriends who are often driven by the motive of protecting
male or family honor. Hanby pointed out that many homicides
of women go undetected as honor killings because they occur
in more modern western provinces such as Izmir and Canakkale.
Cosmopolitan Istanbul ranked first in honor killings one
year, in part because of its high percentage of rural
migrants.

-------------- --------------
LIMITED DISSEMINATION OF THE CIRCULAR, TRADITIONAL VALUES
-------------- --------------


11. (C) Although the government specifically called for wide
dissemination of the PM's circular, two muftis near Turkey's
capital told us they had not heard about it. (Note: One of
the muftis was from the Mamak suburb of Ankara, while the
other lived in the Haymana subprovince, within a 70km
distance of the capital. End note.) Both muftis commented,
however, that they gave "hutbas" (sermons) about violence
against women in the past. In a separate meeting, Ayse Sucu
noted that hutbas have addressed domestic violence, but said
that telling people it is a sin will not stop those who
follow deeply held traditional convictions, particularly in
eastern and southeastern Turkey. A tradition of raising
children by threatening them or screaming at them reinforces
a culture of violence, Sucu claimed. Extremely conservative
attitudes also contribute, although Sucu noted that many
cultures have conservative views toward women, not just
Turkey.

-------------- --------------
WOMEN'S ORGANIZATIONS -- PRIORITIES AND STRATEGIES
-------------- --------------


12. (C) Of the approximately 100 women's groups in Turkey,
Hanbay told us that around 50 work on domestic violence as
part of their activities. Most women's groups in Turkey were
founded in the 1980s and early 1990's by women activists who
were part of the women's movement in the early eighties,
Hanby said, although there had been women activists during
the Ottoman period as well. The relatively late arrival of
women's rights activists on the Turkish public scene reflects
the overall position of women in Turkish society, she
explained. According to one UNDP poll, even in developed
provinces such as Izmir, only around 25% of women are
employed (ref B). Women who stay home, which is
overwhelmingly the case in southeastern Turkey and interior
Anatolian provinces, are more likely to become victims of
domestic violence.


13. (C) Hanbay said most NGOs for women are fighting against
sexual discrimination, or "siddet", in employment and
education. (Note: Violence or "siddet" has a broader meaning
in Turkey and covers what would ordinarily be considered
discrimination in the U.S. For example, most Turks
characterize sexual discrimination in education and
employment as &siddet8 (violence). Domestic violence falls
under the umbrella of "siddet", or violence toward women, and
does not appear to be the foremost concern of women's' NGOs.
End note.) Hanbay, for example, stressed that campaigns to
encourage more women representatives form a big part of NGOs'
activities. The Diyanet's Sucu, echoing comments by other
contacts, stated that domestic violence can only be fought
with education and economic development.


14. (C) Women's NGOs in Turkey are strapped for money and
rely on foreign donor projects to finance themselves, which
leaves them little freedom to choose their activities or
priorities. Some women's NGOs, such as Kirkoruk, which
identifies itself as an organization to help women suffering
from violence, are clouded by political agendas. Fatma
Vrigil, a Kirkoruk president, pointed out several times
during our meeting that their staff was half Kurdish and that
the root of violence in Turkish society was the unresolved
Kurdish question in the southeast. These kinds of competing
motivations and project-oriented activities of NGOs seem to
further undermine the ability of the organizations to work
directly on domestic violence or with battered women.

ANKARA 00005606 004 OF 004



--------------
COMMENT
--------------


15. (C) Most of our contacts agree that education and media
coverage are powerful tools in combating honor killings and
domestic violence. But women's NGO representatives also
stressed the importance of improving women's status, equal
opportunity and financial independence in changing societal
norms and values. While many Turkish women are open to
reform, our contacts seemed to agree that Turkish attitudes
toward women need to evolve to allow women to become an
integral part of society before honor killings and domestic
violence will become relics of the past. With EU pressure,
Turkey has incentive to make concrete progress. The PM's
circular on violence against women is an encouraging step
toward changing societal values. As with other reform
issues, Turkey must take the next step and effectively
implement the laws and reforms it has enacted.

Visit Ankara's Classified Web Site at
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/ankara/

WILSON