ANKARA: The body of a 21-year-old woman student who went missing nearly three weeks ago has been found in eastern Turkiye, the government said on Tuesday, as the country grapples with a wave of femicides.
Hundreds of women have taken to the streets in major cities across Turkiye over the past 10 days to denounce the string of murders.
The protests began following a grisly October 4 attack in Istanbul in which two 19-year-olds were killed within half an hour of each other by a young man of the same age who then killed himself.
One of the women was decapitated.
The body of Rojin K. was found on the banks of Lake Van near Molla Kasim village some 80 kilometers (50 miles) from Turkiye’s eastern border with Iran, Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya wrote on X.
Although Yerlinkaya did not give the cause of death nor confirm whether she had been murdered, it is rare for such a high-ranking official to comment publicly on a missing person case.
The young woman was studying at university in the nearby city of Van where she was last seen leaving her student digs on September 27.
Turkiye has struggled to contain a wave of femicides, with the country shocked by the murder of an eight-year-old girl in August and a 26-year-old policewoman last month.
Many of those protesting at the weekend chanted slogans against the ruling AKP and its leader, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who initially blamed alcohol and social media for the violence.
But last week, he promised to toughen the justice system and crack down harder on crime.
Part of the anger is about Turkiye withdrawing from the so-called Istanbul Convention, which was set up by the Council of Europe and required signatory countries to pass laws aimed at preventing and prosecuting violence against women.
Women’s organizations want Turkiye to return to the convention.
Turkiye withdrew from it in 2021 with Erdogan’s government claiming it encouraged homosexuality and threatened the traditional family structure.
In the three months to September 30, 117 women were “murdered” and another 110 died in “suspicious circumstances,” according to a statement released on Friday by women’s rights groups who based their figures on press reports.
Body of missing student found as Turkiye grapples with femicides
https://arab.news/mnt2f
Body of missing student found as Turkiye grapples with femicides
- Hundreds of women have taken to the streets in major cities across Turkiye over the past 10 days to denounce the string of murders
- The young woman was studying at university in the nearby city of Van where she was last seen leaving her student digs on September 27
Iranian FM slams WEF’s ‘double standards’ after revoking his invite, but keeping Israeli president’s
Iranian FM slams WEF’s ‘double standards’ after revoking his invite, but keeping Israeli president’s
- Araghchi rejected the decision, claiming his appearance was cancelled “on the basis of lies and political pressure”
DUBAI: Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has criticized the World Economic Forum for rescinding his invitation to the annual meeting in Davos amid international scrutiny of his country’s crackdown on recent nationwide protests, accusing the forum of applying “blatant double standards” and succumbing to Western pressure.
The WEF confirmed that Araghchi will not attend this year’s summit, running until Jan. 23, saying that “although he was invited last fall, the tragic loss of lives of civilians in Iran over the past few weeks means that it is not right for the Iranian government to be represented at Davos this year.”
In a post on X, Araghchi rejected the decision, claiming his appearance was cancelled “on the basis of lies and political pressure from Israel and its US‑based proxies and apologists.”
The Iranian minister criticized what he called the WEF’s “blatant double standards” for keeping an invitation open to Israel’s President Isaac Herzog despite international accusations of genocide of the Palestinians in Gaza.
He also referenced Herzog’s participation in Davos in January 2024 despite legal complaints filed against him in Switzerland over his country’s conduct during its war in Gaza, which killed around 71,000 people.
“If WEF wants to feign a supposedly ‘moral’ stance, that is its prerogative. But it should at least be consistent about it,” Araghchi wrote, arguing that the decision exposed a “moral depravity and intellectual bankruptcy.”
Israel’s Herzog is scheduled to participate in a moderated discussion at WEF on Thursday.
