Women suffer Erdogan’s repressive policies, injustice

Asmaa Al-Batakouchi

The Turkish Justice and Development Party has condemned punishing two Interior Ministry inspectors who investigated and took disciplinary action against a governor for domestic violence, abuse of power and conduct unbecoming a state official.

According to a confidential internal report, a copy of which was obtained by Nordic Monitor, then-Bursa Governor Nihat Canpolat abused his authority by engaging in sexual affair with a younger woman for several years during which time he had repeatedly beaten her.

The comprehensive report was prepared on December 3, 2007 by Interior Ministry chief inspectors Sadık Altınkaynak and Şükrü Yıldız, who documented the abuse and battery charges with medical reports, phone records and victim and witness testimony.

The governor, married with two children, received a reprimand for engaging in conduct unbecoming a government official that was reflected in his personnel file at the ministry, while his case was also referred to the Yalova Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office for criminal charges. The investigation was launched after the victim, identified as Meltem Özkalfa, filed a complaint for abuse and battery that took place between 2005 and 2007.

In a deposition given to the chief inspectors on November 15, 2007, Özkalfa explained how she had been repeatedly beaten and abused by the governor and was subjected to threats and intimidation by his bodyguards when she wanted to file a complaint.

The inspectors who wrote the damning report about the governor later faced criminal charges for alleged affiliation with the Gülen movement, a group that is critical of the Erdoğan government for its corruption and the Turkish president’s arming of radical jihadists in Syria. Yıldız was jailed but was later released in 2018 and is currently standing trial in Ankara in connection with another report he co-authored about the murder of Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink.

Around 440 women were killed in 2018 in Turkey, according to a report published by Kadin Cinayetlerini Durduracagiz Platformu (We Will Stop Femicide Platform) which keeps records on murders. The platform reported that 49 women were killed by men in the month of August 2019 alone.

The platform’s February 2020 report found that 22 women died in Turkey as a result of male violence, and 12 women were found dead in suspicious circumstances.

“Being a woman in Turkey is really very difficult, but this difficulty increased in recent years due to various pressures,” said Canan Güllü, the head of Federation of Women Associations of Turkey.

“Many women were killed in this country, and the main reason for this is that the existing laws were not implemented.”