Man kills woman with a samurai sword in Istanbul, as femicides continue to plague Turkey

Duvar English 

A Turkish man has killed a woman with a samurai sword in Istanbul's Ataşehir district. 

Göktürk B. attacked 28-year-old Başak Cengiz with a samurai sword and heavily injured her late on Nov. 9. 

The woman was taken to a hospital, but succumbed to her injuries. 

Göktürk B. was detained and an investigation was launched into the incident. Later on in the day, the man was arrested by a court order. 

The incident added Cengiz to the long list of femicide victims in Turkey, where women get killed, beaten or sexually assaulted every day. 

The number of violence against women and femicides in the country has been on a steep increase in recent years, mostly due to the policies of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) that protect men. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan went as far as to withdraw Turkey from the Istanbul Convention, an international treaty that aims to protect women against violence, back in March. 

In many cases, reports after the murders reveal that women sought help from authorities, but were ignored. Although the perpetrators are often detained, they are either released or get minor prison terms.

So far, over 300 women were murdered in 2021, according to statistics shared by the We Will Stop Femicides Platform. 

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