Violence against women still rampant in Islamist Turkey, 802 women have died over the last five years.

Violence against women still rampant in Islamist Turkey, 802 women have died over the last five years..(TZ).

Monday, Nov. 25, was International Day to Stop Violence Against Women, and women's groups across Turkey marked the day, but statistics indicate that violence against women remains a major issue in the country.

According to official data, 802 women have died in Turkey over the last five years as a result of domestic violence. In 2013, there were 28,000 reported cases of violence against women.

The number of women who were given state protection from abusive partners or relatives this year was 4,500. Women's groups blame government policies for the worrisome figures.

Records indicate that 171 women died in 2009 as a result of violence against women. In 2010, there were 177 such deaths, while there were 163 deaths in 2011, 155 in 2012 and 136 in the first nine months of 2013.As of January 2013, more than 50,000 women were receiving some sort of legal protection, such as restraining orders.

The highest number of preventive measures against abusive relatives or partners were issued by courts in İstanbul, Ankara and İzmir, Turkey's most populated provinces.

The provinces where the highest number of police officers were assigned to protect potential female victims of violence were Adana, İzmir and Kayseri. No protective measures were enforced in five provinces: Bilecik, Bolu, Kars, Kastamonu and Siirt.Women's groups say Turkey's latest Law on the Prevention of Violence Against Women, adopted in March 2012, has failed, but it should be noted that there has been a 5 percent decrease in the number of reported cases of violence and cases with fatalities since the law's adoption.

In 15,000 reported incidents, offenders were forced to hand over firearms they own to security forces. Panic buttons -- emergency systems to alert police authorities in danger of potential violence -- introduced as part of prevention efforts, are being tested in pilot projects in Bursa and Adana. Currently, 22 women in Bursa and 16 in Adana have been given panic buttons by the police.

Gov't responsible for violence toward women.

Dozens of women's organizations across the country held demonstrations on Sunday and Monday to mark International Day to Stop Violence Against Women. Women's rights groups were highly critical of government policies regarding women. In İstanbul on Sunday, a large group of activists from the Women's Solidarity Platform met at İskele Square in Kadıköy, marching and chanting slogans critical of the government. Some of the protesters were wearing make-up that made them look like they had black eyes and facial bruises.

In Antakya, also on Sunday, a group of about 150 members of the Antakya Women's Platform gathered at Ulus Square where they were preparing to read a press statement. However, they were prevented from doing so by police.

The women later walked to the Yunus Emre Park. In Şanlıurfa, women from the public servants' union KESK organized a march where they protested against Turkey's high rates of violence against women. In Bodrum and several other provinces, there were many demonstrations against violence against women.

Protesters in Bodrum, who gathered at Belediye Square, wore shrouds protesting deaths caused by violence against women. A group of about 100 women, supported by KESK and the Peace and Democracy Party (BDP), protested on Sunday in Elazığ carrying banners against “gender and class based exploitation” at the Hozat Garage Square.

In a statement she made on behalf of the group, Birsel Dağ, a member of the Elazığ Kadın Platform, said: “The AK Party [Justice and Development Party] government's sexist policies that generate discrimination and inequality are pushing the whole of society into a spiral of violence. Today, the patriarchal oppression that thrives on the 11-year rule of the AK Party shows its darkest face in the form of violence, assault, rape, abuse and murders committed against women.”

On Monday, the Republican People's Party (CHP) Adıyaman Women's Branch issued a similar statement, accusing the government of promoting policies that contribute to violence against women. “As long as women are not free, as long as they are not adequately represented in the decision-making mechanism, this society will not move forward,” it said.In Izmir's Urla district, the Urla City Council's Women's Commission made a public statement, supported by Urla Mayor Selçuk Karaosmanoğlu. The statement condemned violence and called for an end to the physical, sexual and psychological abuse of women.

A spokesperson for the Nevşehir Bar Association's Women Rights Commission, Sema Yurtbilir Yavuz, said International Day to Stop Violence Against Women is a day to stand in solidarity against gender inequality, discrimination, domestic abuse and the mentality that treats women as if they do not exist. The Human Rights Association's (İHD) Hakkari branch also held an event.

In Manisa, members of the We'll Stop Murders of Women Platform submitted “instructions” to Manisa Governor Abdurrahman Savaş, demanding more efforts for the prevention of violence against women in the province. “Prime Minister [Recep Tayyip] Erdoğan doesn't instruct [security forces] to prevent violence against women. Women are being killed everywhere in Turkey. Governors are not the governors of the prime minister, but of the people,” the group said and continued: “We are giving the order to protect women that Erdoğan hasn't given. We tell the governor: ‘Protect women.' You will have to confront us every time a woman is killed.”

In Didim, there was a panel discussion on Violence Directed Against Women, organized by the Didim Women's Platform. Sibel Özbudan, one of the speakers, accused the government of trying to deny the existence of women outside a “family context,” noting that inside the family is where women are abused most.

The Union of Turkish Bar Associations (TBB) in a statement to mark the day called on society to fight in solidarity against violence against women. “The public authority has enacted rules and regulations that ignore women's identity and dignity,” the association said, criticizing the government's family-oriented policies.

It also said reported acts of violence against women over the past 10 years during which the AK Party has been in power have increased by 1,400 percent.Man murders wifeIn a tragic irony, 18-year-old Mehmet Emin Ç. on Monday allegedly strangled his wife, whom he had only married in a religious ceremony, to death. The victim, Songül Malkoç, was found dead by her sister after being strangled with a headscarf. The Diyarbakır Police Department has detained Mehmet Emin Ç. as the prime suspect.Hmmm....One more reason to keep Turkey out of Europe.