Violence against women continues to claim lives in Turkey, where at least 201 women were killed as a result of gender-based violence during the first half of 2026, 37 of whom died in June alone, according to data from the latest report compiled by the Federation of Women’s Associations of Türkiye.
The report on feminicides for June 2026 once again highlights that Turkish women suffer violence, in the majority of cases, at the hands of the men closest to them. The document states that at least 201 women lost their lives as a result of male violence during the first six months of the year, and that 93 of these murders were committed with firearms.
In June alone, 37 women died as a result of violence perpetrated by men, whilst a further 10 deaths were recorded as suspicious, according to the Turkish newspaper Nefes. Fifteen of the victims were murdered by men belonging to their own family; a further four were killed by men from whom they had already divorced or were in the process of divorcing; two were murdered by their partners and one by a man from whom she had separated. Furthermore, the report indicates that 45% of the women who died were in the 19 to 35 age group, which appears to be the most vulnerable. The youngest woman murdered was 21, and the oldest was 70.
Most of the victims were murdered in their own homes, the place where they should feel safest. According to the report, 23 of the 37 women killed in June died in their homes, seven in public spaces, two in wooded areas, three in wetlands and one at her place of work. Firearms were once again the most commonly used method: 14 women were murdered in this way, six with knives, three after being beaten, one by strangulation and two after being thrown from a height.
At least 294 Turkish women were murdered by men in 2025
Among the murders of women that took place last month and were reported in the Turkish press were those of Ayşe Sözer, stabbed by her son in the province of Bursa on 3 June following an argument; Arzu Pekin, who lost her life on 2 June in Gümüşhane after her husband struck her with a piece of wood inside their home; Müjde Güngör, stabbed to death by her husband, Zafer Güngör, in Bursa on 3 June; Feray and Beyza Timurkaan, murdered on 20 June in Malatya when Nevzat Timurkaan shot and killed his wife Feray and their daughter Beyza, whilst also wounding his other daughter, Berra Timurkaan; or the murder of Sultan Çağan, a 34-year-old woman whose disappearance had been reported in Istanbul and who was eventually found dead after being strangled by her boyfriend.
Another brutal murder took place in Bitlis, in eastern Turkey, where Leyla Özdemir was murdered by her husband, Ömer Özdemir; the victim’s family claimed that the crime was committed to prevent the extramarital affair between the accused and his sister-in-law, identified as S.Y., from coming to light. Another particularly serious case occurred in the Haliliye district of Şanlıurfa, in the south-east of the country, where Emine Dişçi, aged 60 and the mother of one son, was shot several times by her husband, Ahmet Dişçi, aged 67; the woman, who later died in hospital, was in the midst of divorce proceedings with her husband, who was subsequently arrested.
Despite awareness campaigns and increased measures to strengthen the protection of victims, gender-based violence remains one of the most persistent and significant social problems in Turkey, where the majority of victims of femicide are murdered by their partners or former partners or by other close male relatives. According to data from Turkey’s Stop Femicides Platform (KCDP), in 2025 alone at least 294 women were murdered by men in the Eurasian country, whilst a further 297 died in “suspicious circumstances”.
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Edited and reviewed by:
Pablo Gómez is a specialist in Turkey and has been editor-in-chief of Hispanatolia since 2011. He has been analysing current affairs and geopolitics in Turkey and the surrounding region since 2006.
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