WAN – Over the 23 years of Justice and Development Party (AKP) rule, at least 8 thousand 33 women have been killed, while one thousand 381 women died under suspicious circumstances, according to rights groups. Ayşe Minaz of the Wan (Van) Women’s Platform said: “The AKP has overseen a period of femicide.”

 

Marked as a milestone in the history of the global women’s liberation struggle, 25 November, International Day fort he Elimination of Violence Against Women is once again observed worldwide with renewed commitment to strengthening organised resistance. As gender-based violence continues across all spheres of life and patriarchal governments intensify misogynistic policies, the AKP’s 23-year perido, despite having come to power in 2002 with a “zero tolerance for violence” pledge, resembles what activists describe as a “war landscape”. 

 

Policies aimed at confining women to homes once regarded as “safe spaces,” and framing the family as a sacred institution to be “protected and strengthened,” have contributed to widespread male violence, pushing it to lethal levels.

 

TEN MONTHS OF THE ‘FAMILY YEAR’

 

As Turkey approaches the end of 2025, which the AKP has declared the “Family Year,” President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan recently escalated his rhetoric, calling on families to have five children—a continuation of population-focused policies.

 

In the first ten months of the so-called Family Year, 231 women were killed by men, and 245 women died under suspicious circumstances.

 

Meanwhile, funding for programmes addressing women and children has been reduced. In the 2026 budget, only the equivalent of 51 kuruş per woman per day was allocated under the category of women’s empowerment. Of the AKP government’s 2026 central budget proposal, 21.8 billion TL was designated for “protecting and strengthening the family,” while 8 billion TL was allocated for “women’s empowerment.”

 

Thus, the family-focused budget once again nearly tripled the allocation for women’s empowerment. Among 67 budget programmes, “protection of the family” ranked 40th, while “women’s empowerment” ranked 58th.

 

GOVERNMENT STATISTICS

 

Femicide increased 14-fold under AKP rule. A response by then-Justice Minister Sadullah Ergin to a parliamentary question revealed that: 66 women were killed in 2002, 83 in 2003, 128 in 2004, 317 in 2005, 663 in 2006, 1,011 in 2007, 806 in 2008.

 

In another parliamentary answer provided by the Ministry of Family and Social Policies, the government reported: 171 femicides in 2009, 177 in 2010, 163 in 2011, 128 femicides in the first nine months of 2012.

 

In January 2021, Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu stated that: 353 women were killed in 2017, 279 in 2018, 336 in 2019, 266 in 2020.

 

NGO STATISTICS

 

According to data from the We Will Stop Femicide Platform (KCDP):

 

Femicide numbers were: 109 (2009), 180 (2010), 121 (2011), 210 (2012), 237 (2013), 294 (2014), 303 (2015), 328 (2016), 409 (2017), 440 (2018), 474 (2019), 300 (2020), 280 (2021), 334 (2022), 315 (2023), 394 (2024), and 231 in the first ten months of 2025.

 

Regarding suspicious deaths—recorded by KCDP since 2020—figures show: 171 (2020), 217 (2021), 241 (2022), 248 (2023), 259 (2024), 245 in the first ten months of 2025.

 

A 2025 report by the Federation of Women’s Associations of Turkey (TKDF) states that between 1 January and 30 September, 290 women were killed by men—219 confirmed femicides, 71 suspicious deaths.

 

THE ISTANBUL CONVENTION

 

In 2021, the year Turkey withdrew from the Istanbul Convention overnight and without parliamentary approval, 280 women were killed and 217 women died suspiciously. Women’s organisations described the withdrawal as “a formal declaration of anti-women politics.”

 

After the withdrawal, rights groups reported rising violence and weakened protection mechanisms.

 

At the start of 2025—with the declaration of the Family Year, the establishment of Family and Population Policy Councils, and government narratives around “increasing fertility rates”—women’s rights groups warned of a new phase undermining women's equal citizenship.

 

GÜLISTAN DOKU AND ROJIN KABAIŞ CASES

 

The fate of Gülistan Doku, a Munzur University student who disappeared on 5 January 2020 after leaving her dormitory, remains unknown five years later.

 

Meanwhile, Rojin Kabaiş, a Van Yüzüncüyıl University student who went missing after leaving her dormitory on 27 September 2024, was found dead 18 days later on 15 October. The perpetrators of her death have not yet been identified.

 

Ayşe Minaz of the Wan Women’s Platform evaluated the AKP’s 23-year record on women’s rights.

 

‘A WOMEN’S FREEDOM PERSPECTIVE IS THE SOLUTION’

 

Minaz argued that the AKP has built a gendered state structure, saying: “AKP’s ideological line is based on conservative religiosity. This gendered construction has paved the way for femicide. The social and political crises experienced by women today amount to a kind of hell. From withdrawing from international conventions to declaring 2025 the Family Year, to housing projects requiring at least three children, marriage packages, and even campaigns at football matches instructing women on childbirth—these all show how women’s bodies are turned into battlegrounds.”

 

She added that the women’s freedom perspective must be socialised, and living spaces should be shaped not by state power but by women’s autonomy.

 

‘SPECIAL WAR’ IN KURDISTAN

 

Addressing rising femicides and suspicious deaths in Kurdistan, Minaz described them as a result of special warfare policies: “Femicide stems from social and political crises. Women’s living spaces have been narrowed. Poverty, migration, and special warfare policies in Kurdistan all contribute. There is severe aggression targeted at women’s bodies. After 23 years of AKP rule, women have almost no place. Systematic attacks have deepened femicide.”

 

Despite this, Minaz emphasised ongoing resistance: “Women have never stepped back.”

 

THE JUDICIARY AND IMPUNITY

 

Highlighting judicial impunity, Minaz said: “When a woman is killed, technically one life ends. This is not just a private matter but a societal one. Yet the issue is met with impunity and reductions for ‘good behaviour.’ Withdrawal from international conventions further rewards perpetrators.”

 

Minaz noted that increasingly brutal, “ISIS-like” methods have emerged in recent cases, which she described as a reflection of “socially constructed male anger.”

 

She repeated the call for the government to withdraw from controlling women’s bodies: “How women give birth, how they live, what they wear, how they exist—these decisions belong to women, not the state, not militarist forces, not any authority.”

 

She also highlighted the problem of “good conduct” reductions in court, and the influence of media language on societal attitudes.

 

ROLE AND IMPORTANCE OF LOCAL GOVERNMENTS

 

Discussing local governance, Minaz pointed to the co-mayorship model implemented by the Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party). She argued that municipalities should establish Jineology workshops and actively develop women’s policies.

 

“Local governments have a crucial role. Violence against women must be openly discussed in cities. Jineology workshops should work actively within municipalities, especially engaging with high-school and university-age women. Women’s societal role is vast—they drive all social mechanisms. Local budgets must be gender-sensitive and responsive to women’s demands. Violence response stations, hotlines, women’s platforms, and coordinated work with women’s organisations are all necessary. Violence exists in every neighbourhood and every street. Local authorities must truly focus on this.”

 

MA / Zeynep Durgut