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International Women's Day 2021 protests in Turkey
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TOLGA BOZOGLU v EPA
The murder of a student in 2020 sparked horror beyond Turkey.
After a long trial, a 32-year-old has now been sentenced to 23 years in prison under difficult conditions, according to the state news agency Anadolu.
Women's rights activists and members of the opposition expressed disappointment with the verdict.
27-year-old Pinar Gültekin was found dead in Mugla, western Turkey, in July 2020.
Her body was in a barrel. A little later, the murderer, who is said to have had a relationship with Gültekin, confessed to the crime.
The murder had triggered protests beyond the country's borders, and people worldwide shared the name of the murdered Kurd on social networks.
The murderer is said to have beaten, choked and, according to Turkish media reports, burned the then 27-year-old while she was still alive.
"Unjustified provocation" as a mitigating reason
The court's decision was sharply criticized because "unjustified provocation" used by the perpetrator in his defense was used as a mitigating factor in the verdict.
From the point of view of many, the victim was given complicity in the crime.
The Federation of Women's Associations in Turkey wrote on Twitter that the people behind the decision wear the "blood of women" on their hands.
The opposition politician and lawyer Sezgin Tanrıkulu tweeted that the law had been "murdered" again with the procedure.
In 2012, Turkey was the first country to ratify the so-called Istanbul Convention.
But that didn't change the rising numbers of murdered women.
Last year, Turkey withdrew from the world's first binding agreement against violence against women.
sak/dpa
