Cevirmen argued that women have second-class status in Turkey and the government does not want to see them in prominent roles in society.

“The role of women comes down to being a mother, being a wife and being dependent on men,” she said.

In a speech to mark International Women’s Day in 2016, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that women who did not want to become mothers were “deficient”.

Cevirmen argued that the government “priorities the family, not the woman as a person”.

“Therefore the men are not being penalised and the male-dominated legal system which is supported by the Erdogan government applies unfair, reduced sentences [to male perpetrators of violence against women]. This creates an environment in which women become unprotected and men know that there is impunity for their crimes. This is the main reason why the number of murders of women is increasing,” she added.

O’Neil argued meanwhile that “historically, a certain level of violence against women, particularly within the family, has been acceptable” in Turkish society.

Cevirmen claimed that President Erdogan and his ruling Justice and Development Party, AKP, do not accept that women’s role in society has changed and oppose gender equality initiatives.

“Funds and donations from the government never go to projects at local levels and in schools which aim to improve the awareness of this very important issue [violence against women]. On the contrary, the government stops those initiatives since it sees them as a threat against its rule,” she said.

“Without the government’s support, people’s education about gender equality cannot be improved,” she added.

Women are also marginalised when it comes to political decision-making, experts pointed out.

According to KA.DER, a women’s rights NGO, only 43 women were elected as provincial and district mayors in the last local elections in 2019, and only 104 of a total of 600 Turkish lawmakers in parliament are women.

“You can see women in politics but they are never being involved in decision-making processes. The numbers of woman ministers, MPs and mayors proves this,” Cevirmen said.

O’Neil said however that Turkish media have been taking more notice of violent attacks on women in the country.

“One of the reasons for what appears to be an increase [in cases] is more reporting of violence and much more visibility of violence against women. The media, including social media, covers the issue much more and this makes the issue much more visible, as it should be,” she said.

In the case of Emine Bulut, eyewitnesses filmed the aftermath of the attack and the video was widely distributed by online media in Turkey. Later, the Turkish government started an investigation into the use of the video of the dying woman on suspicion that it was exploitative.

Turkey urged to implement Istanbul Convention

The Council of Europe’s Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence – also known as the Istanbul Convention – is an international convention aimed at preventing violent attacks, protecting victims ending the impunity of perpetrators.

It was launched in 2011 in Istanbul and Turkey is one of its signatories.

“The agreement revolves around prevention, protection, prosecution and integration of policies which is the idea that a holistic approach involving many different agencies is required. The full adherence and application of this agreement would be a major achievement,” O’Neil said.

Cevirmen said that there is no gap in Turkish law regarding the protection of women but the number of murders and cases of violence has increased despite this.

“The Istanbul Convention has the utmost importance. Impunity should be ended in the legal system and the understanding of the roles of men and women must be changed in the society,” she insisted.

But conservative and Islamist circles in Turkey object to the Istanbul Convention because they think that it undermines family values and challenges conservative understanding of gender identities.

“Examples of demonising men over violence against women and the creation of hybrid genders [meaning LGBTI people] are already spreading… Offering legal protection [through the Istanbul Convention] will bring about irreparable cleavages in society,” said the Free Cause Party, an Islamist political party, according to a report by Independent Turkish.

The same outlet also reported that President Erdogan, despite the fact that Turkey has signed up to the convention, has played down its importance.

“The Istanbul Convention is not our standard, the agreement is not a must,” Erdogan was reported as saying.