Trans sex workers in Turkey

Çağla Joker’s Suspected Murderer Apprehended & Çağla’s Murderer Turned Out To Be a Child

Çağla Joker’s Suspected Murderer Apprehended

Source: “Çağla Joker’in Katili Yakalandı” (“The Murderer of Çağla Joker Apprehended”) Özgür Gündem, 25 April 2014. Accessed 27 April 2014. http://www.ozgur-gundem.com/?haberID=105454&haberBaslik=%C3%87a%C4%9Fla%20Joker%27in%20katili%20yakaland%C4%B1&action=haber_detay&module=nuce

The murder suspect who killed Çağla Joker and wounded Nalan has been apprehended.

Çağla Joker was gunned down and her friend Nalan was wounded in a home attack on April 21 in Daracık Street, Tarlabaşı, Beyoğlu, Istanbul. H.T., who escaped after his attack, was apprehended in Istanbul and taken to the Istanbul Police Headquarters. In his confession, H.T. said that he had gone to Joker’s home for sex and shot Joker and her friend upon learning that they were trans.

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Transphobic Hate Murder in Istanbul, Police Protect Killers

Source: Yıldız Tar, “Daracık Sokak’ta Katiller Vurdu, Polis Koruyor,”(“Transphobic Hate Murder in Istanbul, Police Protects Killers,”) kaosGL.org, 22 April 2014, http://kaosgl.org/sayfa.php?id=16395

Two trans women were assaulted in the district of Tarlabasi in Istanbul last night. While 21-year-old Cagla (Joker) lost her life, Nalan who was injured on her shoulder is receiving treatment.

Istanbul LGBTT Association protested the armed assault today. The assault took place on Daracik Street in the gentrification district of Tarlabasi, Istanbul last night.

Didem recounted the attack: “The police and ambulance staff did not even touch the dead body of our friend. We carried her.”

Istanbul LGBTT Association has condemned the transphobic armed attack and said: “We are transvestites, we are here, get used to it, we are not going anywhere.”

Didem talked about the attack to kaosGL.org and stated that other trans women nearby heard gun shots and two people ran way from the apartment. Didem said:

“I learned that they first drew a knife on Joker. That she called Nalan for help. At that moment they shot Joker in the chest. She went to the window and asked for help. In the meantime, the murderers ran away towards Istiklal Street.”

Emphasizing that the murder might have been for a robbery, Didem said “Joker was found dressed in the living room. It might have been an aggravated robbery.”

“They did not want to touch the dead body of our friend, we carried her”

Attitude of the police and health workers came as no surprise: “The police came and did not do anything; just looked around a bit. They did not even question anyone properly. And the ambulance did not want to carry our friend. We took her down from  the apartment on our own.”

What if the family rejects the funeral?

As she said that they had to carry their friend themselves, Didem was moved to tears and she adds: “They did not even close her eyes. We did. What her family will do is not known yet. If they do not accept the funeral of our friend, we will perform it but the state might not approve.”

Another assault took place a few days ago! 

Didem recalls another armed attack that took place a few days ago at the Omer Hayyam stop. She believes that assaults can be prevented through trans solidarity. Having been exposed to transphobic hate attacks herself, Didem criticizes the indifference of the police and impunity.

Following the murder, Istanbul LGBTI Association made an urgent call and gathered with photos of Joker at the street where the murder took place and repeated the slogan “We are transvestites, we are here, get used to it, we are not going anywhere.”

The Topic of Sex Work: Still a Breaking Point

Source: Umut Güner, “Seks İşçiliği Meselesi, Hala Bir Kırılma Noktası,” (“The Topic of Sex Work: Still a Breaking Point,”) kaosGL.org, 15 January 2014, http://kaosgl.org/sayfa.php?id=15601 

The People’s Democracy Party, Şişli Municipal Council pre-candidate Şevval Kılıç evaluated the topic of sex workers’ demands in regards to their profession, health and security problems, and the importance of creating employment opportunities for the trans community.

sevval_kilic

What kind of problems are sex workers experiencing in Turkey? In other words, can you please describe the concept of “Sex workers’ civil rights issues”?

Even though sex work looks like it is regulated in our legal system, the majority of sex workers fall outside the registered sex work industry and this subgroup is left open to illicitness and exploitation. The law, instead of protecting sex workers from exploitation and mistreatment, criminalizes them. As a result, discrimination against sex workers is being fostered. I think the only way that sex workers can benefit from democratic rights is if sex work is considered as a legitimate form of employment. The increasing trend in religious conservatism is another threat, because sex outside of marriage is considered adultery according to [Islamic] religion, and this especially angers the conservatives. Although they cannot call this adultery as easily, they oppose sex work as it is against morals or they consider all sex workers as victims. This negative image that is formed around sex work blocks both the recognition of sex work as a form of employment and the process of seeking civil rights. Even amongst many leftist, feminist, rights and labor groups, the topic of sex work is still a breaking point.

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Vested interests behind hate directed at trans women in Meis Housing Complex

“Stories of Violence from Turkey” is a project by the Intercultural Research Association that aims to archive and document the phenomenon of violence in Turkey; to prevent events of violence and their victims from “becoming ordinary” and “turning into statistics;” to investigate the conditions of violence in order to make future projections; and to bring together NGOs, civil society, and advocates for the defense of victims’ rights. The project publishes photographs and interviews with victims or witnesses in a simple and flexible format that allows the interviewees to express themselves.

Source: Cankız Çevik, “Meis Sitesi’nde translara yönelen nefretin arkasında rant var,” (“Vested interests behind hate directed at trans women in Meis Housing Complex,”) Türkiye’den Şiddet Hikayeleri, 18 December 2013, http://www.siddethikayeleri.com/meis-sitesinde-translara-yonelen-nefretin-arkasinda-rant-var/

Since June 2012, trans people living in Istanbul Avcılar district’s Meis Housing Complex have been the targets of enormous harassment. Meis resident and journalist Michelle Demishevich talks to Stories of Violence from Turkey about the lynching atmosphere created by the crowds who organized to kick trans women out of Avcılar and the violence based on morality and mass hate.

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Shut Up Transphobia!

Source: Kaos GL, “Kes Sesini Transfobi!” (“Shut Up Transphobia!”), 26 December 2013, http://www.kaosgl.org/sayfa.php?id=15487

The Mersin 7 Colors LGBT Association protested the transphobic hate crime committed against trans sex worker Deniz in the southern city of Mersin on Monday, 23 December 2013, with a press statement.

The demonstration took place in front of the Pozcu Akbank branch where the attack happened and the 7 Colors Mersin LGBT Association was also supported by some political parties and NGOs. After the press release, slogans were shouted against transphobic hate attacks and murders. After that, members of the 7 Colors Mersin LGBT Association held a short sit-in.

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Transphobic Hate Crime in Mersin

Source: Baki Uguz, “Mersin’de Transfobik Nefret Saldırısı,” (“Transphobic Hate Crime in Mersin,”) Kaos GL, 24 December 2013, http://www.kaosgl.org/sayfa.php?id=15468

A transsexual who works as a sex worker in the southern city of Mersin was attacked by a group of people with cleavers and sticks in the central district of Yenişehir. The trans woman was seriously injured due to the attacks and was taken to the emergency room of the Toros State Hospital.

A trans woman named Deniz was attacked by three unknown individuals on Monday night at around 8.30 PM, as she left her house and went to local bank Akbank at Pozcu, Mersin.

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December 17, Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers: “You Cannot Kill Me for Being a Sex Worker”

Source: Red Umbrella Sexual Health and Human Rights Association, “17 Aralık Seks İşçilerine Yönelik Şiddetle Mücadele Günü: “Seks İşçisiyim Diye Beni Öldüremezsin”,” (“December 17, Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers: “You Cannot Kill Me for Being a Sex Worker”,”) Başka Haber, http://www.baskahaber.org/2013/12/17-aralk-seks-iscilerine-yonelik.html

Today is December 17, the Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers. Female, male, and trans sex workers are trying to continue their lives amidst violence in Turkey and across the world. Labeling, othering, social exclusion, discrimination, violence, and murder are the daily experiences for sex workers. Sex workers are imprisoned in the cycles of threats, sexual assault, extortion, physical assaults, and murder. Society does not oppose this situation and officials do not take preventative measures. Sex workers are left to die.

On the streets, sex workers are exposed to ill-treatment and torture by the police. They are pushed further into the streets and the center of violence through arbitrary fines. Police send gangs to attack sex workers.

Sex workers’ houses are raided and sealed. While being pushed out to work on the streets, sex workers experience all types of violence from customers, police, and gangs.

“Prostitution raids” are conducted daily, sex workers are revealed to the media, and forced into mandatory HIV testing. They are also lynched through lawsuits filed against them.

Every year, many sex workers are killed by their customers, gangs or their partners. The perpetrators are either not caught or if they are, their penalties are reduced due to various excuses or they are released. In this way, the State permits the killing of sex workers.

Brothels are closed and, with the closures, the workplaces of sex workers are taken away from them.  Therefore, sex workers are forced to work on the streets in extremely unsafe and risky places without any protection. They become the victims of economic violence,  by being pushed into insecurity and poverty.

Laws and policies that turn sex workers into criminals portray sex workers as “dishonorable,” “immoral,” “low,” and “against social values.” With this, social hatred towards sex workers multiplies.

Written and visual media deem sex work to be negative and present biased news based on information fed to them by the police. In this way, they victimize sex workers once more.

Sex workers from the elderly, HIV+, homeless, poor, disabled, and other vulnerable groups are not only subjected to all these rights violations but they also experience violence due to their special circumstances.

As long as violence against sex workers is not prevented, violence and hate crimes towards women will not cease. As long as the multitude of violence against sex workers does not end, the contraction of sexually transmitted diseases will continue to increase. As long as the government ignores the violence against sex workers, murders will not end and social peace will not be established.

The government must halt the closure of brothels; stop arbitrary fines using the Law of Misdemeanors; thoroughly investigate the ill-treatment and torture of sex workers by the police and punish the perpetrators; end penalty reductions for the perpetrators of murder and carry out effective investigations; cease “prostitution raids” against sex workers, which turn into a practice of lynching through the claim of ending prostitution; recognize sex work as a profession and eradicate all humiliating and discriminatory treatment against sex workers.

The physical, psychological, sexual, and economic violence against sex workers must end. The rights of sex workers are human rights.

“He stabbed, washed his hands and got on with his life”

Source: Mehmet Bilber, “Bıçakladı, elini yıkadı ve hayata karıştı. Trans İdil’e bunu yapan aramızda,” (“He stabbed, washed his hands and got on with his life. The person who did this to trans İdil is among us.”) Radikal, 03 December 2013, http://www.radikal.com.tr/turkiye/bicakladi_elini_yikadi_ve_hayata_karisti_trans_idile_bunu_yapan_aramizda-1164136

He stabbed, washed his hands and got on with his life. The person who did this to trans İdil is among us.

Violence against LGBTT people does not ease down. The latest victim of an act of violence is 26 year old İdil. She survived a knife attack by chance. İdil was in the hospital for 10 days and identified the perpetrator through city surveillance cameras but he still has not be found. Pink Life LGBTT Solidarity Association’s lawyer Ahmet Toköz stated that there has been no investigation or a capture operation. The President of the Red Umbrella Association of Sexual Health and Human Rights  Kemal Ördek said that as of November there have been 5 trans women murders this year.

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What is the legal basis of police violence against trans people?

Source: Kaos GL, “Polisin Translara Uyguladığı Şiddetin Yasal Dayanağı Ne?” (“What is the legal basis of police violence against trans people?”) 02 November 2013, http://www.kaosgl.org/sayfa.php?id=15106

People against transphobia protested police violence in front of the Istanbul Şişli Police Station by responding to the Istanbul LGBTT Solidarity Association’s call.

A press statement was read at 04:00 PM in front of the Şişli Police Station to support trans sex workers who have been repeatedly attacked for the last 15 days in Şişli and to expose this police violence.

“What is the legal basis of police violence against trans people?”

Ebru Kırancı from the Istanbul LGBTT Solidarity Association read the statement on behalf of the group who held banners that said, “Our right to employment and housing cannot be restricted.”

Kırancı, who stated that trans women have been subjected to violence in Şişli recently, also remarked that “the police attack with bats in their hands as if they are on a witch hunt.”

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Süleyman the Hose: “Could I let people say that the state’s police officers were beaten by a homosexual?”

This interview with Süleyman the Hose was published in the mainstream Turkish daily newspaper Hürriyet in 2005. 

Source: Gülden Aydın. “Devletin polisi homoseksüelden dayak yiyor mu dedirtecektim” (“Could I let people say that the state’s police officers were beaten by a homosexual?”), Hürriyet, 30 January 2005, http://arama.hurriyet.com.tr/arsivnews.aspx?id=292556

Who does not know Beyoğlu Police Department’s Chief Police Officer Süleyman the “Hose” Ulusoy! He is a “transvestite hunter,” a “phenomenon,” and true “believer” of the state and the police department. He fought against all kind of “perverted tendencies” that can damage public morality without feeling demoralized and exhausted.

He is the first name that comes to mind when thinking about cruel politics towards homosexuals and transvestites. He is often hated. When talking about Pürtelaş Street and Ülker Street in Beyoğlu during the 1990s, he does not just talk, he goes back in time and relives it all. He retired to be the mayoral candidate of Horasan for the Justice and Development Party (AKP). But another AKP member won the election.  He is now the manager of Parkada, which belongs to Bayrampaşa Municipality and is known as the place Prime Minister Erdoğan fell off a horse. He has collected all news reports about himself in six files. We first chatted a little. He is from Azap village of Horasan town in Erzurum; I went to a boarding school for four years in Erzurum. I asked him when the lovely kete (local bread) would be found outside of that city’s borders. I asked him about Hançer Barı (a folk dance from Erzurum) and the ten thousands of crows that invade Erzurum City with their voices as they descend from Kargapazarı Mountain. Mr. Süleyman called his wife and told her to bring kete immediately. Kete comes from his home and I asked him everything through our shared gusto…

In 1991, the year you became the Chief Police, what kind of a place was Beyoğlu?

When I was appointed and moved from Şanlıurfa to Istanbul, I went to Akyol Avenue through Pürtelaş Street. There were half-naked men with make up, wearing brassieres and size 45 heeled shoes. It was the first time I saw a transvestite. I was shocked. This was a strange view which is not compatible to our culture and customs. I said if my God makes me the chief officer, I will clean it here.

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Once Upon A Time in Queerland: Ülker Street and Süleyman the Hose

Source: Elçin Turan, “Bir Zamanlar Lubunistan,” (“Once Upon a Time in Queerland,”) Ajans Tabloid, 7 February 2011, http://www.ajanstabloid.com/haber.aspx?pid=63

When we look back in history, we see that Cihangir has been the location of special meeting houses or “bachelor pads” from the early years of the Republic. After the 1980s, Cihangir’s embrace of transvestites and transsexuals made it the place for marginals and bachelors, intellectuals and artists who did not mind living with them. Trans people get displaced as a result of police operations time after time; after Abanoz Street, Pürtelaş, Sormagir they settled in Ülker Street. Ülker Sokak became a “liberated area” and trans people succeeded to organize under their own identities. However, police forces under the helm of Beyoğlu Police Department’s Chief Police Officer Süleyman Ulusoy launched constant operations and violated trans people’s right to live. According to trans testimonies, neighborhood resident “Güngör Abla’s” collaboration with the police and her exploitation of discourses such as honor, religion, country in order to persuade other residents to join her in the assault of trans people in one more street in Beyoğlu made trans people’s identity, culture, lifestyle, and lives a target and thus another part of the area was “cleaned” of trans people.

We talked with İstanbul LGBTT activist Demet Demir and LGBTT member and Women’s Gate (Kadınkapısı) STD prevention center activist Şevval Kılıç about the creation of a street and the story of its downfall, trans people’s organization in the streets of Beyoğlu, and living/not living with transvestite and transsexual identities.

Why did transvestites and transsexuals (TT) choose Beyoğlu as their living place?

Demet: Beyoğlu is a place where othered people can live. It has been the place of artists and all othered people from the beginning. Cihangir and Tarlabaşı embraced the TTs 30 years ago just like they do today. The difference in Tarlabaşı was the fact that the first TT residents there did not bring clients to their homes as neighborhood residents did not allow them to.

Şevval: Pürtelaş, Sormagir (now Başbuğ Street) and Ülker Street were our hangouts. The fascist attitudes of the Beyoğlu Beautification Association and the Cihangir Beautification Association towards us should not be overlooked when life in these streets is discussed. They were the ones who brought Süleyman the Hose (Süleyman Ulusoy aka Hortum Süleyman, dubbed the Hose because he used hoses to beat trans people), they all collaborated with the state back then.

Demet: Cihangir disbanded in 1989. There was nobody left there by 1990. We owned 5 or 6 streets back then. Cihangir was our empire.

Şevval: We called it Queerland or Fagland.

Demet: Think of an empire disintegrating and a small part remaining. Ülker Street was that small part left of that empire. Then going out to the E5 highway, deaths, and migration to other places started. We were deported. Then came the second dispersion with Ülker Street.

Şevval: I call these streets ghettos. There are both positive and negatives results of a ghetto’s dispersion. Cihangir was the first LGBTT ghetto and probably the only real one. It was perfect for its group dynamics but it also set us back in the matter of social integration because all our friends and our role models were trans. We were introverted. We became more exposed to hate-motivated killings. The Hose came and broke our doors, burned our houses down. We gained Kurtuluş and Pangaltı but still…

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I was forced to resign from teaching because of my gender identity

“Violence Stories from Turkey” is a project by Intercultural Research Association that aims to archive and document the phenomenon of violence in Turkey; to prevent events of violence and their victims from “becoming ordinary” and “turning into statistics”; to investigate the conditions of violence in order to make future projections; and to bring together NGOs, civil society, and advocates for the defense of victims’ rights. The project publishes photographs and interviews with victims or witnesses in a simple and flexible format that allows the interviewees to express themselves.

Source: Doğu Eroğlu, “Cinsiyet kimliğim yüzünden öğretmenlikten istifa ettirildim”, (“I was forced to resign from teaching because of my gender identity”,) Türkiye’den Şiddet Hikayeleri,  22 December 2012, http://www.siddethikayeleri.com/cinsiyet-kimligim-yuzunden-ogretmenlikten-istifa-ettirildim/

Trans activist and sex worker Sinem Kuzucan had to resign from her teaching job because of pressure due to her gender identity. Kuzucan talked to “Violence Stories from Turkey” about the existence of trans people in the public, the Misdemeanor Law and the Turkish National Police’s performance system that limits the living space of sex workers.

How did you first encounter the concept of violence? Were you ever subjected to violence before realizing your gender identity?

The most severe violence in the life of a trans person is evil stares. I mean the stares like “What is it, who is it?” When a child realizes that something is different about himself or herself, he or she does not really understand “identity”. I had the same experience. You do not really know who you will resemble, who you will become- your mother or father. Even though you have not figured it out, your family, kids on the street, friends from school see your difference. “Sissy Ali, Sissy Murat” are the nicknames. In fact, you figure what is going on when you hear these names. This is where the violence starts. This broadening discrimination excludes you from your family, from education, from employment. You cannot find any place in life.

What kind of trauma does this pressure and social discrimination create?

The social violence a trans person is exposed to in her early life affects her whole life. Your access to education is prevented because of discrimination from schoolmates. You are deprived of family support, as well. They say things like “what will others say, why do you behave like this, do not trot like a girl” and when this turns into physical violence, you have to leave home. You don’t have a school after leaving home. Without the two, you are hardly employable. The violence and discrimination you are subjected to at this point in your life changes your whole life. I lived through this; if I had suppressed my identity, I would have a so-called “normal” life.

We are taught by society that there is either man or woman. In my teaching job, even though I am a trans person, I was forced to tell the same story about the nuclear family to my students.  This is how it was taught to us as well. Egalitarian legal regulations are important for transforming these discriminative attitudes. If this society is in its current situation due to monotypic laws and regulations, then it can be transformed through new regulations. We should start with the law. When it comes to trans murders, they reduced penalties on the pretext of provocation for years. In the past, trans murderers would be sentenced to two years or they would not be punished at all. Now at least they are sentenced to fifteen years. As laws become more egalitarian, society will have to adapt with time. Temporal periods are never easy.

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If you are a trans individual, I learned that it is useless for you to complain

“Violence Stories from Turkey” is a project by Intercultural Research Association that aims to archive and document the phenomenon of violence in Turkey; to prevent events of violence and their victims from “becoming ordinary” and “turning into statistics”; to investigate the conditions of violence in order to make future projections; and to bring together NGOs, civil society, and advocates for the defense of victims’ rights. The project publishes photographs and interviews with victims or witnesses in a simple and flexible format that allows the interviewees to express themselves.

Source: Doğu Eroğlu, “Trans bireysen şikayetçi olmak gereksizmiş, öğrendim,” (“If you are a trans individual, I learned that it is useless for you to complain,”) Türkiye’den Şiddet Hikayeleri,  12 December 2012, http://www.siddethikayeleri.com/trans-bireysen-sikayetci-olmak-gereksizmis-ogrendim/

Trans sex worker Görkem went to the police repeatedly concerning the violence she is subjected to while she is working. Each time, she was either forced to make peace with the people she was filing complaints against because of their threats or her complaints were not even taken into consideration. Görkem talked to “Violence Stories From Turkey” about the insensitivities of the police and the judicial institutions as well as the unsafe environment that sex workers live in.

I am a sex worker because I have to work. I work especially on side streets. I do not really think I am worth this little but I have to do it. I am subjected to violence when I am working as a sex worker. This past July, I got into a car and made a deal. We went to his place. He did not pay the price I wanted, we argued. I slammed the door and got out. Because my outfit was revealing, two drunk people who were passing by said: “Come, stay with us.” I sensed they were going to do something nasty. Whether I stayed or not, something bad was going to happen to me. So I sprayed their eyes and got into a cab immediately. I had also been drinking during that time. Somehow the cab turned round and round and took me back to the people I was running away from.

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