Rights Violations in 2014

Rights violations on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity in 2014 in Turkey

Three perps get 27 years each in prison for raping trans sex worker in Turkey

3 suspects get 27 years and 6 months each for allegedly forcing a trans worker into their car in Izmir and raping her in a forest.

Source: Kaos GL, “Trans seks işçisine tecavüze 27’şer yıl hapis”, (“Three perps get 27 years each in prison for raping trans sex worker”), kaosGL.org, 11 July 2015, http://kaosgl.org/sayfa.php?id=19822

On 22 September 2014, trans sex worker M.T. agreed [on a sex work deal] with Cengiz K. who approached her by car. When Cengiz K. also pick up his friends Çağlar Ş. and Erol K., M.T. wanted to leave.

The two people who got in the car later allegedly shut M.T.’s mouth and took her to a forest in Yamanlar. The three people raped M.T. and ran off with her jewellery after forcing her with a knife. Police quickly caught the three suspects through the car’s license plate. Çağlar Ş., Cengiz K., and Erol K. were arrested after being sent to the prosecutor.

The three defendants and lawyers attended the last hearing in Izmir 7th Heavy Penal Court. In the previous hearing M.T. had testified saying, “They threatened me and said, “If you don’t want to die here, do as you are told, we have a knife in the car, we’ll cut you.” They forcibly undressed me. They raped me taking turns without my consent. I’m bringing a complaint against the defendants.”

Defendant Çağlar Ş. said, “We did not forcibly do anything to this person. The person was already under the influence of alcohol when the person got in the car. We couldn’t agree on the money. Once the deed was done, they [1] demanded a high amount of money. When we told them that we won’t pay what they were demanding, they screamed and shouted and threw the money at our face. They are complaining about us because they found the money too low.”

Erol K. argued that they have been detained for a long time and are therefore victims and said, “The complainant isn’t even coming to the hearings. We have families, kids, and regular jobs. Our only fault is to have had a [sexual] relation with their consent. I defer this first to God and then to you.”

Cengiz K. stated, “Do you think a person who willingly hurts themselves and hurts without pity would pity others? I believe you’ll act justly. I defer this first to almighty God and then to you.”

The prosecutor gave the opinion to acquit the defendants for the crime of plunder but to punish them for the other crimes. After a short recess, the court president gave 27 years and 6 months of prison sentence to each of the defendants for “sexual assault” and “depriving the person of their freedom”. The defendants and their relatives reacted to the decision and the defendants were taken back to prison.

[1] The Turkish language does not have gendered pronouns and it is unclear how the defendants’ approached M.T.’s gender identity. The choice of “they” by the translator is to keep the quotes gender-neutral like Turkish- but it does not mean that the defendants’ respected M.T.’s gender identity.

Police Harassment, House Raids and Detainment in Istanbul

Source: “İstanbul’da Polis Tacizi, Ev Baskınları ve Gözaltı”, (“Police Harassment, House Raids and Detainment”), Pembe Hayat, December 4, 2014, http://www.pembehayat.org/haberler.php?id=594

Over the last week the police have targeted trans women and sex workers in Istanbul. House raids were conducted targeting the homes of trans people working and living in Findikzade and Haseki regions.

The police arbitrarily detained trans women street sex workers the previous week and took them to the Venereal Diseases Hospital, also known in slang as“Can Can”. This past week they conducted house raids. The women were released after being subjected to blood tests.

The police acquired trans women’s phone numbers and addresses through the internet and social media and raided their homes. Women were detained without cause and some of the women’s residences were sealed by the police.

Transwomen who have been harassed by the police and who point to the recently passed “Domestic Security Blanket Bill” as the cause behind these arrests and raids, will object to the fines they are issued based on the Law of Misdemeanors. The new bill has created major concern among the LGBTI community and trans women sex workers.

Read “the New Domestic Security Legislation and Its Potential Implications for LGBTI Individuals” to access trans activist and lawyer Idil Su’s report.

Why is Ahmet Yıldız’s murderer still not found after six years?

The trial regarding Ahmet Yıldız’ murder by his father was postponed again. His father is still not found. Ümmühan Darama who was injured during the incident also spoke out against the lack of justice. Attorney Fırat Söyle stated, “We have not been able to make the slightest progress in all this time.”

Source: Yıldız Tar, “Ahmet Yıldız’ın katili 6 yıldır neden bulunamıyor?” (“Why is Ahmet Yıldız’s murderer still not found after six years?”), Kaos GL, 13 November 2014, http://kaosgl.org/sayfa.php?id=17941

Ahmet Yıldız

Ahmet Yıldız

Ahmet Yıldız was killed [by his father] in a homophobic murder in 2008. The 18th hearing of his case took place today [13 November] at the 5th High Criminal Court of the Istanbul Anatolian Courthouse.

The panel of judges decided to wait for the enforcement of the red notice search warrant for Yıldız’s murderer father Yahya Yıldız. The panel also put forth that the Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office and the Police Department be consulted for information. The case was postponed again. The next hearing will take place on 26 March 2015 at 10:30.

“Neither the Turkish police nor the gendarmerie have been able to find this one person for six years”

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MP asks the Ministry of Justice about Hate Crimes

Melda Onur, a prominent parliamentarian in Turkey, filed an official parliamentary question, asking the Ministry of Justice about hate crimes against LGBTI individuals and formal measures taken against such crimes (PDF file).

The Grand National Assembly of Turkey

Republican People’s Party (CHP)

Group Presidency

Date: 20 October 2014

No: 31239

To the Presidency of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey

I request that my questions below be answered by the Minister of Justice, Bekir Bozdağ, in writing.

Melda Onur

Member of Parliament from Istanbul

In Turkey, the othering of those who are perceived as different is transforming into hate murders when encouraged by the hate speech of some opinion leaders. The most obvious targets of these murders are LGBTI individuals and hate crimes against these individuals are increasing daily.

The murders that have been occurring in various cities show that the government does not take permanent legal measures or precautions against discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

These attacks, which especially target trans individuals, have most recently led to both the discovery of the dead body of a trans woman, Gypsy Gül, in her Istanbul home as well as the brutal murder of trans woman Corti Emel. Effective investigations are not conducted after these attacks, which threaten the right to life; the punishments given to the criminals do not act as deterrents.

On the other hand, the “Bill to Amend Various Laws to Improve Fundamental Rights and Freedoms”, more commonly known as the “Democratization Package” was put forth by the government in March and passed as law by the Parliament. With the Democratization Package, the phrase “hate” has been included in law for the first time. However, the terms gender identity and sexual orientation have not been included in the law and no added punishment will be given if sexual assault and sexual harassment, etc. are conducted with motivation rooted in hatred.

Therefore, the inability to prevent physical and verbal assaults against LGBTI individuals across the country is a reflection of this legal vacuum.

As such,

  1. In the new legislative year, do you foresee additional arrangements to include attacks against LGBTI individuals within the scope of hate crimes?

  2. Does your ministry’s agenda include an action plan to prevent hate motivated attacks and murders that target LGBTI individuals? Are you considering coordination with other institutions?

  3. What is the number of trans and gay individuals who have lost their lives due to hate crimes in the last five years? What is the distribution of these across different cities?

  4. How many people have been tried for hate crimes against LGBTI individuals up to today and what is the total amount of jail time that these people were sentenced to?

A young gay Syrian’s story – from Syria to Turkey

This is the story of Maher, who had to escape and migrate from Syria to Lebanon, then to Sudan, and finally to Turkey. A life wrapped in the war in Syria and dual discrimination both as a Syrian and as a gay man in Turkey. 

Source: Yıldız Tar, “Suriye’den İstanbul’a eşcinsel bir gencin hikayesi” (“A young gay’s story from Syria to Turkey”). Kaos GL, 24 October 2014, http://kaosgl.org/sayfa.php?id=17785

Millions of Syrians were forced out of their homeland as a result of the war in Syria and ISIS assaults. Some headed over to Europe; many lost their relatives during as their travels was well as the war.

Maher  Daoud, who we interviewed in a coffee shop in Kurtuluş, Istanbul, was  among the millions who had to leave their homeland. He had to leave Latakia in the 23rd year of his life which began in the city. Maher tells  the story of migration from Latakia [al-Lādhiqīyah]  to Lebanon, then to Sudan, and finally to Istanbul. He speaks fast, telling his story at once, as if someone were following us.

“Art is like breathing”

Maher,  who is now 24, is a young gay artist. He studied architecture in Syria.  However, he was forced to leave before being able to graduate. He also draws aquarelle and acrylic illustrations. Maher says that, in each of  his drawings, a gay story is hidden. To Maher, to make art is to breathe.  Because Syria does not have a “gay life,” art is the only space within which he can breathe.

I ask about the situation in Latakia. Maher says that life in Latakia is horrible:

“Latakia is Bashar al-Assad’s city. As such, the pressure was always intensive.  To speak, to do something was almost impossible. It was so in art too. I  had to put a lot of effort to be able to open my second art exhibit.  You have to get signatures from a lot of places. I had to deal with  almost every police officer in the police station. They examine each and every painting, find some to be “appropriate” and some “inappropriate.”  They kept asking why I was making such paintings. They were trying to judge whether I was against Bashar al-Assad.”

maherdaoud

Maher dislikes talking about politics. This also has to do with the notion that “it is a sin to speak politics in Syria.” He thinks that politics changes nothing. He desires more art.[1]

Things became even tougher with war. He says that the war between Bashar al-Assad, the Free Syrian Army (FSA), and the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS)  made things much more difficult in Syria. To Maher, the rebellion for “freedom” was initially beautiful. However, everything changed when Assad began the massacres and when those opposing Assad began using the same methods [sic].

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A trans woman in Tarlabaşı has been stabbed in the back

Source: Yıldız Tar. “Tarlabaşı’nda trans kadın sırtından bıçaklandı.” (“A trans woman in Tarlabaşı has been stabbed in the back.”) Kaos GL, 20 October 2014, http://kaosgl.org/sayfa.php?id=17754

A trans woman in Tarlabaşı, Istanbul, has been stabbed in the back; the police failed to intervene. Lawyer Levent Pişkin evaluated the situation, saying that “the increase in attacks is related to the Islamic conservatism. That the assailants remain ‘unidentified’ is the covering up of the crime.”

Source: Kaos GL

Source: Kaos GL

Transphobic hate attacks have been increasing lately. In a new attack, on Saturday, October 18, 2014, a trans woman, Aylin, was stabbed in Tarlabaşı, Istanbul.

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Journalist Yıldız Tar: The police beat me

Source: Michelle Demishevich, “Gazeteci Yıldız Tar: Polisler beni dövdü” (“Journalist Yıldız Tar: The police beat me”). T24, 10 October 2014, http://t24.com.tr/haber/polisler-beni-dovdu,273415, accessed on 15/10/2014.

Yıldız Tar, who was beaten by the civil police during protests for Kobane, recounted their experience to T24.

Yıldız Tar[1], the editor of Kaos GL, claimed that they were assaulted by the police during an intervention involving pepper spray while covering the sit-in held in Galatasaray Square to protest the siege of Kobane, Syria by ISIL (the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant).

“When I said I was a reporter, they ran away”

Yıldız Tar: “Police had begun to push the protesters away from Galatasaray Square towards Tophane. At that moment I saw somebody get injured and taken to hospital in an ambulance. I encountered strong police intervention as I was trying to record the incident. They beat me. They ran away when I told them that I was a reporter.”

Journalist Tar pointed out that, during the protest, the police were particularly tough on those working for independent media. It has been claimed that, during the Kobane protests in Izmir, the police told a reporter from Dicle News Agency[2]: “I know you, I know who you are, choose your side, go there or stay here.”

[1] In Tar’s words, Yıldız Tar was born in 2010 at Bosphorus University as they rejected the name and the gender assigned to them by their family and the society. They are an activist working with Lambdaistanbul and a reporter writing for independent media outlets. … They hate writing their autobiography and can get quite irritable when labeled as a woman or a man. (Source)

[2] An independent Kurdish news agency.

Çingene Gül, Trans Woman, Murdered in Istanbul

Source: Çiçek Tahaoğlu, “Trans Çingene Gül Öldürüldü,” (“Çingene Gül, Trans Woman, Murdered in Istanbul,”) bianet, 9 October 2014, http://www.bianet.org/bianet/lgbti/159065-trans-cingene-gul-olduruldu#

Çingene Gül, a trans woman, was found dead in her Istanbul apartment on October 8. While the autopsy is yet to be completed, it is suspected that she was murdered two days ago because her friends didn’t hear from her for two days.

Her neighbor Melek Emir said,  “Two nights ago, I heard noises from the apartment building. Gül never makes noise. At first, I thought somebody was trying to break in, then I heard the door open and close. I supposed Gül couldn’t find her keys or something. I never reckoned such a thing would ever happen.”

Gül’s street is crowded with police officers investigating the events and onlookers after her friends found her body. All the women in the neighborhood recognize Gül. “She smiled all the time, she would greet everyone on the street. She wouldn’t disturb anybody.”

Gül’s trans friends argued with the police in order to see her one last time. Police said they could do so in small groups provided that they wouldn’t cry out, touch her or bring disorder to the crime scene.

Her friends claim that trans sex workers are usually murdered by their clients – which they think was also the fate of Gül. They also said Gül didn’t receive customers in her apartment and preferred to use hotels or other venues. They also brought up the possibility of burglary. However, police said that it was not possible to know that at the time.

Utku who found Gül’s body and said, “I went to her apartment after not hearing from her. I knocked on the window, I tried the doorbell, but she didn’t respond. Then her upstairs neighbor buzzed me into the building. I had to break into Gül’s apartment via the backyard. She wasn’t in her bedroom. When I went to the living room, I saw her lying on the floor and I ran away screaming.”

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The Bar Association: ‘We do not assign lawyers to transvestites’

Source: “Trans seks işçisine önce silahlı bıçaklı saldırı, ardından adliyede ayrımcılık!” (“First, armed assault against a trans sex worker, then discrimination at the Court House”). Pembe Hayat, 9 October 2014, http://www.pembehayat.org/haberler.php?id=516

 

Serap, a sex worker who was subjected to an armed assault in Corum, was shot in the leg and stabbed. [Though the assailants were apprehended, the Bar Association refused to assign a lawyer to Serap on the basis that she is a trans individual.]

[Serap, a trans individual, was subjected to armed assault yesterday evening.] Another development regarding this incident occurred at around noon today at the Corum Courthouse. Serap requested that a lawyer be assigned to her from the Corum Bar Association. The clerks at the Bar Association denied her request, saying “We do not assign lawyers to transvestites.” Following the incident, our foundation [Pembe Hayat] contacted a lawyer operating out of Corum but the lawyer informed us that they would not be able to pursue the case. Serap, frustrated by the discrimination she experienced, said that she will take the necessary steps against those who are responsible.

Pembe Hayat is following this case closely and will continue to report on the developments.

Armed assault against trans sex worker

Source: “Trans seks işçisine önce silahlı bıçaklı saldırı, ardından adliyede ayrımcılık!” (“First, armed assault against a trans sex worker, then discrimination at the Court House”). Pembe Hayat, 9 October 2014, http://www.pembehayat.org/haberler.php?id=516

 

Serap, a sex worker who was subjected to an armed assault in Corum, was shot in the leg and stabbed. The police apprehended three suspects in light of Serap’s witness statement. She was able to get away from the assailants and reached the Corum State Hospital.

The event occurred yesterday evening in a wooded area outside the city. Serap, who recounted her experiences to a reporter from Pembe Hayat, said that she knew the assailants, that she was first subjected to verbal abuse from one of the assailants for not answering her phone, and that the same person invited her to a meeting. She added that she was taken to Melikgazi Hill and then the assailants started attacking her, first with knives and then kicking her head, then they shot her in the leg. Serap recounted that she was able to benefit from a moment of commotion and escape, saying that her witness statement to the police contained these very facts. Serap was released from the hospital after being treated for her wounds. Three people were apprehended by the police after they found both Serap’s blood and the casing of the bullet that had hit Serap in the leg inside the suspects’ car.

[The Bar Association later refused to assign Serap a lawyer on the basis that she is a trans individual.]

Doctor who denied right to medical care sues her trans patient

This post includes original content without a translatable publication source.

 

As reported previously, on March 31 2014, following her sex reassignment surgery, H.Ç. visited Dr. Fatma Hut at the Reşat Berger Hospital in order to get her prescriptions filled, through her existing social (state) insurance. Consequently, in violation of Article 25 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 12 and General Comment No. 14 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the recommendations set forth in the preamble to the Constitution of the World Health Organization, and Articles 17 and 56 of the Constitution of Turkey as interpreted by Turkey’s supreme court[1], Dr. Fatma Hut denied H.Ç. her right to medical care and refused to prescribe medications that were necessary for H.Ç’s treatment following her surgery, arguing: “You are a man, I do not condone your situation, I will not examine you.”

Partly because such cases are pursued by volunteer lawyers at SPoD, immediate action could not be taken and a complaint was not filed immediately following the event.

Some time after this encounter, H.Ç. received an automated SMS (text message) from the judicial UYAP Information System, informing her that a complaint had been filed against her, that she was under investigation, and that she was legally obligated to appear before the office of public prosecution. Not knowing the nature nor the cause of the investigation, H.Ç. arrived at the prosecutor’s office on September 8th and inquired about the situation to one of the administrative assistants there. As it turns out, two days after their encounter on March 31, Dr. Fatma Hut had filed a criminal complaint against H.Ç., arguing that she had insulted her. Upon receiving the complaint, the public prosecutor decided to further investigate this complaint and to call H.Ç. for her testimony as the defendant/ suspect[2]. Surprised by the news, H.Ç. later returned to the office of public prosecution and submitted her statement.

Following Hut’s preemptive legal maneuver, H.Ç. and her lawyer filed their complaint against the doctor that same day.

The following week, H.Ç. received another SMS through the Turkish court system. The message informed her that she was being called to testify before a judge as the defendant in the case on December 25, 2014 at 10am. The public prosecutor, who also refused to treat H.Ç. as a woman in his formal dealings with her with the excuse that she had not received her pink ID yet[3], had decided to convert the investigation into a full fledged lawsuit.

H.Ç. and her lawyer are hoping that their complaint will also develop into a lawsuit and be merged with the doctor’s case.

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Discrimination at State Hospital: ‘I do not condone your situation, I will not examine you!’

Source: “Devlet Hastanesinde Ayrımcılık: ‘ Durumunuzu tasvip etmiyorum, sizi muayene etmem!’” (“Discrimination at state Hospital: ‘I do not condone your situation, I will not examine you!’”), SPoD, 1 April 2014, Accessed 2 October 2014,  http://www.spod.org.tr/turkce/devlet-hastanesinde-ayrimcilik-durumunuzu-tasvip-etmiyorum-sizi-muayene-etmem/

Click here for an update on this event.

On March 31 at around 11:30am, a Trans woman who presented at the Department of General Surgery and was then referred to the Gynecology Department of Reşat Belger Göz Eğitim Araştırma Hastanesi (Eyesight Training and Research Hospital) was subjected to discrimination on the basis of her gender identity and the doctor denied her right to health care.

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Press Statement by luBunya Students on Singer’s Homophobic Statements

Source: luBunya-Bogazici [Bosphorus University Student Organization against Heterosexism], “Basına, Kamuoyuna ve Tüm İnsan Hakları Destekçilerine Duyurulur!” (“For immediate release to press and public and all of the civil right supporters”), Facebook, 17 September 2014, https://m.facebook.com/LuBUnyaBogazici/photos/a.152506168117885.25456.132128600155642/742015985833564/?type=1

The singer named Fatma Uludan Canevi, known as Niran Unsal, commits a crime of provoking the public to hate and hostility or insulting it via her social media account.

Canevi makes offensive statements openly by using the published photos of the audience who went to a legally organized concert [by Lady Gaga]. The photos of the audience show them wearing self-designed clothes in the concert area.

Canevi shared a photo of a person from the audience with a green wig and pink clothes via her social media account and tweeted: “We are not interested in your sexual preferences, go live in your home! We will not let you be role models for our children with such quackery.”

Screen Shot 2014-09-23 at 08.33.10

Canevi said “This is the main reason why we worry” by using the photos of other members of the audience with wigs and glasses. And “Mothers and fathers, it is our humane duty to say STOP to all of those poisoning the youth of this country!”

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Trans woman prevented from entering the Turkish parliament: “If you have a blue ID, you are a man”

Source: Ömer Akpınar, “Trans kadına Meclis engeli: Mavi kimliğin varsa erkeksin!“ (“Trans woman prevented from entering the Turkish parliament: ‘If you have a blue ID, you are a man’”), KaosGL, 19 September 2014, http://www.kaosgl.org/sayfa.php?id=17552

A trans woman was discriminated against this morning [September 19, 2014] prior to a press conference to be held by the CHP (Republican People’s Party) MP Aykan Erdemir at the Turkish Grand National Assembly. The woman who wished to attend the meeting concerning LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans) rights was asked to go through security checkpoint designated for men on the grounds that she carried a blue identity card.

buse_kilickaya

Buse Kılıçkaya from the Pink Life Association spoke with KaosGL.org about the incident that occurred at the security check before the press meeting:

“I have been going to the Grand National Assembly to attend these civil rights meetings since 2000. This morning we went through the pre-search without a problem; at the second search, there was a security detector marked as “woman” and I naturally chose that one. There was a commotion as they were searching my bag. I sensed that the security officer felt the need to confer with their friends about a matter. Since I had entered through here before, I assumed that the issue had something to do with the materials we brought, but that was not the case.”

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‘Red lipstick’ crisis at IMC TV

Source: “İMC TV’de ‘kırmızı ruj’ krizi” (“‘Red lipstick’ crisis at IMC TV”), Pembe Hayat, 16 September 2014, http://pembehayat.org/haberler.php?id=505

A trans employee of IMC TV, known for the news she covers on LGBT issues, has been sacked by her boss. The ‘red lipstick’ crisis, which had led to a protest by Turkish Airlines flight attendants, was cited among the reasons for the termination of Michelle Demishevich Kurt’s employment contract. Along with Michelle’s attire, her “attitude and conduct” constituted justification for her getting the axe.

miche

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