Çağla Joker

Defendant accused of murdering trans woman Çağla Joker gets a sentence reduction because of his age, then a reduction for having been ‘unjustly provoked’

In the case of Çağla Joker, the victim of a hate-crime killing in Beyoğlu last April, the court reduced the defendant’s sentence to ten years on the grounds of “unjust provocation.”

Source: Burcu Karakaş, “Çağla Joker’in katil zanlısına yaş indiriminden sonra bir de ‘haksız tahrik’ indirimi” (“Defendant accused of murdering Çağla Joker gets a sentence reduction because of his age, then a reduction for having been ‘unjustly provoked'”), Diken, 1 October 2015. http://www.diken.com.tr/cagla-jokerin-katil-zanlisina-yas-indiriminden-sonra-bir-de-haksiz-tahrik-indirimi/
Trans women Çağla Joker and Nalan suffered an armed attack in Tarlabaşı on the night of 20 April [2014], and 25-year-old Çağla Joker, wounded in the chest, lost her life at the site of the incident. H.T., sentenced to 16 years and getting a reduction for being 17 years old, said in testimony given in court:

“We met two persons who we supposed were women. We negotiated. He said he was a man. I asked him to give me back the money I had paid. He said he would not return the money and cursed vehemently.”
Though tried for intentional homicide and life in prison, the court reduced the sentence to 10 years in prison due to reductions for “unjust provocation,” “good behavior,” and on account of him being younger than 18.
Not returning the 50 liras was an unjust provocation
In its decision, the judicial panel gave its opinion that Çağla Joker’s failure to return the money that the defendant had paid constituted an unjust provocation. The following phrases appeared in the reasoning:

“The defendant wanted the 50 liras back, and when at every stage he demanded its return, the deceased asserted that they would not return the money; confronted with the declarations of the deceased, the defendant came under the influence of anger and distress, and under the influence of anger and distress drew his weapon.”
These punishments will not be effective in ending the murders
Lawyer Fırat Söyle, commenting on the decision for Diken, emphasized that the sentence reductions being applied to defendants accused of hate crimes would not help to end the murders, and said:

“Inflicting very severe penalties on those who act out of the hatred engendered by government and society will not put an end to hate-crime killings, nevertheless, we demand that the severest penalties be inflicted on defendants accused of hate-crime killings, in the name of satisfying a sense of justice within this system. Unless the material and moral culture of the government system and of society changes, the punishments handed down to defendants will, unfortunately, be ineffective in ending these murders.”
No one has taken ownership of the case
On the other hand, reacting to the fact that no one has taken ownership of the case, Söyle continued as follows:

“The slogans that slam the government, patriarchy, and transphobia, and the statements made by the press, fade away before three days have passed, and even before seven days have gone by, they are forgotten. Çağla, and people like Çağla, were not organized, and their circle was not ‘extensive.’ Çağlas are destitute people, and those who are left behind to weep and mourn for them are those who are like them. In the newspapers they get a single mention on the third page at most. The reactions immediately following their murders end up buried in deep silence as the trials progress.”
*Translator’s Note: The Turkish language does not have gender pronouns and translation into languages with gender pronouns poses a challenge. In this translation, we have opted to use several pronouns to describe the victim. In statements by the perpetrator, we used the pronoun “he” because the perpetrator argues that the victim was male. In statements by the court, we used the pronoun “they” because the sentences do not make clear how the court views the victim’s gender. This choice does not reflect an openness by the court to identify the victim as the gender-neutral pronoun “they,” but to reflect that the Turkish language does not have gender pronouns. In the journalist Burcu Karakaş’s narration, we have chosen the pronoun “she” as the journalist works on women’s and LGBTI rights issues.

Beyoğlu Chief of Police: Wait and See What Else I Will Shut Down

Source: “Beyoğlu Emniyet Müdürü: Dur daha nereleri kapatacağım” (“Beyoğlu Chief of Police: Wait and See What Else I Will Shut Down”) Muhalif Gazete, 6 May 2014,  http://www.muhalifgazete.com/haber/99014/beyoglu-emniyet-muduru-daha-dur-nereleri-kapatacagim.html

Daracık Street in the Beyoğlu District of Istanbul, where a trans individual was murdered two weeks ago, is once again in the spotlight; this time due to claims of forcible “shut-downs.”

Istanbul Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transvestite Transsexual Solidarity Association (Istanbul LGBTT) has claimed that building doors in the street where trans individuals were staying have been welded shut. Beyoğlu District Chief of Police, Ünal Altıner, has denied the claim; whereas Director of Municipal Police, Ahmet Öztürk, disclosed that the Beyoğlu Police already had a request for unoccupied buildings to be closed down and that they were acting on that request.

Murder on Daracık Street

On the night of April 20th, gunshots were heard on Daracık Street. Çağla Joker and her friend, Nalan, were shot by the 17-year-old H.T.; Çağla was killed and Nalan was badly wounded. The murder suspect, H.T., was soon caught and arrested. The building, in which the murder was committed, was sealed shut.

Joint Operation Two Weeks Later

Approximately two weeks later, the Beyoğlu Police and Municipal Police Departments started to act on abandoned and rundown buildings located on Daracık Street. According to Turkish daily newspaper Hürriyet’s reporter, Kazım Ataer, property owners’ demands and the murder were the catalyst for the shutdowns.

Beyoğlu Chief of Police: “The Property Owner Got the Welding Done”

Beyoğlu Chief of Police, Altıner, made the following statement on the subject: “I am only tidying up the area.” Altıner, who says that they have only cleared and shut down three buildings so far, went on: “If we had not gone ahead and clamped down on the subject, those buildings would crumble. We cleared all of them. The property owners called their lawyers. They declared that they [the people staying there] did not have any lease or tenancy agreements. We also shut down and sealed a coffee-house in the same place. I am only tidying up the area. I am not shutting down a workplace or residence of a person illegally. And it was the property owner who got the welding done on the doors.”

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On The Nature of Trans Killings

Source: Dilara Çalışkan, “Trans Cinayetlerinin Niteliği Üzerine” (“On The Nature of Trans Killings”), Birgün, 27 April 2014, http://birgun.net/haber/trans-cinayetlerinin-niteligi-uzerine-13544.html

It should be remembered that those who are responsible for the hate murders of trans people are also responsible for the rights violations committed against women, children, and all LGBTI individuals. They are responsible for the rights violations of any individual who does not conform to the idealized norm of the “Turkish citizen.”

In the last 8 years, 36 news items were published that began with the heading “We are shaken with yet another hate murder!” In the last one year, the number of articles beginning with the heading “We are shaken with yet another woman killing” was 214. These are only the ones we know about, the ones that were reported and officially recorded. We lost count of how many hate crimes are being committed, each one reminding us of the other, each inflicting deep cuts in our hearts, each prompting us to ask “is the next one going to be me?”

And every time, we get back up and say, again and again, that “It’s Enough!”, “This ought to be the last one!”, that we know the killers well. And it is very annoying that we can fully understand who Çağla’s killer is and where he is coming from, who, calmly, comes down the ladders of the building and ties his shoelaces, as shown in surveillance cameras.

It seems that watching how easy it is to end a life reminds us, very painfully, to what extent trans killings and woman killings are political.

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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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