Defendant Suat Dalgakıran, a fisherman, was convicted of the murder of his wife, who had allegedly cheated on him, by stabbing her five times last November. Fatma Dalgakıran (22) and the defendant had reportedly had a tumultuous relationship, having been separated but then reunited. Her husband appeared before a judge for sentencing this week for the Nov. 15, 2008 murder at the couple’s home in the Muratpaşa neighborhood of Antalya.Unexpected statements by the defense attorney before the sentencing also drew considerable attention. The prosecution had requested a life sentence without the possibility of parole for the murder, but defense lawyer Binnur Türkoğlu painted a different picture, saying it was clear the dead woman had never loved her husband and that she had cheated on him. “The slain woman had slept with another man even in the [married couple’s] bedroom. I’m not a man, but if I were, I would not have forgiven another man in my bed,” she said.
Türkoğlu noted that Suat Dalgakıran already had a young daughter around the age of 5 and said that the panel of judges should consider that his daughter would need him, demanding that his sentence be reduced for extreme provocation. “I grew up without a father from the age of 12. In this case there is extreme provocation because of the slain woman’s infidelity,” she said, continuing to address the judges: “You’re also Turkish men. I’m leaving the decision up to you. I’m a woman; this isn’t my trial, it’s yours.”
