The first murder took place in the Lüleburgaz district of Kırklareli, where Dilek Arda (31) was found dead in her house. According to claims, Arda was living with her brother, Zafer Arda (33), who found his sister with a gunshot wound to the head in front of her computer. He rushed her to the hospital, where she died. Finding the incident suspicious, the prosecutor sent her body to the İstanbul Council of Forensic Medicine (ATK) for an autopsy. The police found a blank firing gun while searching the house.
The second incident occurred in Osmaniye, where the body of Esma Güven (22) was found naked in a field. Soldiers chanced upon this incident as they searched for terrorists on the outskirts of the Avanos Mountains with thermal cameras. The soldiers saw a car stop by the side of a road. Two people reportedly got out of the vehicle and, after dragging something into the field near the road, quickly fled the area. The soldiers informed the police, who found the naked body when they arrived at the scene.
Examining the fingerprints on her body, police concluded that Güven was beaten to death. Her body was taken to the Adana ATK for a detailed examination. Police are now searching for Güven's killers in the neighborhood.
In the last violent incident, a woman was found dead in the middle of the main road of Antalya's Ballıca village at 7 a.m. yesterday. The unidentified woman, whose head was wrapped in packing tape, was taken to the hospital for an autopsy. Police are trying to identify the body and find the killers.
The rate of violence against women is very high. In Turkey, the rate of murders of women increased by 1,400 percent between 2002 and 2009, the last year for which data is available. This statistic, which Turkey's justice minister revealed in his response to a parliamentary question, shocked the country. Violence against women has only increased since 2009.
There are some international concerns about the issue. The BBC has criticized Turkey, saying that it fails to protect women, while Amnesty International's latest report claims that up to a half of all women in Turkey have fallen victim to violence.
