"Turkey's honour in all the wrong places
'Honour' killings are often cited as a symptom of Turkey's strict patriarchal society. It's time we faced up to this horror
A Turkish woman demonstrates Protesters decry honour crimes and violence against women on International Women's Day in Turkey's capital, Ankara. Photograph: Adem Altan/AFP/Getty Images
The month of March began in Turkey with another 'honour' killing. In Mersin, a large port on the Mediterranean, the police found the body of 19-year-old Hatice Firat. She had been stabbed 40 times. While her story made the front page of every major newspaper in the country and her picture became the face of an archaic custom, her body was not claimed by her family. Nor was her funeral attended by relatives. In the end a group of women – neighbours and friends – carried her casket from the morgue to the cemetery nearby and buried her. Along the way, they chanted slogans such as 'We won't be anyone's honour', 'Stop crimes against women'."
More:Turkey's honour in all the wrong places | Elif Shafak | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk
