Honor Killings

Boycott Turkey Against “Honor”- Killings










May 21, 2011



Introduction
“Kill her! She has dishonored our family’s name!” yells the father of a Turkish girl.
Murdered for honor? Indeed, many cultures all over the globe, murders like such occur in a daily bases. Women are being killed by the fathers, bothers, uncles and even mothers to regain the honor of the familythat was once lost. Actions that these murders describe as dishonoring the family are acts like having unapproved relationships, refusing an arranged marriage, asking for divorce, or even falling victim to rape. These reasons, as pathetic as they sound, are the motive of the death of some many women. But why isn’t the government going anything to stop this?
“Honor” killings first started toevolve in the Republic of Turkey when the Seljuk Turks settled in the Anatolian Peninsula. The Turks lived near the Muslim world were such traditions were practiced. Throughout the years there has been great effort from other countries to bring an end to this violation of human rights. Policies have been established in Turkey condemning the murders to a penal sentence, but the laws are notenforced. Unfortunately there has been an increase in such murders, and there have been ways to avoid such laws with what is so called “honor” suicides. Clearly this is an issue that should be taken a look at and a solution should take place. It is our responsibility, just like the responsibility of international organizations to stop this atrocity. International Communities like the European Unionshould launch or advocate a boycott as a way to pressure Turkey to enforce its laws against honor killings.
Brief History of Turkey
The Republic of Turkey is located mostly in the Anatolian peninsula. The peninsula is surrounded by the Mediterranean Sea, the Aegean Sea and the Black Sea. It is structurally very well position for trades and commerce. Through centuries empires and diversekingdoms are battled for this territory.
The Anatolian Peninsula has been taken over by various civilizations and kingdoms in antiquity. In the 11th century the first Seljuk Turks settled and empowered the peninsula (Geoffrey, L., 1995, p.18). When the Seljuks inhabited the Anatolian Peninsula they resided near the Muslim world, becoming influence by this religion and taking it as their own(Geoffrey, L., 1995, p.19). The territory was then taken over by the Byzantine Empire for some centuries (Geoffrey, L., 1995, p.19). In the 15th century the Ottoman Empire conquered the peninsula and expanded its kingdom throughout the eastern Mediterranean (Geoffrey, L., 1995, p. 33). During the 19th century there was a growth in nationalism. In addition, in 1914 Turkey joins the First World War inthe side of the central powers, and after assisting Germany on the attack towards Russia, Russia declares war on Turkey and subsequently occupies Turkey (Geoffrey, L., 1995, p.45).
In 1923, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk takes control of the territory and creates the Republic of Turkey (Geoffrey, L., 1995, p.75-76). Atatürk reforms the country into a modern, western-oriented republic, secularnation-state. In this year the nation obtains international recognition of sovereignty (Geoffrey, L., 1995, p.78).
Anatomy ‘honor’ killings
For us to be able to understand why there is a need to take action, we must first fully understand the anatomy of ‘honor’ killings. ‘Honor’ killings, as called, are murders based on the honor of a person, family or society. But what is honor? The meaning of honorvaries from culture to culture, society to society. In the Merriam-Webster Dictionary honor is divided into various categories, in “reputation” it’s defined a “good name or public esteem,” and as “credit” it means “one whose worth brings respect or fame” (Merriam Webster dictionary. Honor. p.1). We can unify these and describe honor as the integrity of a person. This integrity can also be...