BY NATASHA BARSOTTI – Turkey’s Hürriyet Daily News reports that a teenager was allegedly murdered by family members because of his sexual orientation in the southeastern province of Diyarbakir.
The 17-year-old, referred to by the intials RA, had reportedly sought refuge at a friend’s house after being exposed to violence by his family but was forcibly removed from the house by an uncle, the report alleges. “The boy reportedly had an argument with his father, after which the latter allegedly shot his son 14 times before he and his brother deposited the body by the side of the road,” the daily Cumhuriyet reported. The boy’s father and uncle were later arrested in connection with the murder.
According to Hürriyet, a member of the local community alleges that the family tried to cover up the murder. “The family wanted to cover up the murder which happened one month ago because they were a rich and powerful tribal family; they wanted the police to hide the incident,” the person alleges in the report. “We are subjected to violence, but there is no place where we can make a complaint or search for our rights. Police insult and swear at us, doctors make fun of us.”
Gay Star News cites Turkish advocacy organizations as saying that such murders — dubbed honour killings because of the negative social stigma attached to homosexuality — are underreported.
“LGBT activists . . . often object to the term [honour killing] stating that it is nothing short of murder, objecting to its classification as a special form of ‘killing,'” Gay Star News notes.
Why you can trust Xtra
