The Free Women's Movement (TJA) paid a condolence visit to the family in Şirnex (Şırnak) of Pınar Bayrak, who was murdered in Mersin by Ziya Ecer, with whom she had an imam marriage. The women, including Peoples' Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) Şirnex deputy Nevroz Uysal Aslan, made a statement in front of the house where Bayrak lived before she was murdered. The women carried banners saying "Femicide is political", "Jin jiyan azadi (Woman, life, freedom)", "Jin ne bi tenê ne (Women are not alone)". The slogan "Jin, jiyan, azadi" was frequently chanted during the statement. 

 

Bayrak's aunt Neslihan Bayrak said: "She has been subjected to violence since the day she got married. How many times they broke her hand. I have had enough of violence against women. How many times I told her, 'Pınar, don't go.' She said, 'If I don't go, they will kill me. She was not leaving out of love, but out of fear. She was saying 'They are threatening me'. For 3 months she was saying 'They will kill me'. She ran away many times, but she couldn't escape again." 

 

'WE ARE NOT HELPLESS'

 

Aslan from DEM Party said: "2 thousand 20 women were murdered in Turkey in 2024. Many women like Pınar Bayrak were murdered. We know that these massacres are not a coincidence. The male-dominated family structure, the male mind and the state's impunity policies pave the way for the massacres of women. As women, we are not alone. We are not helpless. We are neither obliged to the family nor to men. Pınar has been subjected to male cruelty since she was married off at a young age. Pınar's story is the story of thousands of women. We say it once again from here. We will no longer sacrifice any woman to this system. We will not sacrifice any woman to the male-dominated family system. Women must stand up for themselves and for every woman who is subjected to violence. They should provide their self-defense against this. We will follow them until justice is done." 

 

The statement ended with the slogan "Femicide is political".