A court in the southeastern city of Diyarbakır will likely anger women's rights activists with its ruling in the murder of a woman by her husband.

The local court handed down 20 years in prison for 36-year-old İbrahim Yılmaz who stabbed his wife Meryem to death on the street on Valentine's Day in 2015. The court initially ruled for an aggravated life sentence on charges of deliberate manslaughter, but gradually reduced it to 24 years for "unjust provocation" and then 20 years for the man's "good conduct during the hearings." "Unjust provocation" in this case refers to the victim saying to her husband - who was aware of her extramarital affair - "What kind of a man you are? You knew about my affair but you didn't do anything." She reportedly uttered this long before the convicted husband chased her after a dispute between the couple and cornered her on a street where he repeatedly stabbed her in the back and chest. Judges also ruled that they had a "good opinion of the defendant" and believed "he would not commit a crime again."

The case is now before the Supreme Court of Appeals, which has the final say in rulings of local courts. Özden Sanal, the lawyer for the victim's family, said the court simply ruled in favor of the defendant because they viewed an "emotional backdrop" to the incident. "He stabbed Meryem three times. He chased her and despite the intervention of passersby who tried to stop him, he did not stop. He grabbed and stabbed her three times. It should be defined as ‘murder with the motive of monstrous feelings,'" Sanal said, referring to an article in the Constitution used to describe grisly, planned murders.

Reduced sentences, especially in murders targeting women and lethal cases of domestic violence, are often criticized by activists that accuse courts of favoring defendants in these cases. The government plans to enact a new set of regulations to prevent those reduced sentences. If enacted, the regulations may prevent a repeat of cases where convicts, some sentenced to life, are eligible for lighter sentences if courts rule they exhibited "good behavior" during the trial or murdered cheating spouses who "unjustly provoked them." The Supreme Court of Appeals, the ultimate judicial authority, occasionally overturns sentences reduced by local courts and sometimes revokes sentences in domestic violence cases that have been commuted due to legal complaints lodged by the Family and Social Policies Ministry.