Gülfİdan Kuşoğlu, 27, was ordered to be released from prison where she was held on charges of strangling her abusive husband to death in 2011 after the Turkish Supreme Court of Appeals ruled the murder was an act of self-defense in a landmark ruling.The top court upheld a previous ruling by the local court in the northwestern Turkish province of Sakarya where the couple lived. An earlier ruling said the act of self-defense was evident in the murder case, as the woman thought her husband would commit further acts of violence toward her or even kill her.The prosecutor in the case had initially appealed to the Supreme Court for a reduced life sentence demanded for the defendant, from 24 to 18 years in prison, citing the murder was committed with a just cause.Kuşoğlu told the court that they had been married for a few months when her husband started exhibiting overwhelmingly jealous behavior. The night that the murder took place, the husband insulted her and beat her repeatedly, according to the woman's statement. She said that he acted in a fit of rage and smashed her head onto the wall after he saw her watching a movie on TV. "When the image of a naked man came up during a scene, he was infuriated. He told me 'why are you watching this?' and started kicking and punching me. He grabbed an iron rod in the house and hit me. I tried to flee from the house, but he grabbed me. He started stripping me naked while yelling 'I bought these clothes. You should leave them if you want to leave home.' He tried to push me out of the house while I was naked but I resisted. He then continued to beat me for about 10 minutes. When he stopped, I grabbed the cable from the electric heater and tried to strangle him. He fell down but I stopped after two minutes out of pity. I brought him a glass of water. He then told me 'Strangle me now. Otherwise, it will be bad for you.' I thought he would kill me and strangled him again. He then fell down dead," she said in her testimony.İsmail Gürses, the lawyer for Gülfidan Kuşoğlu, told Daily Sabah that he welcomed the Supreme Court of Appeals' ruling. "The court issued the verdict in accordance with the laws on self-defense. This was not a murder case after all, but rather a case of self-defense," he said. On the debate that the murder may prompt other women victims of domestic abuse to take similar action against their spouses, Gürses said the case was one of its kind and not likely to set an example.Betül Altınsoy Yanılmaz, the head of the Legal Affairs Committee of Women and Democracy Association (KADEM), said she welcomed the ruling in terms of showing a changing point of view from the judiciary regarding the victims of domestic violence. She points out that many women who had to strike back against their abusive husbands landed in jail while spouses murdering their wives or girlfriends often get away with light sentences.She disagrees that the ruling may lead to women murdering abusive spouses. "This is an isolated case and the ruling was issued in line with circumstances at the time of the murder. I do not believe that every abused woman will resort to [murder]. Moreover, being subject to constant violence hurts them psychologically and deals a blow to their self-confidence. They can't find the same motive anyway," Yanılmaz said. She also stressed that the violence in Kuşoğlu's case amounted to torture and she had to act to protect herself.Yanılmaz said that the struggle against domestic violence was limited to protective measures. "Women are provided with police protection but that is it. Perpetrators of violence are often released pending trial after an initial detention period. They also benefit from reductions to their sentences based on good behavior while incarcerated. We need more severe sentences and the minimum limit for prison terms in domestic violence cases should be increased," she said. Yanılmaz pointed out that men perpetrating violence against women are confident of securing a release after a couple of years due to ineffective sentences. Furthermore, the victims of murders targeting women are usually women whose spouses were released after a brief stint in prison for previous cases of domestic violence. In fact, some suspects get a reduction in their sentences when the courts rule that the defendant was "agitated" prior to the crime."The state is responsible for protecting women but more importantly, it is responsible for punishing and rehabilitating the perpetrators. Turkey needs laws and regulations for better sentencing and a rehabilitation mechanism for culprits in domestic violence cases," Yanılmaz said.Yanılmaz said that as KADEM, they have proposed the establishment of courts specializing in domestic violence as part of efforts to curb it through a more effective handling of cases. These courts would relieve the workload of other courts and have a better focus on domestic violence cases through a cadre of judges, prosecutors, social services experts and psychiatrists. However, despite legal reforms, precautions and efforts to curb the disturbing phenomenon of domestic violence that result in death is a major concern for Turkey.According to figures from the Turkish National Police, throughout 2014, 118,014 women were victims of domestic violence and 133 women lost their lives in domestic violence cases. Moreover, 23 women lost their lives while they were under temporary precaution measures by security forces and 21 others were killed while they were under the protection of on duty officers.