Turkey unites, reacts against the heinous murder of young woman

The brutal murder of Özgecan Aslan, a 20-year-old university student in the southern Turkish city of Mersin has created an uproar in the country as people from all spectrums of life including celebrities and politicians have expressed their disgust over the incident and called for justice to be served.

Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu said that the government will start a mobilization for the rights of women and that women should stand up for Özgecan Aslan as well as for all women subject to violence in Turkey. He made the comments on Sunday at the AK Party's congress in the Turkish southern city of Antalya, organized by the party's women's branch. He also announced that the government is planning to open a youth facility in the city named "Özgecan Aslan" in honour of the murdered Turkish girl.

Davutoğlu also phoned the family and said: "Everything will be done to appropriately punish the murderers of this vicious attack."

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his wife Emine Erdoğan called Aslan's family to offer condolences for the death of their daughter and condemned the murder on Saturday.

A demonstration was organized by an organization called Stop the Murder of Women Platform on Saturday, where hundreds of people gathered in Taksim to protest the incident and raise awareness about the issue of femicide in Turkey.



The municipality of Mersin cancelled a collective wedding event which was scheduled to be celebrated on Valentine's Day.

Social media was also shaken with the #ÖzgecanAslan hashtag, where thousands expressed their solidarity with the victim, condemned the rape and murder of the young woman and called for justice to be served.

Turkish celebrities including singers Demet Akalın, Gökhan Özen, and actors and actresses including Nejat İşler, Beren Saat, Pınar Altuğ, Oya Aydoğan and Sedef Avcı have expressed their reaction on their social media accounts.

Mersin İdman Yurdu, a Turkish football team from the hometown of the victim has announced that they will be wearing t-shirts with pictures of Özgecan and with messages condemning the incident at the game scheduled to be played with Çaykur Rizespor on Sunday.

It was reported that there will be demonstrations to protest the murder in various places including Kadıköy in Istanbul and Güvenpark in Ankara on late Saturday.

Three suspects were arrested over the tragic death of Özgecan Aslan, a 20-year-old woman, who was a university student in the southern province of Mersin and was burnt after she was allegedly raped and heinously murdered by the driver of a bus she had boarded to go home.

Her remains were found dumped in a creek, three days after she went missing on February 11. She was last seen boarding a passenger minibus after spending a day out with her friend.

According to reports, the driver changed the route of the minibus when Özgecan was the only passenger left on board. As the young woman realized the driver's suspicious act, she started to argue with him, while he stopped the bus in a secluded area where he attempted to rape her.

The young woman tried to stop the brutal act by spraying pepper spray on the perpetrator but he took out a knife and stabbed her several times, while he fatally hit her with an iron bar.

Suphi A., the 26-year-old perpetrator, who is allegedly married and has a child called his father and close friend after the incident, to seek 'assistance.' The two men collaborated with the murderer and suggested they burn the corpse so that nobody would be able to identify it, and threw her remains in a creek.

The perpetrators were taken to a hospital for a health checkup after they were arrested, where the public tried to lynch them for their brutal crime against an innocent young woman.

Özgecan's funeral took place on Saturday where her coffin was carried by women.

Her family was devastated and could not believe such a heinous crime could be committed against their daughter, who they referred to as "an angel," a brilliant student of psychology who wanted to become a psychologist in the future.



Songül Aslan, the mother of Özgecan Aslan told reporters that she wants the perpetrators to suffer a death worse than her daughter's: "They should be executed, they should be tortured. Özgecan had a wonderful heart, she would work hard, help everyone. I cannot accept that she was murdered when she took a minibus to come home. Is my daughter's only mistake to get on a minibus to come home?" she added.