Developments on the brutal killing of a young Turkish woman last week dominated dailies’ front pages on Monday. Kurds’ reaction to a security reform bill also appeared on some dailies’ coverage.
“Turkey’s heart,” was HURRIYET’s headline, saying that tens of thousands of people across the country protested against the slaying of 20-year-old Ozgecan Aslan in Mersin's Tarsus district in southern Turkey.
Aslan went missing on Wednesday; her charred body was found in a riverbed on Friday. Three suspects were arrested on Sunday in connection with the murder which has shocked the country.
Some other dailies covered Turkish women’s messages on Twitter, sharing their experiences of sexual harassment under the hashtag #sendeanlat. “Social uprising,” was the headline on MILLIYET’s front page, adding that the hashtag became a trending topic in Turkey.
“Milestone Ozgecan,” was HABERTURK’s headline, reporting that the murder has become a landmark in the issue of violence against women. The daily said celebrities, like Turkish actress Beren Saat, had shared their experiences on the social media site.
“Even death sentence is not enough,” was SABAH’s headline, covering debate surrounding the possible punishment for those found guilty of the crime. Turkey’s Family and Social Policies Minister Aysenur Islam and Economy Minister Nihat Zeybekci have raised the possibility of a revival of the death sentence for such crimes. “Death sentence or castration,” was VATAN’s front page.
Turkey abolished capital punishment in 2004 and replaced it with aggravated life imprisonment.
In other news, some dailies covered Kurds’ reaction to security reform bill. Some Kurdish politicians from the Peoples' Democratic Party visited the senior leaders of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party on Mount Qandil last week. The security bill would jeopardize the solution process, the party warned in a statement, according to MILLIYET.
The process refers to efforts by the Turkish government, launched in 2013, to end the decades-old conflict with the PKK in the country's eastern and southeastern regions.