Ataş From HDP Calls to Account for Murdered Trans Women

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Erdal Ataş, İstanbul MP of Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) has brought the murders of two trans women in the last 13 days to the Parliament.

In the parliamentary question prepared in collaboration with LGBTT Solidarity Association has stated that two trans women had been killed in the last 13 days, the murderers had not been caught yet and referred also to the discriminatory attitude of police which reproduced hate speech.

Following statements were included in the petition submitted to respondence of Minister of Justice, Bekir Bozdağ:

Homophobic and transphobic hate speech increases gradually in Turkey. In 2015, 217 trans murders have been committed, which has reached its peak for the last years. On November 23, 2015 a trans woman named Nilay was murdered in Maltepe; on December 2, 2015 another trans woman named Alev was murdered in Avcılar and two other transexuals were heavily pounded up.

”While an employee and the attorney of LGBTT Solidarity Association who applied to Avcılar Police Department (Firüzköy) Public Security Branch Office waiting to give their testimony concerning the murder, a police officer has revealed his discriminatory attitude with his statement ‘how many faggots there are’. This discriminatory statement is a stimulant for later hate crimes. The committers of neither murders have been found yet.”

Questions

Ataş has addressed following questions:

How many murderers of trans women have been caught since 2002?

* Since 2002, how many trans women have been murdered, investigation was launched for how many of these incidents and committers of how many of these murders have been found?

* How many of these murderers have benefitted from aggravated provocation and good conduct abatement?

* Do you have any action in collaboration with the concerned ministries planned to prevent this discriminatory and derogatory attitude of police or are there going to be any?

Hate speech of public officers

* What kinds of preventive measures are there to refrain public officers who are supposed to constitute peace and order in society from reproducing hate speech?

* How many public officers have received a warning or a punishment regarding their hate speeches against ethnic, gender and belief identity? (EA/DG)