Associations raise concerns about suspicious death of trans woman Derya

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Trans woman Derya (36) was found dead in a car park in Ankara's Sıhhiye on the night of December 4. The cause of her death is being investigated. Speaking to Kaos GL Association, Derya's friends have said that Derya's deceased body was found by the security guards working at the car park. The deceased body of the woman has been sent to the Keçiören Forensic Medicine Institution for a postmortem examination.

The Pembe Hayat (Pink Life) Association and the Kırmızı Şemsiye (Red Umbrella) Association have released a written statement and announced that they will follow up the investigation into her death.

The associations have noted, "With her body sent to the forensic medicine institution for an autopsy because 'her death was suspicious', Derya's death is not suspicious. It is without a doubt that Derya was the victim of a 'murder'. It is an undeniable fact that, in our geography, trans people unfortunately wage a fight in conditions of police state and state of emergency."

Raising concerns about the impunity for the crimes against trans people in Turkey, the associations have briefly added:

"Besides, when the autopsy reports come out, we may learn that Derya was not killed by someone, but hanged herself, which would not change the fact that Derya was the victim of a murder.

Deprived of all types of social and public support mechanisms, systematically deprived of all constitutional rights, excluded from public space, turned into a target of organized evil and violence by the state as well and with their deceased bodies found in a field, a construction site, a car park or a highway not met 'with surprise or awe' by society, trans people's suicides, about the reasons of which we do not think much, but we all know, are murders, even if they are suicides.

'Trans murders are political'

Referring to Ali Gül, another trans, the associations have said that "even though the complications related to cervical cancer were effective in Ali Gül's death, what caused the death of Gül was the denial of the right to healthcare because of Gül being trans, the belated diagnosis of the disease due to the transphobic healthcare system and the obstacles to treatment."

Moreover, the associations have said, "Who killed Hande Kader is not only the ones who set her body on fire. The media outlets and workers that Hande called to account in her unforgettable video; the transphobic and male justice that did not issue the indictment of the murder for years, let alone putting the perpetrators on trial; and every single person who did not conduct an effective investigation, who did not fulfill their duty because Hande was trans, who paved the way for this murder, covered it up, saw it legitimate and insitgated it are the murderers of Hande."

Concluding the statement, the associations have said:

"As can be seen, murder is commited not only by pulling the trigger. The death of every single trans who is condemned to death under our very nose and 'whose deaths we are attempted to get used to and not get surprised at' is a murder. Trans murders are political!" (EMK/SD)