Armed violence has increased by 73 percent in Turkey since 2014

"No to individual armament"

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Every September 28 is marked as the Day of Individual Disarmament. Monitoring the news starting from January 1 till September 24, 2021, the Umut (Hope) Foundation has found that the incidents of armed violence have increased by 6 percent to 2,592 in Turkey in a year.

While 470 people lost their lives in these incidents of armed violence, 2,693 others were wounded. When compared to 2014, it is seen that armed violence has increased by 73 percent in Turkey.

In its statement on the occasion of September 28, the Foundation has underlined that Turkey is approaching the Day of Individual Disarmament amid debates on the "Regulation on Firearms and Knives and Other Tools", which was introduced by the President and entered into force in Turkey by being published in the Official Gazette on September 11, 2021.

Noting that "apart from armament, one of the major problems of Turkey is feminicides", the Umut Foundation has underlined that "by September 24, 2021, in the incidents that happened and were reported in the press in 266 days, 297 people died in 376 massacres of women."

"We say 'people' because the people who were with the women at the moment of the incidents and lost their lives are also included in the count," the Foundation has explained further, adding that 151 women were also injured in these 376 incidents reported in the press.

"While 163 women were massacred with firearms (42 with rifles and 121 with pistols), 97 murders were committed with sharp objects," the Umut Foundation has said, adding, "116 women and girls were strangled, burned, thrown from a higher place or killed with drugs."

This year's Individual Disarmament Day event will be held online by the Umut Foundation tomorrow (September 28) at 8 pm.

While the opening speech will be made by the Foundation's Executive Board member lawyer Fikret İlkiz, Foundation' Executive Board member Prof. Yasemin İnceoğlu will talk about "Reporting on Crisis in Times of Corona", Foundation's Executive Board member journalist Dr. Lecturer Gökmen Karadağ will talk about "Journalist Under Attack" and journalist Serkan Ocak will talk about "Reporting on Disasters." (AÖ/SD)