Women took to the streets in Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood of Aleppo for 18-year-old İpek Er who lost her life after a systematic rape by a Turkish sergeant in Batman, Northern Kurdistan.

Gathering in front of the Kongreya Star office in the neighborhood, the crowd observed a minute’s silence to pay tribute to all women who were murdered by men.

Speaking here, Women’s Foundation executive Perihan Reshid highlighted the importance of getting united against despotic governments and vowed to do their utmost effort to counter these crimes.

The women burned the photos of Turkish President Tayyip Erdoğan, Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu and sergeant Musa Orhan who withheld and raped the 18-year-old Kurdish woman for weeks.

Background

After being raped by a staff sergeant from the Turkish army, 18-year-old Ipek Er from Beşiri district of Batman tried to take her own life on 16 July. The young Kurdish woman was hospitalized on the same day and wrote a letter telling about her rape by a sergeant from the Turkish army. She has lost her life on Tuesday while receiving treatment in hospital.

The soldier in question was taken into custody upon a criminal complaint filed by the family. Despite a Forensic Medicine Institute report confirming the rape, the officer was released from custody after the military's defence that he had been "drunk". He was only arrested on Wednesday in the face of strong protests following the death of Ipek Er on Tuesday.