Justice versus Conscience

13 dec. 2012

Hatun “Aynur” Sürücü (January 17, 1982 in Berlin — February 7, 2005 in Berlin) was a Turkish woman who was tragically stalked and murdered at the age of 23 by her own brother, in an “honor” killing.

The details of this case follow an important preface.

NOTE

This video is NOT posted to be anti-Islam propaganda, or a gathering place for people to vent hatred, and I will delete any bigoted or crude comments.

Sadly, there are plenty of other religious extremists in the world: Christian, Hindu, Jewish, etc., who also seek to control women, reject secular governance and destroy tolerance and progress.

All over the world, women are targets of discrimination and violence, in one form or another.

In the USA alone, three women are killed per day (THREE, EVERY DAY) including the day you watch this video, at the hands of male boyfriends or husbands in fatal domestic violence attacks.

Yet, wherever gender equality is taken seriously, it’s obviously better for women than in nations (or cultures) that treat women as inferior objects to be controlled.

This particular case deserves attention for several reasons: the barbaric practice of “honor killing”, which like all other absurd traditions must be eradicated, Turkey’s lack of cooperation with the EU in terms of extradition – especially for murder, and also the small percentage of Turks (and others) in Germany who refuse to assimilate into European life and fully reject German culture.

For these Turks who do isolate themselves, the documentary explains that they ironically progress slower than their relatives and neighbors back home in Turkey.

Turkey is a complicated place, a huge country full of history and culture, where they once had separation of religion and state, and even banned certain religious clothing. That has essentially come to an end with the current leader/dictator, Erdogan, who has called women who work “half persons” – a sad development for the state of women’s rights in Turkey.

In this amazing, short documentary, we meet modern Turkish women yearning for freedom, who have fully integrated into German life, and one can only applaud their bold and incredibly difficult transition.

They are heroes.

DETAILS OF THE CRIMINAL CASE

Hatun was a modernized Turkish immigrant who embraced German culture. Her alleged “offense” – according to her family – was that she had divorced the cousin she was forced to marry at the age of 16, was dating a German man and living life as a free, independent German woman.

Hatun’s brothers were/are radical Islamists, and they apparently believed they had the right to control her. They harassed, threatened and assaulted her – and eventually the youngest brother shot and killed her at a bus stop.

For this brutal, premeditated act of murder, he was sentenced to just nine years in prison, while the other brothers – also known to have planned the murder – escaped to Turkey, where there is a no-extradition policy.

This award-winning documentary asks how such a barbaric crime could have happened in an advanced, civilized nation where gender equality is taken for granted – and how the perpetrators were allowed to escape.

The film also suggests that serious problems can result when large numbers of ultra-orthodox or extremists remain voluntarily isolated in nation they have chosen to move.

Though controversial with no easy solution, many European nations contemplate how they can demand that immigrants adhere to European values as one requisite to both work visas or immigration.

There are in fact many Turks and Muslims around the world who would – and do – gladly accept freedom, equality and secular European values in exchange for a peaceful and comfortable life that a place like Germany can offer, including a value system that was won only after many centuries of struggle.

Meanwhile, Turkey should be pressured to extradite any murderer who so shamelessly escapes justice.

And serious questions still arise about the possibility of Turkey ever being accepted into the European Union, while their laws and cultural practices still so radically depart from Europe’s.

Thanks for watching.