ANKARA - A female member of parliament from the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) submitted a motion asking for a parliamentary probe against honor killings on Friday.
The motion submitted by Fatma Sahin, an MP for Gaziantep province along with signatures of 30 other MPs, said an urgent solution should be found for the problem of honor killings and that it was a shame which Turkey had to get rid of.
The motion said protection of lives and dignity of people is also a holy duty as well as protection of honor.
The motion said honor killings were against U.N. Convention on Human Rights, Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW).
Under no: 19 of the CEDAW recommendatory decision taken in 1992, the state is obliged to prevent the human rights violations of the third persons against women. Turkey also has commitments in Beijing +5 final statements of the United Nations Women Conference. Beijing +5 Statement evaluates honor killings within the scope of violence against women.
The motion said, ''despite several legal studies against honor killings, there is a need for socio-cultural studies for the solution of the problem.''
''The Turkish parliament has to fulfill its responsibilities in this respect. To this end, we request a parliamentary probe against honor killings,'' the motion added.
(AY) 30.04.2004