This is not our country, it is the country of those who want to kill us

A mother witnessed the horrific murder of the child she had raised with a thousand efforts and protected like the apple of her eye, in the busiest hour of the day. She watched in horror as her daughter's head, severed from her body, was thrown from the top of the city walls. As she wailed, "My İkbal," the words, "I wish he had killed my baby with a bullet, she must have suffered so much," keep ringing in my ears.

Semih Çelik is not the only perpetrator of this massacre committed in broad daylight. There is information that 19-year-old Semih Çelik, who brutally murdered 19-year-old İkbal Uzuner and Ayşenur Halil half an hour apart, had received psychological treatment 5 times, had gone missing twice, had attempted suicide once, and had been obsessively harassing his ex-girlfriend İkbal Uzuner for 5 years.

İkbal's father had taken his daughter out of school because of Semih. They had complained about Semih to the police station many times, but despite this, the perpetrator was not punished. A year ago, Semih filmed a video for İkbal. It was published on social media. I watched that video too.

His body language and the sentences he constructed show that Semih's mental health was not sound. The chilling expressions of the baby-faced killer, such as "I was going to kill you, God helped so much that I gave up on killing you. I was going to take out your heart, etc.," should have required him to be in prison or a mental hospital long ago. Explaining the murder committed by this young man, who brutally slaughtered two young girls and then committed suicide, with things like "he was under the influence of substances" serves no purpose other than to absolve those responsible of their duties. Without hiding behind excuses like the perpetrator being a substance addict, the relevant state institutions should have performed their duties with sensitivity.

If the killer was ill, why was he not forced into treatment?

If he was not ill, why was he not sent to prison upon the complaints of the young girl he had been harassing for 5 years and her family?

THIS MURDER, COMMITTED BRUTALLY IN BROAD DAYLIGHT, COULD HAVE BEEN PREVENTED

If Law No. 6284 had been in effect, this murder could have been prevented. Law No. 6284 on the Protection of Family and Prevention of Violence Against Women was important in this respect. It was important because it held the relevant state institutions responsible for protecting women. It was important because it implemented punitive measures and took preventive actions. It was important because it did not reward "good conduct" reductions.

Unfortunately, the government, which withdrew from the Istanbul Convention, also swept this law under the rug.

Because Law No. 6284, which was swept under the rug, is not being implemented, a new file for a femicide is added to the dusty shelves of the courts every day.

The words "This is not ours, it belongs to those who want to kill us" from the work *Journey to the End of Life* by the melancholic princess of Turkish literature, Tezer Özlü, come to my mind. Unfortunately, today we are going through a period that is much more insensitive and ruthless than the period Tezer Özlü lived in, where institutions have decayed and society has become desensitized.

Feeling the unbearable weight of being a woman like a burden on us, on alert every day against the possibility of encountering some form of violence, where and how... with the sadness and anger of not being able to prevent the ever-increasing murders... Is this the life we want?

Speaking of life, on the morning of the brutally committed murder, the Ministry of Health's "Normal Birth Action Plan" promotional film appeared on the screen. I watched it with a heavy heart. The public service announcement, which supposedly encourages normal birth, is so full of misinformation... Don't those who prepared this film know that every woman's anatomy is different? The developmental position of every baby may not be suitable for vaginal birth. Cesarean section is sometimes life-saving.

İkbal Uzuner's mother may have given birth to her daughter by cesarean section, or perhaps naturally. But she could not protect her. What is valuable is not how we give birth to our children, but what kind of life we offer them. İkbal's future was destroyed. If Law No. 6284, which could have protected her, had been in effect, İkbal would have been able to live the future (ikbal) she dreamed of.

If there is to be an action plan regarding keeping people alive in this country, Emine Erdoğan can take steps for the enforcement of Law No. 6284. She can mobilize the relevant institutions to prevent femicides, which is the real agenda of the public. For example, she could first ask, "What happened to Narin?"

As a new one is added to the missing children every day, as femicides increase exponentially, and as perpetrators are released with good conduct reductions, I worry for every woman living in this country, including my mother, my aunt, my cousins, and my nieces. Because I know that none of us are safe.

But I also know this; no force can defeat an organized people, no force can destroy an organized women's struggle. We will not be silent until those responsible fulfill their duties. This is our country, we will not leave it to those who want to kill us.

We will not accept being killed!