Chilling testimony in court from woman who killed her husband

The incident occurred on February 7, 2025, at a tobacco shop on Adnan Kahveci Street in the Atatürk neighborhood. Fatma Adır (47) shot and killed her husband, Seyithan Adır, who she claimed was attacking her. Following the incident, Adır, a mother of 5, was arrested.

The 4th hearing, held at the Gebze 7th High Criminal Court, was attended by the detained defendant Fatma Adır, the victim's siblings, the defendant's children, and the lawyers for both parties. Regarding the report requested from the Kocaeli University Hospital Department of Forensic Medicine during the previous hearing, it was entered into the record that the institution informed the court that "a report signed by a single physician was issued because a panel could not be formed." The plaintiffs objected to this report, which they claimed was prepared by a single physician and based on probabilities, and requested that the defendant remain in custody for the crime of premeditated murder.

Children did not file a complaint against their mother

Zeynep Şakar, the guardian for the minor victims E. and E., who was given the floor during the hearing, stated that although the children are minors, they have expressed their will and are not filing a complaint against their mother. The court rejected the requests of the minor victims, who are under 15 years of age, to join the case because their legal representative did not file a complaint.

Defendant Adır: "My children are victims, I request my release"

Given the floor regarding the incoming report, defendant Fatma Adır stated that she generally agreed with the content of the report and defended herself by saying, "Because I have recovered, my fractures could not be detected. However, my past injuries were detected during my general examination."

Claiming that she did not know the weapon used in the incident was real, Adır said, "I acted to protect myself. My children have been victimized because I am in custody. I have been detained for a long time, I request my release."

Defense attorney Ömer Faruk Çelik stated that although the report from Kocaeli University was prepared by a single physician, it was sufficient and that the 2018 violence incident was also included in the report. Emphasizing that the 5 children outside are suffering because his client remains in custody, Çelik said, "Their uncles do not care for them because they harbor hostility toward the children. The purpose expected from the arrest has been achieved; we request the client's release."

The court panel decided to continue the defendant's detention. The panel ruled that the file should be sent to the relevant Specialized Board of the Istanbul Forensic Medicine Institute because the report from Kocaeli University was signed by only one physician.

"These 5 children must be looked after"

Defense attorney Ömer Faruk Çelik addressed the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Family and Social Services in a statement after the hearing. Çelik said, "These children must be looked after. If these children die tomorrow or the next day because they are working without insurance in a construction site, no one can take responsibility for that. My client, Fatma Hanım, is also a great victim, but the victimization of these children is also very great; they need to be looked after."

Stating that his client was subjected to systematic violence by the victim and committed the murder to survive, Çelik requested the application of self-defense provisions and said, "This file should be taken care of. The primary victim is Fatma Adır, but she is currently in the defendant's seat. She is being tried while in custody. My client, who has been in custody for 17 months, weighed over 80 kilos when she first entered prison. She is currently 52 kilos. If this had been done in a planned and organized way, this woman would have been grateful for her life; she would not have lost weight. There is a victimization here, and it needs to be resolved."

Defense in the first hearing

On the other hand, details of the detained defendant Fatma Adır's defense in the first hearing have emerged. Adır said that throughout her 23-year marriage, both she and her children were constantly subjected to physical and psychological violence by her husband. Claiming that her husband had been gambling for 20 years and took his anger out on them when he lost, Adır said, "He would get angry for no reason, lock the door on us and leave, leaving us helpless. Whenever he came and opened it, that's when he opened it; we couldn't say anything. For example, my child would come home after getting a haircut for the joy of a report card, and he would sit on my child and say, 'Why did you do your hair like this?' The child had admired it, his friends had styled their hair. He would sit on him, press down, and cut his hair. The child would no longer go to get his report card, nor would he leave the house for 3 months. He would always stay inside after the holiday passed. I would watch their helplessness, and they would watch my helplessness. He was angry even when the children were babies; he would beat them, choke them, hold them by their throats until the children turned purple, he would choke them until they were nearly dead and then let go."

"He would pull my hair out and throw it on the floor"

Adır alleged that her husband had previously beaten her until she passed out with the metal pipe of a vacuum cleaner, broken her fingers and ribs, cut her wrist by holding a knife to her throat, and put a gun in her mouth, saying, "I was ashamed of my own motherhood, my own womanhood. His violence was extreme. Once again, he had held a gun to my head. The children were screaming 'Don't do it.' The reason was this: I had said to him, 'Why don't you act like a father to your children?' He had wounded me with a knife, and my sister-in-law had witnessed this. While he was holding my throat, look, my wrist is also visible. He had cut my wrist. My sister-in-law was also helpless; she cried with me and hugged me. We would say 'that's his nature' and cover it up and move on. He would always grab my hair, press on my neck, pull my hair out, and throw it on the floor. When he entered the house, the children would pretend to be asleep. One day, he had beaten me terribly again with the metal pipe of the vacuum cleaner."

"He attacked me saying 'I'm not a man if I don't kill you'"

Fatma Adır, who also described the day of the incident in her defense, stated that her husband came to the shop during the day and checked the location of the gun kept there before leaving. Stating that she hid the gun for fear of being killed, Adır said that her husband returned to the shop in the evening. In her defense, Adır noted the following:

"He kicked the items, threw everything to one side. I was collecting them without saying anything and putting them back, putting them in the box, tidying up the surroundings. While he was arguing with me, a neighbor was passing by the door. He heard the voices while passing by the door. He opened the door slightly; it was cold outside. He wanted to ask how I was, he asked 'How are you?' I was trying to send him away. He asked me, 'You look very bad, are you okay?' I said I was fine. My husband gets even angrier and flares up more when others see our incidents. I tried to send him away, I went inside. He flared up at me even more. He used so many curses and insults. He said to me, 'I will kill you, I'm not a man if I don't kill you.' He cursed at my mother, then turned and cursed at his own mother. There were two curses that had never come out of his mouth in his life, he said those too at that moment."

"His eyes were filled with blood, he was screaming"

Adır continued her defense as follows:

"I took the gun because he would kill me, and I went to the back of the shop. I have never used a gun in my life, I don't know how. As soon as I touched the gun, the gun went off. I experienced great fear and shock. I didn't know what to do. I took the gun back and put it in its place. Two minutes passed, it came to my mind. I took the gun from there and put it in the box. As soon as he came, he attacked me. At that moment, that neighbor left the door, he punched me. He cornered me in front of the door. He headed toward where the gun was. His eyes were filled with blood, there was a screaming sound. He headed there, shouting 'Where is my gun?', he felt around with his hand. I was already near the kitchen, as soon as I reached out, I grabbed that gun from the box for a moment. As soon as I grabbed it, I fired. I didn't realize at that moment whether that bullet hit a part of him or not. He came at me for two or three more steps, screaming, and then he fell there. When he fell, I was in shock, I felt bad. My intention was not something like killing."

Children defended their mother, siblings denied the violence allegations

The couple's 5 children, who were also heard as witnesses in the first hearing, stated that their father subjected their mother and them to severe violence and that they were not filing a complaint against their mother. The couple's university student daughter, Kardelen Adır, said, "There is no fatherly instinct in my father anyway, and we are not even aware that he is our father. Why not? Because when we were children, he would come home every 3 months, every 5 months. He would send 100 liras and say, 'Get by with this.' It is a terrible thing for a mother to have her children sleep with their boots on. Do you know why we slept with our boots on, your honor? Because we were cold. The ceilings of the house are damp, we are all children with asthma, so we wouldn't get sick."

Kardelen Adır said, "My father would beat us in such a way, not in a normal way. He would drive the car at Eren. When I was going to university, he suddenly stopped talking to me. He said, 'Go however you want.' I said, 'Okay, I will go. I won't stay in any way.' I got up and my mother cried a lot. She said, 'When a person's child wins a university, doesn't one say congratulations to my daughter?' He beat my mother so much that day, and he beat me on top of that. I went to school with a bruised face."

Stating that she did not file a complaint against her mother, Kardelen Adır said, "My father had no mercy for animals, he had no mercy for people, he had no mercy for anyone. He had no mercy for anyone at all. That's why what I want to say is that my father definitely had violence toward others as well. He also had it toward his own children."