A tragic incident of femicide and suicide has shocked the city of Erzurum, highlighting the critical failures in Turkey's judicial system regarding the protection of women from domestic violence. Salih Aybas, a man recently released from prison after serving time for violence against Nermin Tirit, murdered her in a public attack before taking his own life.
The incident occurred in the early hours of Monday, November 3, 2025, in the Ömer Nasuhi Bilmen neighborhood of Yakutiye district. According to reports, Aybas pursued Nermin Tirit, a cleaning worker at Erzurum Technical University, before shooting her with a handgun in the garden of the housing complex where she lived. Aybas then turned the weapon on himself. Emergency services, including police and medical teams, were dispatched to the scene following the reports, but both Aybas and Tirit were pronounced dead at the site. Their bodies were subsequently taken to the Erzurum Forensic Medicine Institute morgue for examination. The local police chief, Onur Karaburun, visited the crime scene to oversee the investigation.
This horrific event is compounded by the revelation of Aybas’s criminal history. He had been imprisoned in 2023 for actions against Tirit, facing charges including 'violence against women,' 'attempted murder,' and 'threat.' Crucially, Aybas was released from prison on October 22, 2025, just over a week before he carried out the fatal attack. The case, initially reported by Turkish media under the headline "Öldürmeye teşebbüs" ve "Kadına yönelik şiddet"ten hapse giren erkek tahliye oldu: Kendisinden şikayetçi olan kadını öldürdü (Man released from prison for 'attempted murder' and 'violence against women' kills the woman who complained about him), underscores a devastating pattern where legal interventions fail to prevent the ultimate act of violence.
The Femicide Crisis in Turkey
The murder of Nermin Tirit is the latest grim statistic in Turkey's ongoing and severe femicide crisis. Despite legal frameworks designed to protect women, such as Law No. 6284 on the Protection of Family and Prevention of Violence Against Women, the number of women killed by men remains alarmingly high. Data compiled by organizations like the We Will Stop Femicide Platform (KCDP) consistently reveal the scale of the tragedy. In the first half of 2025 alone, at least 136 women were killed by men across the country, with an additional 215 deaths recorded under suspicious circumstances.
The crisis is characterized by a systemic failure to protect victims, often involving men who have prior records of violence or who act during separation or divorce proceedings. Experts and women's rights advocates point to a culture of impunity, inadequate enforcement of existing laws, and judicial leniency—such as the early release of perpetrators—as key factors contributing to the persistence of femicide. The situation is further exacerbated by political debates surrounding the potential withdrawal from or weakening of the Istanbul Convention, an international treaty aimed at preventing and combating violence against women. Activists continue to demand the full and effective implementation of all protective measures to ensure that women like Nermin Tirit are not failed by the very system meant to safeguard their lives.
Photo: Gemini AI