Pasaden ostegun goizean, martxoaren 12an, Ebru-ren gorpua aurkitu dute, trans ekintzailea. Dirudienez poliziaren babesa eskatu zuen gizon batek jazartzen zuelako baina babes hori ukatu zitzaion. Ostegun horretan bertan gertaera salatzeko mobilizazioak egin ziren nazioartean. Hemen duzue bere taldekideek, Lambdaistanbul taldeak, bidali zuen mezua:
El pasado jueves por la mañana, dia 12 de marzo, encontraron el cuerpo sin vida de Ebru, activista trans. Parece ser que solicito protección policial ante un hombre que la acosaba pero que su petición fue denegada. Ese mismo jueves se realizaron movilizaciones internacionales para denunciar este acontecimiento. Aquí teneis el correo enviado por su compañeras de Lambdaistanbul:
Hi all,
I am a trans member of Lambdaistanbul, I am extremely saddened to announce that another trans friend of ours, Ebru, was murdered. She was a Lambdaistanbul member and was active in the trans commission especially during the resistance against the heightened police harrasment and maltreatment of transgenders living and working in Taksim area in Istanbul. Apparently, she went to the police and sought protection from a man she refused to be with recently, she was found dead in her apartment this morning. I am not in Istanbul right now so I got the news from friends in town, and from everything I heard, it sounds like there was police neglect which is not uncommon or surprising when it comes to transgender citizens. It is too early to say but I am afraid the murderer will get away with it as our lives are deliberately made expendable by law-making and law-enforcing mechanisms in Turkey and around the world. I am lost for words to explain the pain we all feel, I hope that prevention strategies against situations like this will be one of the agenda items at the next TGEU meeting. I am not sure what are the specifics of your own contexts but trans women in Turkey face extreme amounts of harassment and violence from their partners, people in the street and police forces on a daily basis. When the perpetrators are caught or called out, patriarchal bullshit protection mechanisms of violence such as "crimes of passion" or "moral provocation" help these men get away with it. Similar laws and mechanisms are used and abused to justify violence in the family and violence against women. Maybe there is space for women's NGOs and queer groups to get together and work on gender-based violence inclusive of trans and non-trans women. For people in Istanbul, there will be a vigil and protests in front of Ebru's apartment on Thursday, March 12, at 1pm. Vigil starts at 6:30pm. If you have contacts in the international media that may take interest in the case, please pass on the information, press statement will be on March 12, 2009 at 1pm, the address is: Kazancı Yokuşu, Pürtelaş Sokak Girişi (Kazancı Ali Paşa Camii karşısı).
Thanks,
Sinan
