JINHA

NEWS CENTER – 19-year-old Mutlu Kaya, shot in the head by an attacker who entered her home in the town of Ergani, Turkey, is struggling for life in a hospital intensive care unit as sexist and racist media coverage sensationalizes the attack.

In Turkey, where violence against women has reached an epidemic pitch with more than 100 women slain so far in 2015, 19-year-old Mutlu Kaya threatens to become another victim. Mutlu was well known for competing in a national TV singing competition. Her family says the anti-Kurdish and sexist media headlines about the attack have only increased their suffering.

Anattacker reportedly shot at Mutlu Kaya through her window at 03:30 a.m. on May 18, after breaking into the garden of her house in the Ergani district of the southeastern province of Diyarbakır. Mutlu was seriously wounded by a bullet to the head and is currently in intensive care.

Mutlu's mother, Hanım Kaya, spoke with JINHA about the sexist and racist coverage of the attack on her daughter. Sensational media headlines in the Turkish press have declared: "She was sacrificed for an honor killing" and "Was it the father who killed her?" Hanım expressed her anger at the headlines.

"These types of imputations come from the fact that my daughter competed in the competition and that we are from the eastern [Kurdish] people, and I'm angry at the people making them," said Hanım, who noted that Mutlu was close with her father and the family had no such "honor" concerns. Hanım recalled Mutlu's decision to enter the competition as motivated by a desire to help her family, who like many in the Kurdish region faced economic difficulties. She wanted to sing in her native Kurdish language, a controversial decision in Turkey, where most national successful Kurdish singers deny their identities or become exotic figures of the "East" for a Turkish audience.

"She said to me, 'Mom, I'm finally going to end this pain you've been experiencing. I'm going to save you and dad from this,'" recalled Hanım. Mutlu was admitted to a prestigious art conservatory in Cyprus after her showing in the competition, but had to return to her hometown of Ergani because her family could not afford tuition.

Hanım said she had initial concerns that the attack was carried out by debt collectors. The Diyarbakır governor's office, for its part, hasrecently announced that they have arrested three suspects. One of them is Mutlu's 26-year-old boyfriend, who is being held under arrest, while the other two suspects were released.

Mutlu's condition remains critical, according to hospital sources in the intensive care unit where she is recovering in the city of Diyarbakır.

(mg/cm)