Hatun Aynur Sürücü (also spelled
Hatin Sürücü; born
January 17,
1982 in
Berlin; died
February 7,
2005 in Berlin) was a
Kurdish woman whose family was originally from
Erzurum,
Turkey. She was murdered at the age of 23 in
Berlin, by her own youngest brother, in a so-called
honor killing. Sürücü had divorced the cousin she was forced to marry at the age of 16, and was reportedly dating a German man. Her murder inflamed a public debate over
forced marriage in
Muslim families.
Sürücü was sent back to her village by her family and was forced to marry a cousin there at the age of 16, and gave birth to a son in 1999. In October 1999, she fled her parent's home, finding refuge in a home for
underage mothers. She attended school, and had moved into her own apartment in the
Tempelhof neighborhood of Berlin. At the time of her murder, she was at the end of the training to become an
electrician.
In July, 2005, the Berlin Public Prosecutor's office charged Sürücü's brothers with her murder. On September 14, 2005, Ayhan Sürücü, the youngest brother, confessed to murdering his sister.
In April, 2006, Ayhan was sentenced to nine years and three months in prison, and his two older brothers were acquitted of charges of conspiring to murder their sister.
Sürücü's murder was the sixth incident of "honor" killing since October, 2004. Public anger was aroused by an incident at a high school near the scene of the crime some days after Hatun Sürücü was killed, when some male students of
Kurdish and
Turkish origin reportedly applauded the crime. During a class discussion on the murder, one allegedly said that she "only had herself to blame," while another remarked "She deserved what she got -- the whore lived like a German." The Director of the school, Volker Steffens, sent a strongly-worded letter to students of the school and their parents, warning that the school would not tolerate incitement against freedom.
On February 22, 2005, a vigil called by the Berlin Gay and Lesbian association was held at the scene of the crime, which was attended by about 100 Germans and Turks together. A second vigil, called for by German politicians and artists was held on the 24th of February.
Sürücü's murder, and several similar cases in Germany and elsewhere in
Europe have been cited by political opponents of
Turkey's admission to the
European Union, as an example of disregard for
human rights in the Turkish culture.
The Sürücü family's behaviour again sparked public outrage when Hatun's sister Arzu applied for custody of Hatun's six-year-old son Can who lives with a foster family in Berlin since the murder of his mother.
[1] Eight months later the district court of Berlin-Tempelhof rejected the request.
[2]Arzu Sürücü intends to appeal this decision.
[3]
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