Serkan Dindar murdered Ceyda Yüksel after they met in real life after connecting online – a court reduced his sentence claiming he was ‘provoked after she refused his demand for sex’
Turkey’s highest court has ruled that a man can have a reduced sentence for murdering a woman if she “provoked him by refusing to have sex”.
Serkan Dindar killed Ceyda Yüksel in his apartment, in the Barbaros neighbourhood of Izmir, after the pair met online and went to a bar. The pair then headed to Dindar’s home, and were witnessed by neighbours arguing in the street, on August 20, 2020. Security footage reportedly showed Dindar trying to hug and kiss Ceyda, who pulled away and distanced herself.
Dindar was also seen struggling to stand while an argument between them erupted, and continued inside his ground-floor flat.
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As the row continued, Dindar grabbed Ceyda and slammed her against the door with so much force the glass of the living room door shattered. He then forced her head and chest into the shards of the doorway and then violently pulled her back, apparently ripping off her right arm.
Police arrived to the home at around 1am that night, following neighbours reports of glass breaking and shouting. Cops horrifically found Ceyda dead inside the apartment.
Dindar – a welder with prior convictions for wounding and endangering traffic – was arrested after being found intoxicated at the scene. He told officers he had no memory of the incident but prosecutors filed charges of premeditated murder and sought a life sentence.
The murderer was sentenced to life but then applied an “unjust provocation” reduction, cutting the penalty to 18 years for a shocking reason. The court horrifically reasoned that Dindar had been provoked after Ceyda refused his demand for sex.
Turkey’s Supreme Court of Appeals then approved the reduced sentence in a controversial decision announced on Monday. The country’s Ministry of Family and Social Services has now objected to the ruling and sent the case to be reviewed.
The case has ignited outrage, with activists and legal experts warning the ruling could set a dangerous precedent, saying it reflects systemic issues in Turkey’s judicial handling of femicide.
Ceyda’s mother, Filiz Demiral, said she had been devastated to see the reduced sentence approved but was encouraged by the Ministry’s objection. She said: “I was not able to mourn my daughter.
“After her death, I immediately launched a legal battle. If Ceyda were alive, she would have wanted this. The approval of the reduced sentence given to the defendant by the Court of Cassation devastated me.
“However, the appeal made upon the Minister’s instruction has made me very happy as a mother. I thank her as both a woman and a mother.
“Whatever the decision may be, Ceyda will not come back. But the sentence that will be handed down to the defendant will bring at least some relief to my heart. The ruling is very important so that no more women are taken from life, and no more lives are lost.”