“Honour is everything for Muslims”? Tradition, Religion and ‘Honour Crimes’ in Turkey
On 7th September 2010 Robert Fisk wrote (in The Independent) about honour killings, under the title of “The crimewave that shames the world”. In Jordan a man raped his own daughter. She got pregnant. When he found out he accused her of having affairs with people and killed her to save the ‘honour’ of his family. A Turkish father and grandfather buried a 16-year-old girl alive for ‘befriending boys’. In Somalia another woman was stoned by 50 men for adultery. In Pakistan a young woman was axed to death for having an illegitimate child. This list continues. For similar reasons, but in a radically new context, a woman has been shot in Turkey for appearing and voicing her concerns on television.
In May 2005, under the title of “On Turkish television women face life and death” a news article was published: “After fleeing her abusive husband for the fifth time, she made her way to Istanbul last week and onto the show's orange-and-purple set. (When she sought help from police, they directed her to the programme, according to press reports.) Birgul told of being forced to marry her husband some 20 years ago. Her husband, she said, had had two previous wives, both of whom he allegedly also abused. Host Yasemin Bozkurt decided to take action. While Birgul was being interviewed on the air, assistants offstage reportedly called officials in her hometown of Elazig, demanding protection for Birgul and her children. Bozkurt says her staff received assurances, but officials in Elazig deny speaking with anyone from the show. Apparently reassured, Birgul returned to Elazig. But when she stepped off the bus from Istanbul, she was met by her 14-year-old son. "You went on television and disgraced the family!" he yelled and then shot her five times in the head and chest. Now Isik Birgul is in a coma after 11 hours of surgery to save her life. Her son is currently under arrest along with his father, who is accused of sending him out on the murder mission.” (wenews.com)
This calls for a connection between honour killings, women and the media. I would like to briefly talk about the media’s response towards this sensational event before moving on to the relationship between women, Islam and honour crimes, in the context of film. Eylem Kaftan’s bio-documentary Vendetta Song questions the reasons behind the death of her own aunt. It tells another honour crime story. It is thought-provoking to question how and whether there is a necessary or contingent connection between culture, patriarchy and Islam. In patriarchal regimes honour is typically perceived to be residing in the body and sexuality of women; protecting this honour and policing female activities relating to marriage, sexuality or love are the primary roles of the male or the male members of a family or a community. This idea of regulating women’s lives, experiences and sexuality are common in patriarchal discourses surrounding a society.
In analysing the nature of the relationship between religion and tradition at the level of filmic representation, Vendetta Song proves to be an interesting example which adopts quite complex and critical stance on the question of ‘honour’. The film closely scrutinises the past for clues about the present. The biographical structure which is common to many feminist documentary films and documentary codes used throughout the film permits identification on the part of the female spectators with the women in it. With an emphasis on the lasting significance of the past the film critiques the present. The power of the film is in its success in documenting aspects of the reality of a collective and gendered oppression.
I argue that tradition should not be thought of as justification to practices including honour crimes. To invoke tradition to justify a (violent) practice is not sufficient. Traditions may have been thought of having antiquity but may actually been invented relatively recently. It does not matter how far a tradition goes back, by stating what a tradition is, it is recreated, and reaffirmed in that very act. As Kogacioglu wrote ‘the analytical framework for examining honour crimes and other so called traditional practices should shift from a focus on “tradition” or “culture” to an examination of the effects of various institutional structures” (Kogacioglu, 2004, 119). It is for this reason crucial to examine why and how (through which discourses) honour crime is an Islamic phenomenon or Eastern practice. Exploring this at the level of filmic representation, in the context of Vendetta Song demonstrates the ways in which codes of patriarchal discourse are internalised within society in Turkey.
Eylem Atakav (University of East Anglia) - presented at London Feminist Network feminist seminar on 14th May 2011.