Istanbul, Feb 16 () - Some 413 murder cases against women including 309 armed attacks have marked Turkish media reports in 2015, urged Umut (Hope) Foundation, underlining this number rises since the beginning of 2016.

According to a report released by the foundation, the emerging of femicides lead to “mass murders against women”. Thus, the foundation released a statement on Feb. 16 to call on NGOs to conduct comprehensive studies on this issue. “One in three women is subjected to violence” the statement underlined.

The death toll included women older than the age of 85, as well a six-week-old fetus, according to data collected by the foundation.

Istanbul was listed as the top city with the highest armed murder cases against women, with 34 cases, followed by western provinces of Kocaeli and Bursa, in 2015 and January 2016.

Young women were killed because they have requested to divorce or break up with their partners, and many cases involved victims of “shady suicides” mostly in southeastern provinces, stressed the Umut Foundation. Some 55 husbands have committed suicide after having killed their wives, the data showed.

373 femicides after Özgecan Arslan

The report also revealed that 373 women were killed after the brutal killing of a young student, Özgecan Arslan, a 20-year-old college student who was killed in the woods by a minibus driver after having attempted to rape her in southern city of Mersin. The main suspect’s father and his friend were accused of burning her body to hide the murder.

Mersin was listed one of “leading” provinces with 11 violence cases against women.

Meanwhile, according to the report, some 40 other women were murdered in January 2016 across Turkey.

Aegean provinces with İzmir in particular followed the Marmara region in the list. Central Anatolian province of Ankara and southeastern provinces including Gaziantep with 14 cases, Diyarbakır with 13 cases, and Urfa with one case were also listed, respectively, in the same period.

Death toll increases with “shady suicides”

According to Human Rights Association’s (IHD) report on violations against women’s rights, some 109 women were killed in 2015. The hidden cases behind suicides of women increase this number, said rights associations.

Most recently, a man has disappeared into thin air, after killing his wife, who wanted to divorce him, and eight other family members, by opening fire with a pump-riffle in southeastern Gaziantep province.

(Graphic)