Protest held in Türkiye following the killing of an Uzbek woman (video)

Earlier, reports emerged that an Uzbek woman had been brutally killed by two Uzbek men in Istanbul, Türkiye, and that her body had been dumped in a garbage container. Following the incident, women staged protest rallies on January 26 in Ankara and Istanbul against femicide and the policy of impunity.

“This incident is the result of a policy of impunity, the turning of a blind eye to the killing of women, and the failure of the justice system. Criminals are so confident they will not be punished that they can dump the body of a murdered woman in a garbage container in the very center of the city, in full public view. We demand justice for our fellow woman, whose full name we had not even yet learned. We will ensure that the perpetrators receive appropriate punishment and will closely monitor the process. We will change this system in which women’s bodies are found in trash containers. We will stop femicide,” the Stop Femicide Platform said in a statement.

The protests began at 4:00 p.m. local time in Istanbul near the Osmanbey metro station and in Ankara in front of the Human Rights Monument on Yuksel Street. Women marched toward Kuyulubag Street, where the body was found, chanting slogans against male violence and declaring, “Migrant women are not alone.”

During the march, protesters carried placards reading “End male violence,” “We want a safe and free life,” “Femicide is a political issue,” “Three women killed in Sisli in one year,” “Migrant women are not alone,” and “We demand accountability for murdered women.”

“Yesterday, in the very center of Istanbul, in Sisli, the lifeless body of our fellow woman was found in a garbage container. Her body had been dismembered. We learned that the murdered woman was 36-year-old Uzbek citizen Durdona Hakimova. The perpetrators were detained at the airport last night while attempting to flee abroad.

The authorities are responsible for Durdona’s death. If women are being deprived of their right to live even in central Istanbul, this is the result of those in power. In his statement, the perpetrator claims he met Durdona that day, had a relationship with her, argued, and then killed her. How easy it is to say that, isn’t it? But a woman was killed. This statement is designed from start to finish to reduce punishment. Durdona was a migrant. Perhaps she came to work, had dreams, wanted to build a new life. Those dreams were taken from her. In 2025, 294 women were killed. All of them could still be among us today,” local women said during the protest.

Statement by the detained district mayor

Sisli District Mayor Resul Emrah Sahan, who has been in custody since March 23, 2025, issued a statement from Silivri Prison regarding the murder. He said femicide has turned into a “massacre” due to impunity and negligence.

“The news of the brutal killing of 36-year-old Uzbek citizen Durdona Hakimova in Sisli yesterday reached me today in Silivri. Femicide is increasingly turning into a massacre due to impunity, indifference, and silence. This problem must be addressed collectively, from neighborhoods to law enforcement, social services, municipalities, and central authorities. I stare at the wall and think: how do we protect women, girls, Durdonas, Shirins? I will follow this case until the crime is solved and the perpetrators receive the harshest punishment. Until the streets of Sisli, Istanbul, and the entire country are safe for women, there will be no peace for us,” he said.

Brutal murder

On the evening of January 24 this year, a horrific incident occurred in the Duatepe neighborhood of Istanbul’s Sisli district. At around 7:40 p.m. local time, a man named Okan, who collects garbage and recyclable materials in the area, was searching through a trash container in front of No. 25 on Kuyulubag Street when he noticed a body wrapped in sheets and plastic bags. He went to the police station to report what he had seen.

According to Okan, while rummaging through the container he noticed a black bag. When he tore it open, he saw blood and human remains and realized that the body was still warm. He then reported the incident to the Ferikoy police station. Police officers arrived at the scene and confirmed the presence of the body inside the container. Okan returned to the site together with police. An initial examination suggested the body belonged to a woman and that the head had been severed.

During the investigation carried out by homicide detectives, testimony was obtained from another witness. The witness stated that at around 7:00 p.m., he had come to the street to visit his mother and saw two bearded men standing near the trash container with a suitcase.

Surveillance camera footage was also obtained showing the suspects allegedly bringing the body in a suitcase and disposing of it. The footage shows two individuals approaching the container carrying a suitcase.

Detectives determined that the container holding the torso did not contain the head or legs. The suitcase believed to have been used to transport the body was later found in another trash area on Bozkurt Street, several streets away.

To preserve the crime scene, the body was not immediately removed from the container, and a full assessment of the remains was not conducted on site. The area was cordoned off, and homicide and crime scene investigation units were notified, launching a large-scale investigation.

As a result of checks conducted by the Public Security Department, the woman’s identity was established through fingerprint analysis. She was identified as Durdona Hakimova, a citizen of Uzbekistan. Examination revealed that she was wearing a black jacket, a black long-sleeved sweatshirt, and black underwear, and that her body had been wrapped in a white sheet. Her identity was confirmed through fingerprints.

Based on surveillance footage and witness testimony, investigators determined that two bearded men wearing dark clothing arrived at the trash container with a light-colored suitcase, later leaving the area on foot with the suitcase. The suspects were found to have discarded the suitcase on nearby Bozkurt Street.

Istanbul police detained two murder suspects at Istanbul Airport while they were allegedly attempting to flee to Georgia. Both suspects were identified as citizens of Uzbekistan. Within hours, officers from the Intelligence and Homicide units detained the suspects. One was identified as the direct perpetrator of the murder, while the other was found to have assisted.

The main suspect, identified as D.T., gave a statement.

“I met Durdona Hakimova on the day of the incident, and we started a relationship. We argued, and I stabbed her to death. Later, together with my friend, we dismembered the body. We placed the body parts into separate bags and put them into a suitcase. We then took a commercial taxi to the Sisli district and disposed of the body and its parts in different trash containers,” he said.

Footage showing the moment the suspects were detained while attempting to flee the airport has also emerged. The driver of the taxi used by the suspects has also been detained. As a result, the number of individuals arrested in connection with the case has risen to three.