MERSIN
Turkey’s Family and Social Policies Minister Aysenur Islam said on Sunday death sentence can be an option for the murderers of a 20-year-old female university student in the southern province of Mersin.
Ozgecan Aslan, 20, was killed and burned after reportedly resisting sexual assault in Mersin's Tarsus district on Friday.
Three suspects were detained on Saturday in connection with the cruel murder of Aslan and they were referred to court for arrest on Sunday.
The security sources said that the three suspects were kept in different custodial prisons during the detention period for security reason.
Hundreds of people gathered across Turkey, including Sanliurfa, Izmir and Trabzon provinces on Sunday to protest the murder.
In addition, on Saturday angry and worried women demonstrated in Istanbul, shouting, "We will put an end to female homicides."
Her funeral was held on Saturday and her coffin was carried by women.
Minister Islam also expressed her deep sorrow over Ozgecan’s killing, during her visit to the family of the young woman in Mersin.
“What Songul and Mehmet Aslan (father and mother of Ozgecan) experienced is the biggest disaster that a family can experience,” she told press members after the visit.
Pointing to death sentence over her killing, she noted: “Not as a minister but as a mother and woman, I think punishment of (this kind of) crimes can be death sentence. (...) We can put it on our agenda."
Separately, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s two daughters Sumeyye Erdogan and Esra Albayrak paid a visit to the family of the young woman to express their condolences.
President Erdogan and his wife Emine phoned Aslan's family on Saturday and condemned the murder. Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu also called the family, and said that everything would be done to “appropriately punish the murderers in this vicious attack.”
