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Berlin "Honor Killing"

Brother of Murdered Turkish Woman Convicted

A 19-year-old Turkish man living in Berlin has been given a prison sentance for killing his sister a year ago. He says he disapproved of his sister's lifestyle.

In February 2005, Hatun Sürücü, a 23-year-old Turkish woman, was shot dead on the streets of Berlin. Her three brothers were accused of murdering her with three shots to the head, in what has widely been described as an "honor killing." On Thursday, a Berlin court convicted the youngest of the three, Ayhan Sürücü -- who was 18 at the time of the killing -- of murder. However, his two older brothers were acquitted of related charges.

Ayhan Sürücü confessed to having murdered his sister -- a single mother who wore make-up rather than the veil -- because he disapproved of her lifestyle. He has been convicted to nine years and three months in prison -- ten years would have been the maximum penalty. The judge, Michael Degreif, explained that Ayhan Sürücü has begun to express some regret, "although he still has a long way to go." Degreif said the murderer had acted "in cold blood" and compared the killing to an execution.

The acquittal of the two older brothers provoked loud cheers from the audience in the courtroom. The judge explained that the evidence for their involvement in the murder was mainly hearsay and also contradictory. The trial produced no proof that the murder had been ordered by the woman's family. Nor could any religious motive for the crime be established.

The Sürücü case triggered an angry debate in Germany about the integration of Turkish immigrants and their children into German society. It has also raised questions about how to combat forced marriage and domestic violence. Erhart Körting, the local mayor of Berlin's Kreuzberg neighborhood -- where Sürücü lived and died -- gave a statement on Thursday explaining that the struggle against domestic violence has been won. Speaking on German national television, he said many abused Turkish women were beginning to take their husbands to court as a result of the massive attention focused on the Sürücü case. "I believe we're seeing a change of mentality," Körting said, "even if it's slow."

ap/mmh