Women Protect Telya Zamans Body

Telya Zaman, born in Kulp in the southeastern province of Diyarbakir, separated from her husband and moved to Antalya where she started working at nightclubs. She committed suicide in March. Members of the Antalya Women's Center for Consulting and Solidarity buried her.

Women from the center picked up Zaman's body from the Antalya State Hospital's morgue, where it had been waiting for 20 years, and buried her at an Antalya cemetery.

Volunteers at the women's center said her family refused to pick up Zaman's body saying she had dishonored them. Zaman would have been buried in a cemetery for desolate people if the voluntary women from the center had not taken her body.

Serap Yilmaz, a volunteer at the center made a press statement in front of the hospital and reiterated their demand for independent shelters for women.

"If there were an independent shelter in Antalya, if there were more consulting centers, or if Telya could trust the state, she would have chosen to live instead of committing suicide," said Yilmaz.

"We set out for action saying 'Telya Zaman and other women are not all alone. We are taking her body," she added.

Zaman was shot on March 16 with a hunting gun. Police had stated that Zaman committed suicide but could not finalize the investigation since no one came to pick up her body. (HSC/BB/EA/YE)