The number of women murdered in Turkey has surged from 66 in 2002 to 953 in the first seven months of 2009, local newspaper Zaman reported Monday.
The report quoted statistics revealed by Turkish Justice Minister Sadullah Ergin as saying 15,564 people were brought to trial in 12,678 cases
of violence against women and domestic violence between 2002 and July 2009.
In those cases, 5,736 defendants were convicted and 1,859 were acquitted of charges, while 794 were released on parole, the report said.
It listed victims of some of the cruelest cases in recent years, including Evrim Saricicekler, who was killed in 2005 by a person hired by her family because she married someone that her parents did not approve of.
Other murders were triggered by such incidents as extramarital affairs, pregnancy after being raped or even an application to a modeling agency,
according to the report.
The Turkish government said it has worked to protect the rights of women and improved gender equality, a call by the European Union which the
predominantly Muslim country seeks to join.