What can you say about a religion that would find nothing wrong with encouraging a woman's son to kill her? This goes against nature:
Young children - in some cases a woman's own son - have been used to carry out so-called "honour killings" in Turkey.Honor means more than a mother's love, family ties and the life of women.
The duty of repairing the family's reputation is often delegated to a youth, believing they will get the minimum jail sentence, the World Service's Assignment programme has learned.
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A recent case was the murder of Birgul Isik, gunned down by her 14-year-old son Ramazan for apparently bringing shame on her family. She had appeared on a Turkish talk show to discuss her abusive marriage.
She had fled her violent, bigamous husband several times before. Ignored by the authorities and dismissed by her family, she agreed to appear on the Women's Voice show.
But in Turkey, domestic violence is an issue few women would dare to discuss outside the family, let alone on national television. Back in her home town, for many Birgul had crossed the line.
She had just returned to Elazig in eastern Turkey by bus, accompanied by four of her five children after taking part in the programme in Istanbul.
Ramazan was waiting for her at the bus stop. When he saw her, he shouted that she had shamed the family, pulled out a gun and shot her five times.
Birgul died in hospital three weeks later.
Ramazan was placed in a juvenile detention centre and Birgul's four other children in orphanages. Birgul's husband was put on trial for incitement, but was later acquitted.
Birgul's killing by her own son follows a disturbing pattern. In some communities when a family believes that a woman has compromised their reputation, they decide on a punishment.
If the decision is that she should die, they often delegate the actual murder to an underage son or cousin, believing he will get a light sentence if caught.
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Anne-Birgitte Albrectsen, a UN Population Fund representative in Ankara, has carried out an in-depth study into honour killings in Turkey.
Her team's research has attempted to establish how the practice fits in with Islam, the country's main religion.
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They found that while imams were not known to be advocating honour killings, their strict moral code meant that the general public might feel that Islam was actually condoning such practices.
Meanwhile, families who choose not to carry out an honour punishment find themselves, as well as any relatives, ostracised by their communities and have to move away.
Read the rest here.
(Link via Religious News Online)
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