Family Truce Promises to End Hostility, Male Violence

A truce has been established between Tören and Taş families after 9 years of conflict which originated from an unmarried affair and left Güldünya Tören and Servet Taş gunned down by Tören family members.

In 2004, Güldünya Tören (22) was brutally murdered by her own brothers after the Tören family council founded her guilty for getting pregnant from a relative's husband. While brother İrfan Tören, who died in prison after a heart attack, received life prison which was later on reduced, other brother Ferit Tören was ordered to serve 23 years of prison.

In November 2011, Servet Taş, the relative's husband, was killed by Mehmet Şerif Tören, Güldünya Tören's father, who has been charged with life sentence.

Tören and Taş families assembled in a mosque in Istanbul last night to end an almost decade hostility. In a meeting solely attended by male members, families signed a contract promising to keep the peace permanent.

The peace ceremony was attended by several religious and political organizations members including Vedat Demiröz (AKP), Gülseren Onanç (CHP), Şıh Muhiddin Aydın (sheikh) and Murat Aydın (Zeytinburnu district mayor).

The peace contract terms were as follows:

* We will do our best to support the education of our young female family members.

* We will encourage our young female family members to integrate into working life and economically sustain themselves.

* We will never exercise physical or psychological violence against our wife's under any circumstances.

* We will keep our truce for the sake of our families and country. (ÇT)