Turkey's been in the news as of late, what with the assassination of a journo by some Muslim guy. A guy who was yelling "I shot the Infidel" (or non-Moslem depending on the news source) as he fled the scene. Oh, and did you know that Islam is the religion of peace?

Back before 9/11 my husband and I were in the process of planning a trip to Turkey. I was even excited about it. Osama put a halt to those travel plans and I wouldn't go there now if you paid me.

Oh, and about Istanbul? It's the "new capital" of 'honor killings'.

I don't know - I can't figure out why they would even be considering allowing this camel to put it's nose in the EU tent. It just makes no sense to me.

Istanbul - the new capital of ‘honor killings'
Milliyet yesterday featured a report on Istanbul's honor killing statistics in the past year. According to the report, one woman every two weeks was victim to a murder caused by traditional beliefs about a woman's place in society in Turkey's largest city. Milliyet said, according to data from a Parliamentary commission, Istanbul ranks first in the number of crimes related to protecting family honor.

The same report found that violence against women and children was on the rise. Police in Istanbul said 18 honor killings occurred in Istanbul in 2000. In the following years until 2005, 19, 16, 17 and 24 such crimes took place while 25 women were victims of honor killings last year. According to police, two children were killed by their own parents in 2005.

Milliyet said authorities believed educating the people was the only way out of violence against women and children. Culprits of honor crimes were almost always people from eastern or southeast Turkey, the report said. A lawyer from the Istanbul Governor's Human Rights Chair told Milliyet that the victims were usually women who risked getting caught and being murdered and ran away from domestic violence, almost always taking their children with them. In Istanbul, the total number of murders, rapes and beatings of women and children was 3,670, according to police records.