At a recent peace-brokering meal hosted by the regional governor, an army commander urged the gathering of tribal leaders to abandon the practice. The reason for the deaths, mostly of unmarried young girls, range from allegations of sexual relations to elopement. In one frequently cited case, a teenager's throat was slit in the town square, because a love ballad was dedicated to her over the radio. Namus, or the idea that a woman must be virtuous and chaste and that her behavior reflects directly on her family's honor, is not confined to either Sanliurfa or Turkey as a whole. The concept of women's virtue belongs to Mediterranean culture, you can even see it in South America.
Virginity is often the means by which honor is measured.
Every few months, national dailies cover stories of young women who are subjected to arbitrary examinations, encouraged by their families, to check that their hymens are intact. The practice continues especially on those from rural areas who have been sent to study in the big cities. Earlier this year, Isilay Saygin, Turkey's minister responsible for women and family affairs, created a furore among feminists when she came out in support of the virginity tests. The motive for honor killings is partly economic. If the local gendarmerie get hold of a girl who has run away from home to elope or escape death before her male relatives do, she is immediately sent to a state foster home in Ankara.