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The mother of Mattia Ahmet Minguzzi, a teenager fatally stabbed in a street market in Istanbul’s Kadikoy district, has ended her public protest after receiving death threats. Yasemin Minguzzi, who had been holding a sit-in demonstration in Istanbul’s Bakirkoy Square to demand changes to Türkiye’s sentence reduction law, said she is exhausted and needs to rest.
“I’m ending these protests tonight. I need to rest; I’m very tired,” she said. “I’ve also been receiving death threats. But my child is already gone, and I still believe in justice. Ahmet will set a precedent.”
Her protest was aimed at pressing for a legal reform that would prevent the early release of violent offenders in Türkiye. Under the current law, reductions in sentences can be granted for good behavior and other factors, often leading to early release — a point of contention for families of victims.
Yasemin Minguzzi’s action gained traction in its third day, drawing support from citizens, political figures, and other grieving mothers. They gathered to support her plea for a legal system that reflects the severity of the crime committed against her son.
Among those attending the protest were Hatice Selli Dursun, Head of the Women’s Branch of Türkiye’s Republican People’s Party (CHP) in Istanbul; Nahide Dervisoglu, wife of the leader of the nationalist IYI Party; Ayyuce Turkes Tas, a member of parliament from the same party; and Kevser Ofluoglu, the party’s chair for women and social affairs. Also present was Yavuz Agiralioglu, leader of the Anahtar Party, and well-known Turkish singer Gulben Ergen.
Speaking at the demonstration, Gulben Ergen strongly criticized the delays in judicial response. She questioned how a mother who has been pleading for justice for six months has yet to see any resolution.
“We are followers of a prophet who said, ‘Those who remain silent in the face of injustice are mute devils.’ Don’t we feel any shame letting a grieving mother suffer like this?” she asked. “She’s asking for 24 years, but even 54 wouldn’t ease her pain. Yasemin is among the living dead.”
Ergen, whose own mother lost a child, said Minguzzi’s calls should not go unheard. “Why has no decision come in six months? Why is she the one shouting as she defends your children too? A mother’s curse can burn the world. Saying ‘we stand with you’ is not enough.”
Before leaving the square, Yasemin Minguzzi showed messages she received just an hour earlier, threatening her life. Despite this, she repeated her belief that the courts would ultimately deliver justice.
“With God’s will, there will be a precedent-setting decision. I believe in justice no matter what,” she said. “Ahmet will lead the way. I trust the state. This ruling will come.”
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