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Hundreds of protesters called for justice in Istanbul today for a transgender woman who was brutally murdered.

Hande Kader’s body was found burned and mutilated in a forest on August 8.

The peaceful protest in central Istanbul saw people holding signs and chanting slogans for Kader and according to one report, opposition MPs were among those who attended the rare protest by LGBT activists.

Since her death, LGBT rights campaigners have been using the hashtag #HandeKadereSesVer – which means ‘Make some noise for Hande Kader’.

She had become a significant figure in Turkey after facing down a police water cannon during last year’s Gay Pride march in Istanbul.

No arrests have been made so far in the case.

“We will not stop until we find those responsible for Hande Kader’s murder,” said Ebru Kiranci, spokeswoman for Istanbul’s LGBTI Solidarity Association.

The death of Kader is the second murder to shock the LGBT community in Istanbul in recent weeks after the dismembered body of a gay Syrian man, Muhammad Wisam Sankari, was identified in late July.

In a report published in March this year, the rights group Transgender Europe said Turkey had the highest rate of trans murders in Europe.

Between January 2008 and December 2015, 41 trans and gender diverse individuals were killed in Turkey compared with the second highest in Italy of 33, the group said.

Homosexuality is legal in Turkey, but rights groups say hate crimes against the LGBT community are common.

 

 

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