Judge shot at Istanbul court by her prosecutor ex-husband

ISTANBUL, Turkey - A judge was shot Tuesday at an Istanbul courthouse by her public prosecutor ex-husband, who was prevented from firing a second shot by a day-release prisoner serving tea, Turkish media reported.

The incident took place inside a courthouse on the Asian side of Istanbul at around 1:00 pm (1000 GMT), DHA news agency said.

Judge Asli Kahraman sustained serious injuries when her ex-husband, Muhammet Cagatay Kilicaslan, opened fire, hitting her in the groin, Sozcu newspaper reported.

He was about to fire again but was stopped by a man who was serving tea, a convict out on day release who was working at the court, both sources said.

Kahraman received first aid at the scene before being rushed to hospital, where she was said to be in stable condition.

Kilicaslan was arrested and was due to appear at Istanbul's main courthouse later on Tuesday, Sozcu said.

The incident drew sharp condemnation from the We Will Stop Femicides platform.

"A female judge was shot with a firearm by her former husband, a prosecutor, in full view of everyone at the Istanbul Kartal Anatolian Courthouse, the very place where perpetrators should be punished," it said in a statement on X.

"Women can be shot with firearms even inside courthouses."

Turkey does not collate official figures on femicides, leaving the job to women's organizations which collect data on murders and other suspicious deaths from press reports.

Figures compiled by We Will Stop Femicides show that in 2025, 294 women were killed by men and 297 women were found dead under suspicious circumstances.

Of that number, just over one in three -- or 35 percent -- were killed by their husbands, while 57 percent were killed with firearms.

Rights groups say the deaths classed as suspicious or as suicide in Turkey has risen since Ankara withdrew from an international convention on violence against women in 2021.

That agreement, dubbed the Istanbul Convention, requires countries to set up laws aimed at preventing and prosecuting violence against women. — Agence France-Presse