can you imagine your family counciling to kill your sister or mother? the very family that is supposed to love and support you? what a horrible tradition that tells you to kill the ones who are dearest to you.

ANKARA -Honour killings have claimed the lives of nearly 350 men and women in Turkey since 2001, a report said. Drawing on data from completed court cases, a study by Inonu University in Malatya, eastern Turkey, found that 344 murders including 288 of women were committed since 2001 with the intention of "cleansing honour," the Anatolia news agency said. The study divided the murders into two groups, "tradition killings" in which a woman perceived as immoral or sullied is killed as a result of a family decision, and "honour killings" that can target men or women, chief researcher Osman Celbis said. Verdicts showed that 172 murders were committed in each of the two categories, Mr. Celbis said. As a result of recently increased sentences for such killings, there was now a trend for families to force women to commit suicide instead of murdering them, he said.