A 61-year-old woman was stabbed to death by her 71-year-old ex-husband in the village of Ayios Georgios, near Trikomo, on Monday morning.

The woman, named as Saliha Ozkol, was, according to newspaper Yeniduzen, attacked by her ex-husband “following an argument”, and “died at the scene as a result of the stab wounds”.

Her husband, meanwhile, reportedly also “seriously injured himself” after returning to his home in Famagusta, and was as such taken to the Famagusta state hospital on the Salamis road.

Later on Monday, news website Bugun Kibris reported that in 2024, Ozkol had been “subjected to violence” by her then husband, and was knocked unconscious by him.

He appeared at the Turkish Cypriot Famagusta district court on July 21 last year, facing charges of trespassing, assault, illegal possession of a knife, battery, and failure to comply with a restraining order which Ozkol had taken out against him.

Later, on August 15 last year, a new order was issued by the Turkish Cypriot Trikomo family court, which forbade the man from being within 200 metres of Ozkol, and from communicating with her in any way, including in writing, verbally, by telephone, by text message, by email, or via social media.

He was also sentenced to three months in prison for the assault case at the time.

Meanwhile, opposition political party the CTP announced that its women’s branch will hold a protest outside ‘prime minister’ Unal Ustel’s office on Tuesday, demanding that more be done to prevent violence against women.

‘We cannot wait for another woman to be murdered’

“We cannot wait for another woman to be murdered. We call on the government to resign. While our country is still reeling from the pain of the ferry disaster which was caused by negligence and incompetence, today, we woke up to news of yet another femicide,” the party said.

It added that the 22-year-old woman who was stabbed in a supermarket in northern Nicosia is “still fighting for her life”, and that Ozkol’s “right to life was taken away because she could not escape male violence despite being divorced”.

“For years, we have been asking, and unfortunately, we have to ask again today: how many more women will be murdered?”

It stressed that “femicides are not isolated incidents”, btu that instead, “these murders are the result of male violence and gender inequality which have been ignored for years”.

“The duty of a government is not to make statements after a murder occurs, it is to prevent the path leading to murder,” it said.

On this front, it said that the north’s gender equality department, which falls under the responsibility of the ‘labour ministry’ , is “still not truly functioning”, and that “there is no effective and comprehensive state mechanism to prevent violence, protect women at risk, or provide early intervention”.

“A government which cannot protect women, cannot prevent violence, and cannot implement the necessary mechanisms to this end is failing to fulfil its responsibility to govern. Therefore, we call on the government to resign, because the state must fulfil its duty before more women die,” it said.