12.09.2025 11:42
The prison sentence of 8 years and 4 months for high school student Azra E., who killed Birdal Doğan, whom she claimed had harassed her in Kars, was reduced to 6 years and 8 months following the Court of Cassation's decision to overturn the previous ruling. The court convicted the defendant of "intentional manslaughter under provocation."
In the Arpaçay district of Kars, the sentence of high school student Azra E., who shot and killed Birdal Doğan (40), whom she claimed had harassed her, was reduced from 8 years and 4 months to 6 years and 8 months by the Kars 1st Heavy Penal Court, following the decision of the 1st Criminal Chamber of the Court of Cassation to overturn the previous ruling.
The incident occurred on March 1, 2022, in the village of Kardeştepe, which is part of the Arpaçay district. Azra E., an 11th-grade student at Şehit Engin Yılmaz Anatolian High School, shot Birdal Doğan, whom she claimed had been harassing her for 3 years, with an unlicensed gun belonging to her father while watering animals at the fountain in the village square. Doğan was hit by 4 bullets and lost his life. Azra E. was arrested, and a case was opened against her, seeking a 12-year prison sentence.
In the first hearing held on July 5, 2022, at the Kars 1st Heavy Penal Court, Azra E. was released to be tried without detention. In the final hearing, the public prosecutor requested her punishment for 'intentional manslaughter under provocation.' The court initially sentenced Azra E. to life imprisonment, then applied a reduction for provocation and good behavior, resulting in a sentence of 8 years and 4 months. The court also decided to continue the judicial control measures for Azra E.
THE COURT OF CASSATION OVERTURNED THE SENTENCE AS EXCESSIVE Azra E.'s lawyer, Sinan Erdağı, appealed the decision and applied to the Erzurum Regional Court of Justice (BAM). After BAM upheld the court's decision, the case was sent to the Court of Cassation. The Chief Public Prosecutor's Office of the Court of Cassation stated that the sentence given to Azra E. was excessive and requested the annulment of the sentence in the 1st Criminal Chamber.
The 1st Criminal Chamber of the Court of Cassation, which examined the file, decided that a reasonable reduction in the sentence should be made. The decision of the Criminal Chamber was based on the intensity and continuity of the words and behaviors directed at the child involved in the crime, which constituted unjust provocation, the negative impact of these behaviors and their recent gossip nature on the child involved in the crime, the fear of being abducted by the victim for 3 years, the age of the child involved in the crime, and the words spoken by the victim before the act. It was stated that considering the extent of the words and behaviors that constituted unjust provocation, maximum reduction should be applied during the implementation of Article 29 of Law No. 5237, which foresees a reduction in punishment due to unjust provocation, rather than imposing an excessive sentence through a reasonable reduction. The appeal of the child involved in the crime was deemed valid, and the decision regarding the 'degree of unjust provocation' was overturned.
RETRIAL After the 1st Criminal Chamber of the Court of Cassation annulled the 8 years and 4 months prison sentence, Azra E. appeared before the Kars 1st Heavy Penal Court again. In her defense, the defendant's lawyer Sinan Erdağı argued that the incident should be evaluated within the scope of self-defense, stating that the duration and nature of the harassment Azra faced constituted a severe unjust attack, that she acted out of fear, and that the decision to be made should also ease the conscience of society.
The Heavy Penal Court sentenced Azra E. to 6 years and 8 months in prison for 'intentional manslaughter under provocation,' with the right to appeal to the Court of Cassation.