The Supreme Court of Appeals in Turkey issued a ruling on Friday, February 27, 2015 that saying “I don’t love you” to a spouse amounted to emotional violence and ordered a husband to pay compensation to his wife in a divorce case.
The verdict was for a divorce case involving a couple in the southeastern province of Şanlıurfa who sought damages for insulting remarks they made at each other.
The wife had claimed that her husband told her, “You don’t have a right to speak. I don’t love you,” leaving her “emotionally wrecked.” The husband in turn said his wife constantly “cursed” him.
She had appealed to a local court’s initially who rejected her claims and denied her compensation which made her to transfer the case to the 2nd Department of Supreme Court of Appeals.
However, in its verdict, the court reasoned that the husband’s wrongdoing weighed more than the wife as he failed to treat his wife well and care for her along with emotional violence by his statements.
This ruling comes at a time when domestic violence (whether emotional or physical) has gained so much attention in Turkey.
