The family of an ethnic Turkish German woman executed by her brother in an honor killing has sparked outrage by applying for custody of her young son

Hannah Cleaver:

A German family court will decide the future of the six-year-old son of Hatun Surucu, but politicians of all parties have called for the boy, currently with a foster family, not to be handed over to his dead mother's sister.

Miss Surucu, 23, was murdered in Berlin last February by her younger brother who shot her three times in the head in what the trial judge said was "an ice-cold execution-style murder - just because she lived her life."

Miss Surucu had been forced to marry a cousin in Turkey when she was 15. Later, she returned pregnant to Berlin, where she had been born, along with her nine brothers and sisters.

There she stopped wearing a headscarf, started training as an electrician and lived alone with her son, Can. She had relationships with men, including Germans, and wore make-up as well as going dancing, a lifestyle her Muslim family could not accept.

Her 20-year-old brother Ayhan Surucu admitted committing the murder when aged 18, and was sentenced to nine years and three months last week.

There were cheers from the family in the courtroom when his two older brothers Alpaslan, 25, and Mutlu, 26, were acquitted of conspiracy to murder due to a lack of evidence.

The judge said that the brothers' possible involvement could not be ruled out, while the prosecutor's office said it would appeal to get the acquittals overturned.

The main prosecution witness was the youngest brother's girlfriend, who is reported to be planning a new life after changing her identity.

The family's behaviour after court was greeted with horror in both Germany and Turkey.

It announced it would hold a big party, while at least one brother flashed the victory sign. Over the weekend a Berlin newspaper published photographs of five members of the family smiling and strolling with a friend through their district of the city.

In Turkey itself, the newspaper Hurriyet headlined a story: "Their victory is the shame of the whole world".

Many Turkish commentators also criticised the German justice system, saying the three brothers would have received harsh sentences in Turkey.

Klaus Borger, a youth affairs senator, said an orphaned child would normally be best cared for by other family members, but "in this unusual case that would be absolutely wrong... the family's reaction to the verdict clearly shows that they - beyond any legal acknowledgement - were answerable for the murder of the boy's mother."

The judge's comment that the family were living in the Kreuzberg district of Berlin, but "somehow not in Germany", highlighted how some Turkish-descended families have refused to integrate even after several decades, rejecting what they see as decadent western attitudes.

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