Armed assault

Armed assault is not an offence in its own right in Turkish law. The same attack is prosecuted as intentional killing, attempted killing, intentional injury with a weapon or threat with a weapon, depending on its outcome and the offender’s intent. The use of a weapon increases the penalty for almost all of these offences.

Weapons under the law

The Turkish Penal Code defines weapons broadly (TCK 6/1-f):

1. firearms,
2. explosives,
3. any cutting, piercing or bruising instrument made for use in attack or defence,
4. other objects that, although not made for attack or defence, are in fact capable of being used in an attack,
5. burning, corrosive, wounding, suffocating or poisonous nuclear, radioactive, chemical and biological substances, and substances that cause permanent illness.

Offence by outcome

• Death, with intent to kill (TCK 81, 82): life or aggravated life imprisonment.
• Death, with intent to injure (TCK 87/4): 14–18 years when committed with a weapon.
• Injury, with intent to kill (TCK 35): attempted killing; 10–18 years, or 14–21 years in aggravated circumstances.
• Injury, with intent to injure (TCK 86/3-e): the basic penalty is increased by one half and no complaint is required.
• No injury: threat with a weapon, 2–7 years (TCK 106/2-a); firing a weapon in a way that causes fear or panic among people, 1–5 years (TCK 170/1-c).

To distinguish attempted killing from injury, decisions of the Court of Cassation consider several criteria together, such as the type of weapon used, the number of shots or blows, the part of the body targeted, the previous relationship between offender and victim, and the reason the attack ended.

Other offences committed with a weapon

• Robbery with a weapon (TCK 149/1-a): 10–15 years.
• Sexual assault with a weapon (TCK 102/3-d): the penalty is increased by one half.
• Deprivation of liberty with a weapon (TCK 109/3-a): the penalty is doubled.

The weapon itself

• Purchasing, carrying or possessing an unlicensed firearm or ammunition (Law No. 6136, Art. 13): 2–4 years’ imprisonment and 100–500 day-fines. For keeping a single firearm with the usual quantity of ammunition at home or at a workplace, 1–3 years.
• Carrying prohibited knives and similar instruments (Law No. 6136, Art. 15): 6 months to 1 year’s imprisonment and a judicial fine.

See unlicensed firearms and knives.

How it is counted in the data

The armed assault indicator counts attacks with a firearm or a knife or blade that resulted in death or injury. The offence under which the incident is prosecuted is not taken into account, and suicide is not counted. Armed assault map and ranking