Turkey teen talent show singer shot in head

A 19-year old Turkish woman competing in a national televised song contest was in a critical condition in hospital Monday after being shot in the head by an unknown attacker, reports said.

Mutlu Kaya, who is from the conservative region of Diyarbakir in the Kurdish-majority southeast of Turkey, had according to Turkish press reports previously received death threats for appearing on the show.

Kaya was shot while she was at her home in the Ergani district of Diyarbakir province in the early hours of Monday, the Dogan news agency reported. She is now in intensive care in Diyarbakir.

Reports said she was shot by an assailant who fired a bullet from the garden through the back window into the house.

She had been appearing on the show "Sesi Cok Guzel", similar to "Britain's Got Talent" in the UK, on the Turkish private channel Fox.

She had been mentored by Sibel Can, one of Turkey's best known folk pop singers who has been a household name for decades.

The Posta newspaper had reported earlier this week before the attack that Kaya had been threatened from within her own family for going to Istanbul to take part in the contest.

However this has yet to be confirmed and local officials told the state Anatolia news agency that the details of the attack were still being investigated.

"My beautiful girl Mutlu, how could they wound you? I am very sad," Can wrote on her Instagram account.

"Her health situation is now critical, I wish for a speedy recovery."

The Kurdish majority southeast of Turkey is known for its strongly conservative customs, with women expected to perform a traditional role.  

The attack on Mutlu comes amid intensifying anger in Turkey over the extent of violence against women, with hundreds of wives killed by their husbands every year.

The murder and attempted rape of 20-year-old female student, Ozgecan Aslan, by a Turkish bus driver earlier this year sparked protests and calls for tougher punishments.