Istanbul, June 25 () - A 19-year-old Turkish talent show contestant is out of a coma and communicating after she was shot in the head in an attack that shocked the country, doctors said.

Mutlu Kaya was shot while she was at home southeastern Diyarbakır province in May and had until now been in intensive care in the Diyarbakır hospital where she is being treated.

"She has been moved out of intensive care and into a private room. Her overall health is good. She has regained consciousness and is able to communicate with us" her doctor Ulaş Aktaş said.

"At first she was answering with one word answers but now she can say 8-10 words. She is totally aware of what's going on around her" the doctor said.     

He added that the young woman was on a liquid diet and was being allowed to go out in a wheelchair once a day. She would however require months of physical therapy.     

Kaya had been appearing on the show "Sesi Çok Güzel," similar to "Britain's Got Talent," on the Turkish private channel Fox. She had been mentored by Sibel Can, one of Turkey's best known folk pop singers.

Kaya's ex-boyfriend, 26-year-old Veysel Ercan, was charged with attempted murder in May. Reports said Kaya was shot by an assailant who fired a bullet from the garden through the back window into the house.
   
The young woman had previously received death threats for appearing in the show and there were suggestions that the shooting was an act of revenge for her daring to appear in the contest.

According to the non-governmental Platform to Stop Violence Against Women, 286 women were murdered in Turkey in 2014 and 134 so far in 2015.

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