İSTANBUL - Stating that children's rights have been violated in Turkey and Kurdistan, lawyer Veysel Demirkaya, member of ÖHD Child Rights Commission said: "380 children lost their lives in an incident involving the 'perpetrator of the state' since 2000".

 

After the Convention on the Rights of the Child adopted by the United Nations (UN) on November 20, 1989, 20 November is commemorated as World Children's Rights Day. In 1994, Turkey ratified the convention, which was prepared by the UN to bring the rights violations faced by children around the world to the agenda. While Turkey does not fulfill the requirements of this contract under which it is a signatory, tens of children die in work accidents every year, cannot shelter, are married at a young age, cannot receive education and cannot benefit from the right to health.

 

Lawyer Veysel Demirkaya, member of the Association for Lawyers for Freedom (ÖHD) Children's Rights Commission, talked about the rights violations experienced by children in Turkey and Kurdistan.

 

ARMORED VEHICLES TAKE LIVES

 

Stating that children's rights are basically violated on the basis of the right to life in Turkey and Kurdistan, Demirkaya said: "These child deaths are killed by war. Approximately 380 children in Turkey have lost their lives in an incident where the 'perpetrator' was the state since 2000. These deaths occurred due to the 'security policy'. More than 20 children have died as a result of being hit by an armored vehicle since 2017.

 

ASSIMILATION POLICIES

 

Demirkaya said: "Providing education within the framework of a status quo education determined by the state is not an education right, but a limited education. The right to education in Turkey is also violated in terms of children. There is an assimilation policy in Turkey that has been going on for 100 years. And the continuation of this assimilation policy continued by signing the Turkish Convention on the Rights of the Child. Turkey continues its obstacles regarding education in its mother tongue. In addition Turkey is taking a step back and ignoring these basic rights to shelter and health. In fact, it leaves the people on the street to the conscience of the society. The state needs to house these children in dormitories or training camps that they have created and bring them into society."

 

MEB PAVES THE WAY FOR CHILD LABOR

 

Drawing attention to the problem of child labor in Turkey and the agreement made by the Ministry of National Education (MEB) in chain markets, Demirkaya said: "Children over the age of 12 are made to work as 'slaves' under the name of 'internship' and in this way, children are also deprived of their right to education. According to the report prepared by Occupational Health and Safety (ISIG), 194 children lost their lives while working in the last 3 and a half years. These are children working in agriculture, industry, any part of the service sector. And these children are unfortunately losing their lives. Children's place is not in factories, agriculture or fields. Children's place is in schools but unfortunately Turkey does not meet these conditions."

 

CHILDREN IS MARRIED IN TURKEY

 

Stating that Turkey accepts child marriage as “the tradition of our society”, Demirkaya said: “The child is still a child. A child doesn't know yet what sexuality and family structure are. There are still 15-year-old children playing with toys in their hands. These children are married when they reach the age of 15-16. Of course, this traditional structure was tried to be enacted in Turkey with the law enacted in 2015 or 2016. And the minister of the time tried to pass it off in the form of 'the consent of the child'. A child under the age of 18 does not consent. In other words, as a result of the marriage of a child aged 12-17 with the perpetrator, the perpetrator is freed from this crime. This leads to an increase in crimes. And unfortunately, child marriage is very high in Turkey. In Turkey, 1 out of every 5 children marries at a young age."

 

GOVERNMENT MUST CHANGE POLICY

 

Requesting the implementation of the law, Demirkaya said: "The problems related to children's rights could be corrected by changing the policy of the state. The state needs to revise its structure as a democratic state that adheres to the principle of social state and inspect the applicability of these rights. Only in this way can these problems be eliminated."

 

MA / Rukiye Adıgüzel