Since the Turkish government failed miserably in aiding the earthquake victims and neglected to provide earthquake relief to those who lost their homes, income, families, schools, and businesses, some families had no other choice but to surrender their children to mysterious sects in the region who are very close to the government. The events in the past had shown that sexual and other abuses were taking place in these male-dominated, secretive organizations that look favorably to even “marrying” very young aged girls to older sect members.
Turkish Family and Social Services Minister Derya Yanik tried to answer the concerns about the earthquake victim children being given to secretive, religious sects where sexual abuses have been reported. She said, “If the family has permission, we cannot interfere.” However, the status of orphaned children with no families remains undetermined.
Regarding the “unaccompanied children” that became a subject of discussion after the February 6 earthquakes, Family and Social Services Minister Derya Yanik said about the allegation that the children who were victims of the earthquake were given to religious, secretive sects, “We do not have a child to give to the ‘Menzil community’ or x, y, z anywhere, but people can keep their children wherever they want, and we are not in a position to interfere in this.”
Since the Turkish government failed miserably in aiding the earthquake victims and neglected to provide earthquake relief to those who lost their homes, income, families, schools, and businesses, some families had no other choice but to surrender their children to mysterious sects in the region who are very close to the government. The events in the past had shown that sexual and other abuses were taking place in these male-dominated, secretive organizations that look favorably to even “marrying” very young aged girls to older sect members.
To alleviate these concerns but also to please the child receiving government-friendly sects, the “family minister” sent the responsibility to low-income families who lost every means to take care of their children after the earthquake.
A previous female “family minister” who served under the same Islamic government of the AKP regime had declared, after nearly 40 boys were found to have experienced sexual abuse for years by male staff under government care, to minimize the rapes that “having this done to you once does not matter.”
According to the AA report, Minister Yanık used the following expressions:
“We deliver our children, whose families we have identified and whom we have determined can be returned to their families if they are alive, and to their family relatives by proving their identities if not. These reports are persistently being manufactured and will continue to be published. We will continue to tirelessly emphasize that these are lies and that those who publish these reports lie. Therefore, we can’t give any of our unaccompanied children to any third party.
We don’t have a child to give to the Menzil congregation or x, y, z anywhere, but people can have their children wherever they want, and we are not in a position to interfere in that. If there is no neglect, if there is no abuse, if there is no violence, our duty does not begin as a state.”
However, early reports in daily Birgün and others had shown that the Menzil religious sect had reported that many children had been given to them by the government to look after. Sendika.org has also reported this dangerous trend recently.
MB Sendika.org News