Children’s living conditions in Turkey have steadily worsened across all areas of life since the Justice and Development Party (AKP) took power in 2002, according to a report by the BirGün daily.
The report, published on the occasion of April 23, National Sovereignty and Children’s Day, revealed that child labor, underage marriage and criminal activities among minors had become worryingly common in the last decade.
Between 2013 and 2024, at least 742 minors died in workplace accidents, including 234 children under the age of 14. The highest number of fatalities was recorded in 2024, with 71 minors killed.
According to unions and human rights advocates, poverty was the number one reason why school-age minors had to work. They added that deepening poverty forced minors out of school only to work illegally, in hazardous jobs, and without insurance.
Hacer Foggo, founder of the Istanbul-based Deep Poverty Network, said in just the 2023–2024 academic year alone, a total of 612,814 children were out of school due to poverty.
Her recent report revealed that one in 10 children under the age of 15 does not have access to basic necessities such as new clothes, shoes or even underwear. The findings also suggested a strong likelihood that these children would remain in poverty into adulthood.
The report was based on interviews with 90 households on the situation of 234 children.
According to the BirGün report, children in Turkey face more than just poverty. In 2024, over 63,000 cases of sexual abuse against minors were reported, resulting in more than 7,000 convictions.
The report also revealed that more than 9,000 underage girls aged 16 to 17 were married, the majority to men over the age of 25.
Last year, more than 134,000 minors appeared in court on accusations of a criminal activity with 41,000 being convicted of a crime.
Previous reports also found that teenagers in major cities like İstanbul are increasingly involved in criminal activities, including assault and even murder. There have been some reports that many of these activities are connected to gangs and other criminal organizations.
The number of minors in Turkey involved in crime has more than doubled over the past 13 years, rising from 83,393 in 2010 to 178,834 in 2023.
Once again increasing poverty was indicated as making minors vulnerable to crime. Opposition politicians have repeatedly called on the government for better social policies to deter youngsters from gangs and criminal activity.
