Human rights organizations in Turkey have issued a statement urging the protection of children’s rights and compliance with the Convention on the Rights of the Child in the wake of public calls for harsher penalties for minors and their prosecution as adults.
Following the highly publicized murder of 15-year-old Mattia Ahmet Minguzzi in broad daylight in an Istanbul marketplace by 16-year-old B.B. and 15-year-old U.B. on January 24, the victim’s family has been calling for the perpetrators to be tried as adults.
Minguzzi’s mother, Yasemin Minguzzi, conveyed this demand directly to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan during a phone call, and on July 21 she staged a sit-in, calling for an amendment to the Law on the Execution of Sentences that would allow minors to be prosecuted as adults in certain cases.
Yasemin Minguzzi has received widespread support from members of the public and several celebrities who joined her demonstration. However, human rights advocates have warned that such an amendment to the law could be open to abuse and may lead to the excessive prosecution of minors. Instead, they have urged the government to address the underlying social and economic issues that contribute to youth involvement in crime.
According to a statement signed by 62 human rights organizations, the criminal justice system should prioritize the protection of minors and the prevention of crime, rather than focusing on punishment.
The organizations emphasized that the murder of Mattia Ahmet Minguzzi by his peers was not an isolated incident, but rather the outcome of a broader pattern of neglect and violation of children’s rights in Turkey. They cited the death of at least 13 minors due to peer violence in 2024 and seven more in the first five months of 2025 as evidence of serious systemic failures that leave children vulnerable to violence.
“Juvenile delinquency is the result of structural and societal factors,” the statement said, adding that scientific data show harsh punishments for children were in most cases ineffective.
The statement called for a rights-based, restorative and transformative juvenile justice system that actively involves social workers and assigns professionals specializing in children’s rights to judicial proceedings. It also emphasized that detention should be used only as a last resort, with community-based measures prioritized as alternatives to punitive approaches. Finally, it urged that children, women’s rights organizations, bar associations, academics and NGOs be consulted in the drafting of legislation affecting minors.
Violence among minors in Turkey has been rising, with a growing number of fatal incidents over the past year. Opposition politicians have time and again warned that increasing poverty is making minors vulnerable to crime. They have called on the government for better social policies to deter youngsters from gangs and criminal activity.
