Lawmakers from Turkey’s pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) have called for a parliamentary investigation into alleged rights violations and a sexual threat made against a 17-year-old girl held in pretrial detention in the eastern part of the country, the Bianet news website reported.
MPs Beritan Güneş Altın, Serhat Eren, Dr. Heval Bozdağ and Newroz Uysal Aslan filed a complaint with parliament’s Human Rights Investigation Committee and submitted a parliamentary question to Justice Minister Yılmaz Tunç.
According to the complaint, the high school senior, identified as N.K., was arrested on October 4, 2025, in the eastern province of Ağrı and taken to Patnos L-Type Prison, which does not have a separate unit for minors. Instead of being transferred to a juvenile facility, she was held in an adult ward. When she asked to be moved to a different ward for her safety, the prison director allegedly threatened her by saying, “If you don’t behave, I’ll send you to the men’s ward,” a remark lawmakers described as a form of sexual intimidation.
The complaint said N.K. was later transferred on November 7 to the Erzincan Women’s Closed Prison, where she reportedly faced continued intimidation and psychological distress. In a phone call with her family two days after the transfer, she said she was being provoked, feared physical violence, suffered severe stress and fainting spells and had nosebleeds.
The lawmakers urged the parliamentary committee to launch an on-site investigation, initiate disciplinary and criminal proceedings against the officials involved and evaluate N.K.’s health and psychological condition. They also called for reforms to ensure a minor-centered approach within Turkey’s criminal justice system.
Turkey’s prison system has long faced criticism from rights organizations for overcrowding, poor conditions and mistreatment of inmates, including minors.
The DEM Party, which succeeded the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) after it faced closure proceedings, frequently raises cases involving rights abuses, prison conditions and the treatment of detainees in Turkey’s predominantly Kurdish regions.
