TURKEY CHILD RIGHTS REPORT (The “KHK” Children- The Little Victims of Turkey’s State of Emergency Laws)

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INTRODUCTION

1. A shadowy coup attempt took place in Turkey on July 15, 2016. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan described the event, which claimed 250 lives, as a “Grace of God”. Erdoğan turned this crisis into an opportunity. As of July 17, 2016, public statements were made that the coup attempt had been completely suppressed and that security had been fully restored in the country. Although peace and tranquility had been restored and none of the conditions listed in the Constitution were present, Erdoğan declared a State of Emergency (SoE) on July 20, 2016. He authorized himself to issue decrees with the force of law (KHK) under the State of Emergency. Looking back today, what happened during the State of Emergency and in the aftermath reveals that the coup d’état was actually carried out with the declaration of the State of Emergency.
2. Erdoğan has amended hundreds of laws with emergency decrees, from civil servant appointments to the tender law. He moved every stone in the country. He reorganized the state for and by himself.
3. Basic human rights have been destroyed by State of Emergency decrees. The right to life, the prohibition of torture, the right to a fair trial, the right to freedom of movement, the right to property – all rights protected by the Constitution – have been violated. These violations did not remain theoretical they were practical. People were killed under torture during detention in prisons. More than one hundred people were abducted and disappeared. 133,792 people were dismissed from their jobs in public and private sector, thousands of companies and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) were seized. Tens of thousands of people working in these organizations became unemployed. More than one million people were accused of crimes created by the State of Emergency Decree Laws which were enforced retrospectively, and were subjected to investigations and trials. More than two hundred thousand people were detained. More than a hundred thousand were arrested. Grave violations of rights took place in many other areas that are not the subject of this study. For the first time in its history, the Republic of Turkey was accused of “crimes against humanity” in the resolutions issued by UN bodies[1] .
4. The state of emergency lasted for 2 years until July 2018. However, many laws enacted by emergency decrees are still in force. The State of Emergency continues de facto and de jure.
5. Thus, a new “disadvantaged” group was created by the state. The name of this group is “those with emergency decrees- Decree victims ?”. The reason why they are named as such is that the State of Emergency Decree Laws are at the center of their victimization.
6. As in every crisis period, children have undoubtedly been the biggest victims of the State of Emergency in Turkey. Their right to life was taken away. They were separated from their parents. They were deprived of social assistance. They were subjected to discrimination in schools. They were bullied by their friends. Many had to drop out of school. Some witnessed the suicide of their parents. Some have passed away with them.
7. There are two groups of children in this report. One is “Children of Decree Victim Parents” and the other is ” Victims of Decrees”. With the State of Emergency Decree Laws, Military High Schools and hundreds of schools and universities affiliated with the Hizmet Movement were closed down. All of the students studying in these schools have been subjected to emergency decrees. They were subjected to discriminatory treatment by teachers and students at the schools they attended. The diplomas given to students studying at cadet schools were inscribed with sentences emphasizing that they were subjects of Decree Laws. As such, these children were directly aimed by the decree laws and victimized.
8. This Report is based on the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. Determinations have been made on violations of rights on the axis of the fundamental rights in the Convention. Violations of rights have been concretized with lived experiences. Open sources including person, place and time references have been consulted.
9. In the preparation of this report, the report of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child dated February 15, 2021[2] and the 2018[3] and 2019[4] Annual Reports prepared by UNICEF on Turkey were also examined.
10. The experiences of the children who are the subject of this report and what has been inflicted on them have taken their place among the most grave events in human history. Our study is the first document that contains legal evaluations specific to Children who are the victims of Emergency Decree Laws and the Children of Parents who are the victims of Emergency Decree Laws.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

I-     CONCEPTS

1. United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child 
2. Child
3. DECREE
4. Decree Victim
5. Children of Decree Victims
6. Children victims of Emergency Decrees

II-       RIGHT VIOLATIONS

1. Prohibition of Discrimination (UNCRC Art. 2)
2. The Best Interest of the Child (UNCRC Art. 3)
3. Obligations of the State in the Implementation of the Rights of the Child (UNCRC Art. 5)
4. Respect for the Responsibilities, Rights and Duties of Parents (UNCRC Art. 5)
5. Right to Life and Development (UNCRC Art.6)
6. Principle of Consultation of the Child (UNCRC Art.12)
7. Freedom of Expression (UNCRC Art.13)
8. Freedom of Thought, Conscience and Religion (UNCRC Art.14)
9. Freedom of Association, Freedom of Association (UNCRC Art.15)
10. The Right to Privacy (Article 16 of the UNCRC)
11. Responsibilities of Parents and the State in the Upbringing of the Child (UNCRC Art.18)
12. Right to Protection from Abuse and Neglect (UNCRC Art.19)
13. Right to Protection of the Child Deprived of Family Environment (UNCRC Art.20)
14. Rights of Adopted Children (UNCRC Art.21)
15. Right to Health and Health Services (UNCRC Art.24)
16. Right to Social Security (UNCRC Art.26)
17. Right to an adequate standard of living (UNCRC Art.27)
18. Right to Education (UNCRC Art.28)
19. Right to Protection against Torture and Deprivation of Liberty (UNCRC Art.37)
20. The Right to a Fair Trial and Principles of a Child-Specific Justice System (UNCRC Art.40)

CONCLUSION

I- CONCEPTS

1.   United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child

11. This convention was adopted on November 20, 1989. Turkey signed the convention on September 14, 1990. It entered into force on May 4, 1995.
12. This report is based on the rights protected under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. In this report, the shorter term “Convention on the Rights of the Child” will be used to describe the Convention.

2.   Child

13. According to Article 1 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, every human being is considered a child until the age of 18. Therefore, our study is based on the victimization of children up to the age of 18.

3.   DECREE

14. The abbreviation for KHK, frequently used in this report, refers to the Decree Laws issued during the State of Emergency (SoE).
15. On July 21, 2016, a state of emergency was declared after the shadowy coup attempt on July 15, 2016, even though life had returned back to normal in the country within two days. This was done despite the conditions for declaring a state of emergency based on the frame set out in the Constitution did not exist. The state of emergency, which was announced for one month, lasted for 2 years. 37 emergency decrees were issued. Hundreds of laws were amended, from the Tender Law to the Village Law. Fundamental rights and freedoms have been destroyed by State of Emergency decrees.
16. Although ended on July 18, 2018, the amendments introduced by the State of Emergency Decree Laws are still in force.

4.   Decree Victim

17. The term “Decree Victim ” refers to two groups in a narrow and broad sense. In the narrow sense, it refers to people whose names appear on the lists published in the State of Emergency Decree Laws and who have been dismissed from public office and banned from practicing their profession again. The number of these people under this scope is 133,792.
18. In a broad sense, those victimized by means of emergency decrees correspond to a group of people based on the criteria introduced by the State of Emergency decrees. These criteria were used in administrative decisions, official documents, prosecution and court decisions as follows:
    • His/her workplace was closed down by the State of Emergency Decree Law,
    • Having an account at Bank Asya, which was closed down by the State of Emergency Decree Law,
    • Children of whom were educated in schools closed down by State of Emergency decrees,
    • The fact that they themselves were educated years ago in courses, university preparation courses, dormitories, schools and universities that were closed by emergency decrees,
    • Reading books published by publishers closed down by the State of Emergency Decree Law and keeping them in their homes,
    • Reading and subscribing to newspapers and magazines banned by the State of Emergency Decree Law,
    • Membership of associations closed down by the State of Emergency Decree Law, participating in the activities of these associations and providing financial aid in the past,
    • Membership of trade unions closed down by the State of Emergency Decree Law,
    • Being the spouse, child, mother or father of someone who was dismissed from their job by the State of Emergency Decree Law,

It is possible to further increase the number of these criteria.

19. People have been detained, tortured in detention, arrested and even convicted to long prison sentences on the basis of these criteria. What is striking here is that the expression “State of Emergency Decree Law” constitutes the core of the accusations. In other words, when this phrase is removed from the accusations, there is neither a crime nor a basis for crime. Because the same people were living in the same country in the same way before the State of Emergency decrees. Their ordinary activities in their daily lives were not considered a crime. Therefore, “people suffered from decrees” refers to a very large mass.
20. In a broad sense, those who have been subjected to emergency decrees are largely composed of volunteers of the Hizmet Movement[5] and members or supporters of the Peoples’ Democracy Party. Hizmet Movement volunteers were accused of being in contact or affiliated with the organization defined by the politians as “FETÖ”, while members and supporters of the Peoples’ Democracy Party were accused of being in contact or affiliated with the PKK. The criteria used in these accusations are fully fabricated and hypothetical arguments, some of which are mentioned above, produced by the State of Emergency Decree Laws. People have been accused of membership, leadership or aiding a terrorist organization based on these fabricated criteria.
21. In a broad sense, Decree victims also include opponents. For example, academics who signed the “Academics for Peace Declaration”. They were dismissed from their jobs by emergency decrees and subjected to criminal investigations, detentions and arrests. Again, those who supported the Özgür Gündem newspaper, publication of which was ceased by emergency decree, were arrested. Among them is the writer Aslı Erdoğan. In this context, tens of thousands of people who are considered as opponents by the government have been victimized with charges brought by emergency decrees with retroactive effect.
22. In a broader sense, important observations on the emergency decree holders were also included in the European Commission Turkey Reports. For example, in the 2018 report, “Trials involving suspected members of the Gülen movement and coup plotters have raised serious questions about respect for international standards. Particular concern is the fact that relatives of suspects have been directly or indirectly targeted by a range of measures, including dismissal from public institutions and organizations and confiscation or revocation of passports. The determination of alleged links to the Gülen movement was based on a number of informal criteria, including that their children had attended schools linked to the organization, that money had been deposited in a bank account linked to the organization, or that the ByLock mobile messaging application had been used. “[6] .
23. In broad terms, the number of people with emergency decrees is not known exactly, but it exceeds 1 million. 3,942 institutions were closed down by State of Emergency decrees[7] . 985 companies were transferred to the Savings Deposit Insurance Fund and placed under state control[8] . These include joint stock companies, holdings, schools, universities, university preparation courses, newspapers, televisions, radios, associations, foundations, trade unions and other institutions with hundreds of thousands of employees and members. This group also includes thousands of people who were dismissed by their bosses on the basis of the criteria listed above for fear of state oppression.
24. The data that most clearly shows the number of people victimized with emergency decrees in a broad sense is the number of judicial investigations and prosecutions they have been subjected to. According to the report prepared by MP Mustafa Yeneroğlu, the number of people accused of armed terrorist organizations based on criteria produced after July 15, 2016 on the grounds of State of Emergency Decree Laws is 1,056,000 as of 2018[9] . Accordingly, more than one million people in Turkey have been charged with terrorism in just 2 years.
25. In the face of the fact that emergency decree victims are subjected to terrorism charges, it is also necessary to address the reality of terrorism in Turkey. As of 12.12.2015, according to the data of the Ministry of Justice, the number of detainees and convicts from all terror groups (PKK, ISIS, DHKP-C, TKML etc.) is 7,469[10] . The number of PKK members in Turkey, which is internationally recognized as a terrorist organization, was (estimated) around 2,475 – 2,780 in 2016, 1,835-1,995 in 2017, 1,100 – 1,200 in 2018, according to official data from the Ministry of Interior[11] . This official data also sheds light on the situation of 1,056,000 people who were subjected to terrorism investigations in the same period according to the criteria introduced by the State of Emergency decrees. Accordingly, more than one million of these people, who were not actually terrorists, were declared criminals according to the criminal criteria introduced by the State of Emergency Decree Laws and arbitrarily left to civil and social death. Therefore, these 1,056,000 people should be broadly recognized as people victimized with emergency decrees.
26. Individual applications have been made to the ECHR[12] , the United Nations Human Rights Committee[13] , the United Nations Committee for the Prevention of Torture[14] and the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention[15] regarding the dismissals, detentions and arrests of those victimized with emergency decrees. All of these applications have resulted in decisions of violation. To date, there has been no even a single decision upholding the Turkish State’s practices regarding the emergency decrees.

5.   Children of Decree Victims

27. These are the first of the two groups of children that constitute the subject of the Report. This group includes children whose parents are victims of Decree Law.
28. The number of children of those subjected to emergency decrees is not clearly revealed in any official data. The Social Costs of the State of Emergency in its 3rd Year Report[16] prepared by the Justice for Victims Platform and the report of the Right to Life Association’s Violations under the Force of Law: Violations of the Right to Work and Discrimination against Victims of Emergency Decree Laws, both reports examine different working groups. According to both reports, it was determined that the average number of children of the victim couples of emergency decrees is two[17] .
29. In order to determine the number of children of emergency decree victims, it is necessary to consider both narrow and broad emergency decree victims. The data that gives this number as a whole is the number of investigations. It has been determined that the number of people subjected to criminal investigations, detentions and arrests based on emergency decrees is 1,056,000 (as of 2018). Accordingly, it can be easily stated that the children of those victimized by emergency decrees constitute a very large amount of people of approximately 2,000,000. This number is higher than the population of 50 countries in the world[18] .
30. These children have been subjected to severe discrimination and deprivation of rights by both public bodies and society on the grounds of their parents’ status. In the following sections of the Report, detailed explanations will be provided on the rights violations these children have been subjected to.
31. In a way, these children are also included in the group of Children wictimized with Emergency Decree defined below. This is because the data recorded in official records that their parents are victims of Emergency Decrees creates obstacles in front of these children, preventing them from assuming official public duties and benefiting from state aids. Concrete data on this issue will be presented below.

6.   Children Victims of Emergency Decrees

32. The children victims of emergency decrees are themselves the victims of the emergency decrees. This is because their schools were closed down by emergency decrees.
33. State of Emergency decrees have closed down 1034 private schools providing kindergarten, primary, secondary and high school education[19], 301 university preparation courses, 4 military high schools[20] .
34. Children whose schools were closed were forced to change schools. Due to the closure of their former schools, children were stigmatized, prevented from attending schools of their choice or in line with their qualifications, and were subjected to discrimination and bullying by the school administration, teachers and other students at the schools they attended.

II- RIGHT VIOLATIONS

1.   Prohibition of Discrimination (UNCRC Art. 2)

35. Article 2 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child prohibits all forms of discrimination against children.
36. The text of the article is as follows.

1.States Parties shall recognize and guarantee to every child within their jurisdiction the rights set forth in the present Covenant without distinction of any kind, such as race, color, sex, language, political or other opinion, national, ethnic or social origin, property, disability, birth or other status, whether held by themselves, their parents or legal guardians.

2.States Parties shall take all appropriate measures to ensure the effective protection of the child against discrimination or punishment of any kind on account of the status, activities, expressed opinions or beliefs of his or her parents, legal guardians or other members of his or her family.

37. As can be seen, it is not possible to discriminate against children on any grounds. There is a clear prohibition. Turkey signed this convention and pledged not to discriminate against children in any way. Turkey has reneged on this promise when it comes to children victims of emergency decrees and the children of those victims of emergency decrees.
38. Bayram Erzurumluoğlu, one of the academics who prepared the Social Costs of the State of Emergency Reports in 2017, 2018 and 2019, said “As a result of the witch hunt they are conducting, they are implementing the policy of ‘the child of a witch is also a witch'”[21] .
39. Despite the prohibition in the Convention, the children of emergency decrees have been subjected to discrimination in many areas. Examples are listed below.
    • Prevention of the right to education: A student who enrolled in the National Defense University, which was established to replace the military war schools that were closed down by state of emergency decrees, was denied enrollment on the grounds that his relatives were subjects of the state of emergency decrees[22] .
    • Denial of social assistance: Rüveyda Tekgöz, a girl with autism, was denied social assistance on the grounds that her father was a subject of the state of emergency decree[23] .
    • Nurefşan Ketenci, who was born with Cat Meow Syndrome (Cri du Chat), which is seen in one in 50 thousand people in the world, was expelled from the rehabilitation center where she was studying because her father was a subject of the state of emergency decree[24] .
    • Many students were denied state scholarships on the grounds that their parents were on the lists of the state of emergency decrees[25] .
    • Some of the children of emergency decree victim were discriminated against in schools and given low grades by teachers. It was even reported that a teacher said to a primary school-age child to whom she gave an unfairly low grade, “I am not giving this grade to you, but to your mother.”[26] .
    • Students of military high schools closed down by the State of Emergency decrees are banned from entering science or social sciences high schools that offer good education[27] .
    • Students of the closed schools were subjected to discrimination and bullying by teachers and students in the new schools they went to[28] .
    • Students from closed schools have faced obstacles in having their education from their old schools recognized in the new school[29] .
    • The daughters of the Kaçmaz family, who were abducted from Pakistan and forcibly brought to Turkey, were denied recognition and prevented from continuing their education[30] . However, for years, the diplomas of thousands of Turkish and foreign children who graduated from these schools have always been recognized.
    • When the Air Force Academy was closed down, the students were given their diplomas through Istanbul Technical University, but on the diplomas it was written “This diploma was issued with the Decree Law No. 669”. Due to the Decree Law mentioned here, it has become impossible for them to enter business life and use these diplomas[31] .
    • Public schools in some cities did not accept students from schools closed down by the State of Emergency Decree Law. Therefore, students living in those cities had to enroll in very expensive private schools[32] .
    • Harun Atayün, the son of former Police Chief Anadolu Atayün, was not admitted to public schools due to the arrest and imprisonment of his father and mother on the grounds of criteria created by emergency decrees[33] .
    • Students of schools closed down by State of Emergency decrees were prevented from traveling abroad and banned from having passports[34] .
    • Bursa Municipality did not allocate vehicles for the transportation of the dead bodies of children who drowned in the sea trying to flee the country[35] . The reason given for this was that their parents were subjects of the state of emergency decree. However, these vehicles are normally provided free of charge to anyone who requests them.

2. The Best Interest of the Child (UNCRC Art. 3)

40. Article 3 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child adopts the principle of the best interests of the child.
41. The article defines the best interests of the child and lists the obligations of the state in ensuring this as follows.
42. The best interests of the child shall be the primary consideration in all activities concerning children undertaken by public or private social welfare organizations, courts, administrative authorities or legislative bodies.
43. States Parties undertake to provide the child with the care and protection necessary for his or her well-being, taking into account the rights and duties of his or her parents, guardians or other persons legally responsible for him or her, and shall take all appropriate legislative and administrative measures to that end.
44. States Parties undertake that institutions responsible for the care or protection of children shall comply with the standards established by the competent authorities, in particular with regard to safety, health, number and suitability of staff and adequacy of management of services and activities.

42. The best interests of the child shall be taken into account in the decisions and actions of public officials if they concern a child, in which case they are obliged to act in the best interests of the child.
43. This principle has been disregarded in practices concerning the children of emergency decree holders.
44. Sample applications are given below.
    • The mothers and fathers of emergency decrees subjects have been arbitrarily[36] detained and arrested. Many children were deprived of both their mother and father at the same time. The highest level reaction on this issue came from the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. High Commissioner Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein published a report in March 2018 on Turkey’s situation under the state of emergency. “One of the most worrying findings of the report,” he described in his introductory remarks, ” are reports of how the Turkish authorities were able to detain 100 women who were pregnant or had just given birth, often on the grounds of “associations” with their husbands suspected of affiliation to terrorist organizations. Some were detained with their children, some violently separated from their children. This is not only disproportionate, it is completely cruel and certainly not about making the country safer,” said[37] .
    • Many children between the ages of 0-6 had to go to prison with their mothers[38] . The number of these children reached 780 in 2019. Many basic and compulsory needs of children in prison with their mothers, such as nutrition, shelter, access to fresh air, access to playgrounds and swimming pools, toys, contact with soil, kindergarten, access to a pediatrician, and contact with pets, have not been and still are not met.
    • 8-year-old Ahmet Burhan Ataç, who was ill and needed treatment abroad, was not allowed to travel abroad with his mother[39] . These delays led to worsening of his illness and finally his death.
    • The children’s parents were held in prisons hundreds of kilometers away from them. Their requests for transfer to a closer prison were rejected. Children’s ties with their parents have been damaged[40] .
    • Some children who had to visit their parents far away from where they lived in difficult conditions died in traffic accidents[41] .
    • Children who are terminally ill and undergoing treatment in hospital are not allowed to meet with their parents who are detained in prison even in their last moments[42] . With social media campaigns and public pressure, some of them get the chance to meet. Selman Çalışkan and Kübra Kazan are just two examples. But Ömer Faruk Turan, who has autism and heart disease, died before he could see his father in his last moments[43] .
    • Hamza Travaç is a 98% disabled baby diagnosed with “Dandy Walker Syndrome”. His father was a subject of the state of emergency decree and was in prison when he was born. He died when Hamza was 27 months old. His father was not present at his birth or death[44] .
    • Unthinkable, unimaginable and unexplainable by any moral code, accusations have been made against mothers with emergency decree laws, such as that they became pregnant under instructions to avoid arrest. These accusations were made by politicians[45] , judges, prosecutors and police officers[46] .
    • Hundreds of families have had their foster family status revoked on the grounds that they were subject to a state of emergency decree. This practice victimized both parents and orphaned children. Children who had stayed with a foster family for years and adopted them suddenly became orphans again[47] .

3.  Obligations of the State in the Implementation of the Rights of the Child (UNCRC Art. 5)

45. It is the primary duty and obligation of the state to implement children’s rights, to ensure children’s access to their rights and to remove obstacles in between. This issue is regulated in Article 5 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child as follows.

States Parties shall take all legislative, administrative and other measures necessary for the implementation of the rights recognized in the present Covenant. With regard to economic, social and cultural rights, States Parties shall take such measures to the fullest extent of their available resources and, if necessary, within the framework of international cooperation.

46. As emphasized in this report, the children of emergency decree subjects are ignored. They have been deprived of their rights as children and human beings. This report reveals that all rights listed in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child have been violated.
47. In Turkey, official plans of extermination, including the children who are the subject of this report was made by a committee composed of high-ranking public officials, judges and prosecutors and reported
48. In this context, a workshop titled “New Generation Terror: Analysis of FETÖ” was held at the Police Academy in September 2017. Prosecutors who took part in FETÖ/PDY trials and even the chief judges of assize courts were present at the workshop. At the end of the workshop, a report was published[48] . On page 14 of the report, it was stated: “We should never forget that we are in a war with FETÖ that will last for several generations, that we have won a part of the war as a state and nation, and that the war will continue.” The group that is meant by the word “FETÖ” here is in fact those who have been victimized by emergency decrees. The group victimized by emergency decrees are those who were defined as terrorists in the “dehumanization” stage, which is one of the stages of genocide, and were “witchified and demonized” by being defined with the word “FETÖ”. The part of these statements that is relevant to this report, that is, to the children of those victimized by emergency decrees, is the phrase “a war that will last for several generations”. The “generation” in this statement refers to the children of those subjected to emergency decrees. The children of those subjected to emergency decrees are the targets of the “war” described in the report issued at the end of this workshop. What has happened and is happening has no other meaning in terms of human rights law. Moreover, even in wars, the fundamental rights of children are inviolable.
49. This report presents concrete examples of how the fundamental rights and freedoms of children subjects of emergency decrees and the children of those subjected to emergency decrees have been taken away from them. The actors of the state mechanism, from the President of the Republic to the prison guard to the teacher at school, have prevented these

children from accessing their rights. They have done the opposite of the duty imposed on them by the Constitution and international conventions.

4.   Respect for the Responsibilities, Rights and Duties of Parents (UNCRC Art. 5)

50. Article 5 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child regulates the obligation of parents to respect the exercise of their rights and duties in their relationship with their child. The article reads as follows.

States Parties shall respect the responsibilities, rights and duties of parents, members of the extended family or community if local custom so provides, legal guardians or other persons legally responsible for the child to guide and direct the child, in accordance with the rights conferred on the child by the present Convention and consistent with the development of the child’s capabilities

51. These people, who are defined as emergency decree victims, have been dehumanized before and after the State of Emergency. Bureaucrats and politicians, especially President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, have all spoken in unity with grave insults against people subjected to emergency decrees.
52. Here are the insults in a youtube video compiled only from some of Erdoğan’s speeches[49] : “Hashashins, Perverts, Grave robbers, Liars, Taqiyya, Slanderers, Mischief makers, Criminal Organization, They are out of their minds, they are surpasseed Shia, Immorals, Indecent, Sonless, Childless, Montage maker, Cassette maker, Deviant in faith, blood sucking vampires, Merchants of Heaven and Hell, chaos gang, blood lobby, parallel betrayal gang, betrayal network, pincers of Turkey’s enemies, betrayal gang, betrayal network, pincers of international organizations, virus, leech, false saint, fake scholar, racist, ichors, traitors, terrorists, False Prophet, Hypocrite”
53. Erdoğan’s words have been repeated by people in the party organization and parliamentary candidates for years in squares in election rallies.
54. Just as Jews who were victims of the Holocaust and Tutsis who were victims of the Rwandan genocide who were likened to insects, pests, creatures that must be destroyed, creatures that must be hated, enemies, the people victimized with emergency decrees have been dehumanized with similar analogies. Every day they are addressed as traitors and terrorists[50] . In these environments, parents who are emergency decree subjects are also devalued in front of their children. Let alone parents exercising their parental rights, guiding and directing their children, they felt the need to prove that they are human beings worthy of respect and that they are not traitors or terrorists.
55. As the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights has strongly reacted, some decree victim parents have been arrested together. Their children were left unattended. Arrests conducted on completely arbitrary grounds have damaged the physical and moral integrity of the families of emergency decree wictims trough state force.
56. Children subject of the Emergency Decrees have been deprived of parental love and a sweet home. Many of them took refuge with their relatives, but naturally they were not provided with the emotional satisfaction they needed[51] .
57. Children questioned their parents and rejected their values. They were ashamed of going to school with them, of being picked up by them after school.

5.   Right to Life and Development (UNCRC Art.6)

58. The right to life is included in the Convention on the Rights of the Child, as it is in all texts on human rights. The right to development means the right to develop oneself in various fields such as science, art, philosophy and profession. Article 6 of the Convention imposes clear and explicit obligations on the state in these matters.

1. States Parties recognize that every child has the fundamental right to life.
2. States Parties shall make the maximum possible efforts for the survival and development of the child.
3. The right to life is undoubtedly the most serious violation of rights that the children of those subjected to emergency decrees have been subjected to. According to the information in open sources, 63 children in the target group of this report have died in this period.
4. One of the leading causes of death is suicide. In the 3rd Anniversary of the State of Emergency’s Social Costs Report, some data on this issue were obtained. The report makes striking assessments on suicide rates among families of emergency decree victims. The report states, “The crude death and suicide rates among victims and their families are much higher than Turkey’s average, and this situation seems to have emerged as a result of the social genocide policies they have been subjected to, rather than being coincidental. Because according to TurkStat data, Turkey’s “crude suicide rate” is around ∼4 per 100,000, while the rate of relatives of SoE victims who are reported to have died by suicide is around ∼1%. According to the most tolerant calculations, this rate means that the suicide rate among the families of emergency decree victims is 30-35 times higher than the suicide rate in the general population. On the other hand, according to TurkStat mortality statistics, while the “crude mortality rate” in Turkey is around ∼5.5% per thousand, the families of SoE Victims stated that the rate among themselves is 9.3%, which means that, according to the most tolerant calculations, the mortality rate among families with emergency decrees is at least 2 times higher than the crude mortality rate in Turkey.” These data mean that those with emergency decrees are abandoned, dragged and directed to biological death in parallel to civil and social death. It is not possible to consider the children of emergency decree holders and the children of emergency decree holders separately from their families.
5. There are serious cases of suicide among emergency decree victims and their children. Interviews conducted for the Social Costs of the State of Emergency Report revealed that a significant number of families with emergency decrees, children of emergency decree holders and children of emergency decree holders have increased suicidal tendencies. Many people interviewed stated that they seriously considered suicide[52] , that they gave up suicide thinking about the desperation of their children left behind[53] , that children aged 12, 13, 14 attempted suicide[54] .
6. Below are a few cases in open sources regarding the children of those victims of the state of emergency decrees who lost their lives by committing suicide.

• Bahadır Odabaşı, 16 years old, whose father has been detained for 4 years, died by suicide[55] .
• High school student Büşra Nur Meşeci’s father was dismissed from his job by a state of emergency decree and arrested. She could not bear the stress and ended her life by committing suicide[56] .
• Muhammet Enes, 16, whose father is a police officer subject of state of emergency decree, attempted to commit suicide. At the time of writing this report he was struggling for his life[57] .

63. Another cause of death is death due to unmet or delayed treatment needs
    • Ahmet Burhan Ataç was diagnosed with bone cancer in 2018. Both of his parents were victims of the state of emergency decree. At the time of the events, his father was under arrest and in prison. His mother was also under investigation and released on judicial control conditions. His mother was imposed travel ban. A treatment opportunity arised in Germany for the treatment of his illness. Since his mother is banned from traveling abroad, he went to the first treatment process in 2020 without her mother. There, he could not bear the severity of the treatment process and motherlessness and returned back. He did not want to go to the next treatments without his mother. There was a great reaction from the society to what Ahmet Burhan Ataç was subjected to. Many people, especially Arlet Natali Avazyan, fought hard for permission to leave the country. Campaigns were conducted on social media for months. In the meantime, time passed, treatments were interrupted and his disease worsened day by day. The mother was granted permission to leave the country, but it was too late. Burhan Ataç passed away in May 2020 at the age of 8.
    • Furkan Dizdar was 12 years old. He developped brain cancer. It was reported that there was no possibility of treatment in Turkey. A treatment center was found in Cuba. Necessary communication was established and an appointment was arranged. However, it was the SoE period and all members of the family were banned from traveling abroad with the Decree Laws. Furkan’s passport was also confiscated. The child was also not allowed to go with a companion. Thus, they were arbitrarily prevented from traveling abroad[58] . Furkan’s illness worsened and he died. Furkan Dizdar was robbed of his hope for life by the state and left to die, even he got killed.
64. Another cause of death of the children who are the subject of this report is deaths that occur on the way to prison visits. The parents of these children were detained in prisons hundreds of kilometers away from them. They had to travel every week for open visits and once a month for closed visits. Unfortunately, many children died in traffic accidents during these journeys. The names of these children are listed below.
    • Betül Seda Özcan (10) set off from Kocaeli to Elazığ with her mother on June 27, 2017 for a 45-minute visit. After 6 months without seeing her father, Seda jumped on the road saying ‘I’m going to my father’ when she reached Elazığ Prison and died after being hit by a car[59] .
    • Ahmet Cenik[60] (5), together with his mother, uncle, grandfather, grandmother and cousins, were on their way to visit his father, Fatih Canik, an administrative judge detained in Kahramanmaraş on May 19, 2017. They had traveled from Afyon. Every week they traveled hundreds of kilometers for the visit. At around 06:30 in the morning, they had an accident on the Göksün-Kahramanmaraş road. Ahmet Cenik passed away in the accident.
    • Betül Civelek (3), Naime Civelek (8)[61] They were returning from Düzce to Ankara to visit their imprisoned father when they lost their lives in a traffic accident.
    • Muhammed Aydın[62] (8), who traveled from Giresun with his family to visit his father in Mardin prison, was involved in a traffic accident on his way back. Young Muhammed Aydın and three members of the same family died in the accident.
65. Children subjects of emergency decree and some of the children of emergency decree subjects have also lost their lives on the escape routes.
66. People have been forced to flee the country due to the denial of the right to live in Turkey, the threat of torture, and the threat of arrest. In the vast majority of these escapes, all family members left the country together. This is because the passports of all family members have been canceled by the State of Emergency decrees and there was no hope that they will ever be reissued. That is why no one wants to leave their children behind on that dangerous journey. To cross from Turkey to Greece, one must either cross the Evros River or the Aegean Sea. Both routes carry serious life-threatening dangers. Unfortunately, risks have sometimes become real and deaths have occurred on the crossing routes. According to open sources, 17 children have lost their lives in this way.

The names of these children are listed below.

• Mahir Işık (4 months), İbrahim Işık (3)[63] , Mustafa Kara (6), Gülsüm Kara (8)[64] , Mustafa Said Zenbil (12)[65] , died in a refugee boat sinking off the coast of Chios island of Greece on September 27, 2019.
• Nadire Maden (13), Nur Maden (10), Feridun Maden (7)[66] In November 2017, all members of the family drowned while trying to cross the Evros River to Greece.
• Halil Münir Abdürrezzak (3), Abdulkadir Enes Abdürrezzak (11)[67] , drowned with their parents on February 13, 2018 while trying to cross from Evros to Greece.
• İbrahim Selim Doğan (2.5)[68] , drowned on February 13, 2018 with his parents during the crossing from Evros to Greece.
• Bekir Aras Akçabay (1), Ahmet Esat Akçabay (7), Mesut Akçabay (5)[69] , drowned with their parents on 21.07.2018 while trying to cross from Evros to Greece.
• Burhan Yeni (2.5), Nurbanu Yeni (8 months)[70] died together with their father when their boat sank while trying to cross the Aegean Sea to Greece with their families. Their mother survived the accident and was immediately arrested and imprisoned.
• Nurefşan Teke (9)[71] She drowned in a capsized boat while trying to cross to Greece from Evros on March 5, 2021.

67. Another cause of death for the children of those subjected to emergency decrees is suicide together with the parent. Eyüp Öztürk (17) is 99% disabled. He has cerebral palsy. During this period, his father was dismissed from his job and arrested. His parents are divorced. Unable to cope with the stress of these, his mother Seher Baş first killed her son Eyüp Öztürk with a shotgun and then committed suicide with the same riffle[72] .
68. One of the most common causes of infant deaths that most severely traumatize families of those victims of emergency decrees is miscarriage due to the traumatization caused by torture, the harsh conditions of detention and imprisonment, and the psychological pressures.
    • Nurhayat Yıldız, a KHK victim who is pregnant to twin babies, is arbitrarily arrested and imprisoned. She was not given a bed in prison. She had to sleep on the floor in front of the toilet. She experienced extreme stress. She was not provided with the necessary nutrition and medical support. She was not monitored. That is why she miscarried[73] .
    • Another detainee, a pregnant woman victim of a state of emergency decree, died while her baby was still in her womb. Although the woman insisted to the prison administration that she could not feel her baby, she was not taken seriously. The dead fetus poisoned the mother and she died[74] .
    • Hanife Çiftçi was detained while pregnant. Due to the harsh conditions of detention, she started bleeding. Although she insisted on reporting her condition, no medical attention was provided. She was arrested in this state. She was also not provided with the necessary attention while in prison. When her condition worsened, the baby died in the womb[75] .
    • Büşra Atalay, a KHK victim who became pregnant through IVF and was in a delicate period, was detained by the police at the hospital and her statement was taken without taking her condition into consideration. The stress of the situation triggered premature labor. In this state, she was taken from hospital to hospital and their baby died[76] .
    • Detained unlawfully and arbitrarily, E.U., who was 8 weeks pregnant, miscarried and lost her baby due to stress[77] .
69. In terms of the right to self-development in the second subparagraph of the article, the children of emergency decree holders are also subjected to serious violations of their rights.
70. The children of the emergency decree and the children of the emergency decree holders suddenly face a very heavy burden on their shoulders because their parents are unemployed and at least one of them is under arrest. Many of them have to work. Despite their young age, they turn to jobs such as construction workers, waiters, waitresses, dishwashers and cleaners. Many of them also find it difficult to find a job. This is because they or their parents are under a state of emergency decree and no one wants to give them a job.
71. Most of them are successful in their studies, promising in their future, but they are forced to disconnect from their education. They lose the chance to develop themselves and reach their dreams.
72. Among these children, those who excelled in their former schools that were closed down are not allowed to attend schools that match their level of achievement[78] . They are denied the right to develop themselves.

6.   Principle of Consultation of the Child (UNCRC Art.12)

73. The Convention on the Rights of the Child, like many other texts, recognizes the child as an independent individual. As a result, it emphasizes that he/she can make his/her own decisions or that his/her opinion is valuable in the decisions made about him/her. Article 12 of the Convention regulating the issue is as follows:

States Parties recognize the right of the child, who is capable of forming his or her own views, to express them freely on all matters concerning him or her, with due regard for the age and maturity of the child. 

74. Children subject of emergency decrees and the children of those subjected to emergency decrees have also suffered serious deprivations in this regard. Children whose schools were closed down by State of Emergency Decree Laws were deprived of their school choices. They wanted to attend schools appropriate to their qualifications and educational level, but were prevented from attending these schools by de facto practices[79] .
75. Another most important victim of the State of Emergency was the children who were placed in foster care and subjected to adoption procedures. While they were living a happy and trouble-free life with their foster families, they were forcibly separated from them on the grounds that their families were on the lists of the state of emergency decrees. These children were not asked anything.
76. The under 18 daughters of the Kaçmaz family, who were kidnapped from Pakistan, wanted to continue their education in Turkey, but their application for equivalency, which is accepted all over the world, was not accepted[80] . Harun Atayün’s applications for enrollment in public schools were rejected on the grounds that his parents were on the list of the state of emergency decree[81] . These two children are just two examples. These children were denied access to education and were not allowed by state officials to make their own decisions about their future.
77. The children who are the subject of this report became depressed and experienced severe depression due to their inability to express themselves, being ignored, and being subjected to constant mobbing and peer bullying on the grounds of their family and school background. In many of them, negative externalizations such as quitting sports, gaining excessive weight, becoming withdrawn, withdrawing from their friends, and starting smoking were observed. They suffered from psychiatric illnesses and were in need of medication and psychological support[82] .

7.   Freedom of Expression (UNCRC Art.13)

78. Freedom of expression, which is included in all texts on human rights, is also included in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. Freedom of expression as a child right takes place in the convention as follows.

The child has the right to express his or her opinion freely; this right includes freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers, in written, oral, printed, artistic or other media of the child’s choice.

79. Freedom of expression is the right most severely suppressed during the State of Emergency. Erdoğan and the AKP have silenced all their opponents and severely penalized any form of freedom of expression they do not want.
80. The children of those who have been subjected to the emergency decree are among those most affected by this oppression. The children of the emergency decree victims could not find appropriate channels to express themselves. Relatively older university students campaigned on Twitter to free their parents from prison and to voice their health problems. Many of them have been targeted by “trolls”, cyber-attack groups close to Erdoğan and the AKP.
81. As is well known, clothing style is one of the most important reflections of freedom of expression. The fact that a soldier on trial on coup charges wears a t-shirt with the word “Hero” written in English is harshly criticized by AKP supporters. This situation led to serious victimization, including the children of those subjected to the emergency decree.

For example, when a woman goes to visit her husband in prison, she makes her little daughter wear a T-shirt that reads “My dad is hero”. Seeing this T-shirt, the gendarmerie detains the mother and the little girl[83] .

8.   Freedom of Thought, Conscience and Religion (UNCRC Art.14)

82. Freedom of thought, conscience and religion is a fundamental and inalienable right for children as well as adults. The regulation in Article 14 of the Convention is as follows:

1. States Parties shall respect the right of the child to freedom of thought, conscience and religion.
2. States Parties shall respect the right and duty of parents and, where appropriate, legal guardians to guide the child in the exercise of his or her rights in a manner consistent with the development of the child’s capabilities.
3. The first paragraph of the article regulates the obligation to respect the child’s freedom of thought, religion and conscience and the second paragraph regulates the obligation to respect the guidance of parents or legal guardians.
4. Emergency Decree victims, children of emergency decree victims are also deprived of the rights listed in this article.
5. In order to understand the situation of children, it would be appropriate to first consider those who have been subjected to emergency decrees. All of them have been dismissed from their jobs, arrested, and left to civil and social death on the grounds that they have links or affiliations with either the Hizmet Movement or other groups opposed to the AKP. In the arrest warrants, indictments, convictions and decisions of the State of Emergency Inquiry Commission (OHAL Commission), the following is what is considered a “crime”. “… working in institutions closed down by the State of Emergency Decree Law, keeping books of closed down publishers at home, subscribing to newspapers or magazines, donating to an association/foundation, participating in its activities, being a member of a union/association” or “… signing the declaration dated…”, “…. “posted on Twitter/Facebook/Instagram/Youtube”, “accessed … websites on his/her computer, phone”, “participated in the Gülen sect’s congregations with religious content”. All of these are matters within the scope and under the protection of freedom of thought, religion and conscience.
6. In terms of Children subject of Emergency Decree Laws, this group mostly includes former students of military high schools and war colleges closed down by emergency decrees and former students of primary, secondary, high school and university level schools closed down by emergency decrees on the grounds of their links to the Hizmet Movement.
7. These children, who were 14, 15, 16 years old on July 15, 2016, are included in the investigations pending their 18th birthday. There are even allegations of torture against some of them.
8. Some of the students of the closed military high schools are also charged with membership of an armed terrorist organization on the assumption that they are in contact or affiliated with the Hizmet Movement. The justification for this is the allegation that before entering military high schools, when they were 12-13 years old, they had dialogues with people connected to the Hizmet Movement. Moreover, those dates date back years before the events of July 15, 2016. The justification for the allegation is that they went to study centers affiliated with the Hizmet Movement or to the homes of university students, where they studied and participated in religious congregations. Based on this, it is assumed that the children were members of the Hizmet Movement at the time. Even if this assumption is correct, this is the children’s way of expressing themselves. Because participating in a civil movement within the limits of the law and adopting the values of that movement fall within the scope of freedom of religion and conscience.
9. The life of a young university student named Mustafa Enis Durak has been turned into hell due to the above criteria and practices. On July 15, 2016, when the shadowy coup attempt took place, he was a military high school student. His school was closed down by the State of Emergency Decree Law. He enrolled in another school and continued his education there, earning a degree in medicine. Years later, when he was 12-14 years old, he was accused of having contact with people affiliated with the Hizmet Movement. His accusation was based on phone call records from years ago obtained through completely illegal methods. Moreover, these phone call records are calls made from a pay phone to the child’s cell phone. Neither the caller nor the content of the call is known. The assumption was made that the call was a crime. However, no crime committed with those calls has been revealed. Despite this, he was sentenced to 7 years and 6 months and was arrested and sent to prison[84] .
10. All of these allegations have been brought to the international supervisory mechanisms by different individuals. UN decision-making bodies and the ECtHR have rendered many decisions and opinions on these issues. In all of these decisions, being in contact with the Hizmet Movement, attending religious congregations and conferences with members of the movement are all considered within the scope of freedom of religion and conscience.
11. The children subject of the emergency decree and the children of emergency decree victims are under strict surveillance. Today, they cannot come together in any way, nor can they post anything critical of Erdoğan or the AKP on their social media accounts. Otherwise, they face immediate detention, torture and arrest.

9.   Freedom of Association, Freedom of Association (UNCRC Art.15)

92. Freedom of association, in other words freedom of association, is an essential element of democracy. Through the ways in which this freedom is exercised, children have the chance to learn and internalize democracy and its values. Article 15 of the Convention regulates the freedom of association. The text of the article is as follows:

States Parties recognize the rights of the child to freedom of association and peaceful assembly. 

93. After July 15, 2016, 109 foundations and 1410 associations were closed down in Turkey. Among the closed associations are 11 women’s associations and 1 children’s association[85] . Gündem Children’s Association is the children’s association that was shut down[86] . Those who were members of these associations, participated in their activities and financially supported them were charged with membership of an armed terrorist organization and were tried with prison sentences ranging from 5 to 15 years.
94. When the people themselves were subjected to such accusations, it was not possible for their children to exercise their freedom of association.
95. As mentioned in the section on freedom of religion and conscience, children have been subjected to investigations and arrested after the age of 18 on the grounds that they attended institutions, university preparation courses, schools or student houses affiliated with the Hizmet Movement when they were 12-13 years old.[87] This is a clear violation of the freedom of association.

10.   The Right to Privacy (Article 16 of the UNCRC)

96. The right to privacy is one of the most fundamental rights of children as well as adults. However, the fact that they are young, inexperienced in life and sometimes need the guidance of an adult does not mean that they cannot benefit from this right.

The right to privacy is regulated in Article 16 of the Convention as follows

1. No child shall be subjected to arbitrary or unjustified interference with his/her private life, family, residence and communication, nor shall his/her honor and reputation be unjustly attacked.
2. The child has the right to be protected by law against such interference and attacks.

97. The right to privacy, as is clear from the text of the article, includes respect for family life, the inviolability of the inviolability of the home and the protection of all forms of communication. This protection applies to individuals and the state.
98. In Turkey, there are serious violations in this area for children under emergency decrees and children of those under emergency decrees.
99. In particular, the phone records of former military high school students, who are children subject of Emergency Decrees, from their times of childhood were obtained in violation of laws and regulations, and an attempt was made to fabricate crimes from these records. The fact that these children were called from a payphone years ago was considered a crime. Many children were detained, tortured and even arrested on charges of membership in an armed terrorist organization, despite the fact that there were no charges, no criminal calls, and even the caller was unknown[88] .
100. Their homes and private belongings were searched by the police on the basis of these records, which do not contain any accusations from years ago, i.e. without any concrete accusation or evidence of a crime. In this regard, the privacy of their private lives was violated.

11.   Responsibilities of Parents and the State in the Upbringing of the Child (UNCRC Art.18)

101. The Convention stipulates that the priority of the parents in the upbringing of the child should be respected and that the State should support them in this regard and provide the necessary contribution to the development of children.
102. The regulation on this right in Article 18 of the agreement is as follows.

1. States Parties shall make every effort to recognize the principle that parents bear joint responsibility for the upbringing and development of the child. The responsibility for the upbringing and development of the child falls primarily on the parents or, if the situation so requires, on the legal guardians. They act primarily with the best interests of the child in mind.
2. In order to secure and promote the rights set forth in the present Covenant, States Parties shall provide assistance appropriate to the situation of parents and legal guardians in the exercise of their responsibility for the upbringing of the child and shall promote the development of institutions, activities and services for the care of children.

103. It is seen that the children of the emergency decree and the children of emergency decree subjects are subjected to serious deprivations of rights under this article.
104. The parents of some of these children were arbitrarily and discriminately detained together. Their parents were prevented from contributing to their upbringing.
105. State organs have also excluded these children through discrimination-based approaches and practices.
106. As listed with examples in the sections on the prohibition of discrimination and the principle of the best interests of the child, the state has clearly failed to fulfill its obligations regarding the upbringing of these children.
107. As mentioned in the section on the obligations of the state with regard to the implementation of the rights of the child, a group of bureaucrats, including judges and prosecutors, held a workshop at the Police Academy, and in the workshop report they talked about a generational war that would include these children. All of these public officials are involved in the highest mechanisms of the bureaucracy. For example, Necim Cem İşçimen, Selfet Giray, Oğuz Dik, Yücel Erkman, Cafer Işık and Ali Alper Saylan, judges and prosecutors who attended the meeting, have been promoted to positions such as membership of the Supreme Court of Appeals.
108. While in the rest of the world, states are trying to fulfill all their care and obligations to ensure that children live with their parents, in Turkey, children have been used as leverage. Police officers, prosecutors and judges have threatened women, especially those were subject of emergency decrees, to separate them from their children, to take their children away from them and place them in state institutions. These threats have become seriously widespread[89] .

12.   Right to Protection from Abuse and Neglect (UNCRC Art.19)

109. The Convention places a duty on the state to take the necessary measures to protect children against possible abuse.
110. Article 19 of the Convention on the subject is as follows.

1. States Parties to the present Convention shall take all legislative, administrative, social and educational measures to protect the child against physical or mental assault, violence or abuse, neglect or negligent treatment, abuse or ill-treatment of any kind, including rape, and ill-treatment of any kind, whether physical or mental, while in the care of his or her parents or of either of them alone, or of his or her legal guardian or guardians, or of any person having care of him or her.
2. Such protective measures should include the prevention, identification, reporting, referral to the competent authority, investigation, treatment and other means of monitoring incidents of ill-treatment of children as defined herein and, where appropriate, judicial intervention, as well as effective procedures for the organization of social programs to provide the necessary support to the child and his or her caregivers, according to the needs of the situation.

111. As it is understood from the text of the Convention, it is one of the most important obligations of the state to take the necessary measures to prevent children from being abused by their relatives or others. The State’s obligation here is to prevent the danger from occurring.
112. In particular, the children of emergency decree subjects have suffered serious right violations in this regard.
113. Some children’s parents were detained together at the same time. Young children aged 3-5 were left unattended. They were not taken into custody with their mothers, they were simply left with a neighbor or an acquaintance. These children were left exposed to danger.
114. Children subject of emergency decrees and children of emergency decree subjects have been subjected to abuse in many areas with the perspective that “the child of a witch is also a witch”. The most serious of these is sexual abuse. During prison visits, little girls as well as their mothers were searched down to their underwear. There were even incidents of sexual harassment. One mother stated that during a search during a prison visit, her daughter was violently hit on her genitals after the search and that the child was psychologically shaken and could not come to herself for a long time[90] .
115. Journalist Aytekin Gezici’s son Emir, who suffers from scoliosis, has 27 platelets in his back. He also has medical reports documenting his condition. Despite this, when he goes to visit his father in prison, prison officials do not consider the report sufficient and strip the child completely. This situation destroys the child’s psychology[91] .

13.   Right to Protection of the Child Deprived of Family Environment (UNCRC Art.20)

116. The Convention regulates the protection of children who are deprived of the family environment for any reason, such as the death or loss of their parents or their arrest together.

117. Article 20 of the Convention regulating the subject is as follows.

1. Every child who is temporarily or permanently deprived of his or her family environment, or who cannot, in his or her own interest, be left in that environment, shall be entitled to special protection and assistance from the State.
2. States Parties shall provide appropriate care for a child in this situation in accordance with their national laws.
3. Such care may include, inter alia, placement in foster care, bail in Islamic law (kafalah), adoption or, if necessary, placement in appropriate child care institutions. In considering solutions, due regard shall be given to the preservation of continuity in the child’s upbringing and to the child’s ethnic, religious, cultural and linguistic identity

118. As with many other articles of the Convention, serious abuses have occurred under this article.
119. Some of the children of those detained under the emergency decree are in this scope. Some children’s parents were arrested together.
120. When this article of the Convention and the principle of best interests are considered together, measures must be taken to ensure that children are not deprived of their parents in any way. This rule also applies to those who take part in criminal investigations and prosecutions related to those under emergency decree. However, this has not been the case. The opposite has happened. Police officers, judges and prosecutors have threatened people with their children. They were threatened with expressions and sentences containing threats and intimidation, such as that husband and wife would be arrested, that the children would be left unattended, that they would be placed in an orphanage, and who knows what would happen to them there. The purpose of these threats is to make people give statements against themselves or others[92] .
121. Some of the children whose parents were arrested were left with elderly grandparents. People who could not take care of themselves had to take care of these children. The psycho-social needs of the children were not met. Unfortunately, many of these children suffered from psychiatric illnesses.

A few examples of cases in this regard are given below.

• Menekşe Turen’s daughter Nurefşan leaves the closed private school and enrolls in a public school. She was a 4th grade student at the time. At school, teachers and students labeled the child as a terrorist and called her a “terrorist” and a “FETÖ member”. He was subjected to bullying by teachers and peer bullying by students. The child develops an anxiety disorder because of what he has been through. He does not want to go to school. He experiences trauma. Psychiatric disorders begin. He experiences vomiting, nausea and sleep disturbances every day. He had to change schools twice. When she reached high school age, her mother was also arrested. In the meantime, she had to stay with her grandparents. She suffers from psychiatric problems. She received psychiatric treatment. She did not go to school until her mother was released. In her mother’s absence, the younger daughter closes herself in the closet of the house. She does not sit at the table with the other members of the household. She does not eat with anyone. She also receives psychiatric treatment and starts medication[93] .
• Nesibe Nur Akkaş and her husband are victims of the state of emergency decree. A while after her husband was arrested, she was also arrested. The family was torn apart. Nesibe Nur Akkaş wrote a letter to HDP MP and human rights defender Ömer Faruk Gergerlioğlu explaining her situation. In the letter, she described what her children went through during the arrest of her husband and then herself as follows: “My eldest daughter is 12 years old. 42 months ago, after her father’s arrest, she started to gain weight due to the trauma she went through. I was taking my daughter to Celal Bayar University Hospital for treatment. My daughter, who had already been receiving treatment with a red prescription for ‘Attention Deficit-Impulsivity’ since the age of 7, started taking antidepressants at the age of 10. Due to the difficulties and traumas she was exposed to, in November 2018 (after her mother was also arrested) she attempted suicide by drinking excessive amount of the depressant medications prescribed by the doctor for her treatment.”. Nesibe Nur Akkaş stated that after her arrest, her 16-year-old son stayed with his schizophrenic grandmother in Izmir and said, “My son was taken to the doctor during the 15th vacation upon my insistence and the doctor diagnosed him as manic depressive and called him for regular examinations. Unfortunately, there is no one who can take him to the doctor now. Because his doctor is in Turgutlu, his school is in Çiğli, Izmir, and my mother’s house is in Evka 4, Izmir. They are all in very opposite places. My son, who has problems with absenteeism, focusing on lessons and participation, often has difficulty even taking care of himself.”[94]
• Kamil and Münire Akyol are subjects of a state of emergency decree. Kamil Akyol was arrested and imprisoned for 4 years. Four months after his release, Münire Akyol was arrested this time. This traumatized the children aged 6, 7 and 9. Kamil Akyol expressed what the children went through as follows: “The children were with us when I was detained. They experienced that heavy trauma. For three days I have been trying to comfort the children, they are very angry. They sleep and wake up startled. They ask me, ‘Dad, you were gone for four years, now won’t mom come back for four years?”[95] .
• A 58-year-old woman’s 2 daughters are arrested. Her two daughters and a son-in-law are put in prisons in different cities. In other words, they are kept in three different prisons in three cities far away from each other. These children have 5 children in total, ranging in age from 2 to 7 years old. All these children stay with their grandmother[96] .
• Ümmü and Ali Fışkınlı’s daughter Kamile and her husband are subjects of the state of emergency decree. They were arrested and put in prison. Their 4 children, aged between 4,5 and 13, had to stay with their grandparents[97] .
• Ayşe and Mehmet Meleş are both subjects of the state of emergency decree. First Mehmet Meleş was arrested, and four years later Ayşe Meleş was also arrested. The three children, aged between 9 and 15, had to stay with their 82-year-old grandmother. While they were waiting for their father’s release, their mother’s arrest caused extra trauma for the children. With their parents arrested and their aunt dying of cancer, the three siblings go through difficult times and undergo psychological treatment[98] .
• Hamza Tarık Durmuş has autism. When he was 15, his mother got cancer, and when he was 16, his father was arrested. All these events turned his psychology upside down. He started to have tantrums. As the seizures became more frequent, they had difficulty finding a house to rent. Sports schools and rehabilitation centers did not accept the child due to the frequency of the crises[99] .
• Elif Güven and Selim Güven are both subjects of the state of emergency decree. First Selim Güven was arrested, and two years later Elif Güven was arrested. The two children, aged 6 and 8, had to be taken care of by their grandparents. Elif Güven was sent to Tarsus Prison when she was arrested because they lived in Adana at the time of her arrest. The distance between her grandfather and grandmother, to whom the children go, is more than 1000 kilometers. The children and the mother did not see each other for 10 months. The grandmother, who had facial paralysis due to grief, tries to raise her two boys in her sick condition. The children away from their mother are in psychological trauma[100] .

122. The separation of the children of emergency decree subjects from their parents during the detention period caused alienation and coldness within the family, and the children could not get used to their parents even after their release[101] .
123. Some children were born after their father’s arrest. These children (some of them still) either never saw their fathers or only had the chance to see them during visits[102] .

14.   Rights of Adopted Children (UNCRC Art.21)

124. The Convention also sets out basic principles on adoption. This issue has been specifically regulated as it is of great importance for children. Article 21 of the Convention regulates this issue.
125. A new group of victimized children, the subject of this report, was created during the State of Emergency. While these children were in foster care, they were victimized when these families were suddenly deemed terrorists on arbitrary grounds. Children were forcibly separated from people who were declared criminals with the arguments produced by the State of Emergency Decree Laws.
126. With a letter dated August 23, 2016, the Ministry of Family and Social Policies sent a circular to 81 provinces with an urgent code and ordered to conduct research on families providing foster care and adoption services[103] . The Ministry circular is dated 19/08/2016 and is on “Measures to be taken within the scope of Fethullahist Terrorist Organization (FETÖ/PDY)”. The circular ordered to investigate foster families and to take back children from those who are deemed to have links with the Hizmet Movement. Accordingly, only children were forcibly taken from families who had been prosecuted for being members of the Hizmet Movement[104] .
127. This process was carried out by the state itself in violation of the obligations imposed by the convention. The Minister of Family at the time even had the indiscretion to share with journalists the fact that 9 children were taken from families with emergency decrees as a great success.[105]Rights of Children with Disabilities (UNCRC Art.23)
128. The situation of children with disabilities is also addressed separately in the Convention. Many issues such as meeting the health needs of these children, providing them with the necessary social support, providing education and rehabilitation services, and ensuring that they are not subjected to discrimination are mentioned.

129. Article 23 of the relevant agreement is below.

1. States Parties recognize that children with mental or physical disabilities should have a full life under conditions that guarantee their dignity, enhance their self-esteem and facilitate their effective participation in social life.
2. States Parties recognize the right of children with disabilities to special care and encourage and undertake, to the extent of available resources and upon application, to provide assistance to the child who is eligible for such assistance and to those responsible for his or her care, appropriate to the child’s condition and the circumstances of the parents or caregivers.
3. Considering that the disabled child needs special care, the assistance envisaged to be provided in accordance with paragraph 2 of this Article shall be provided free of charge to the extent possible, taking into account the financial situation of the child’s parents or those caring for the child. This assistance is arranged to ensure that the disabled child effectively benefits from education, vocational training, medical care services, rehabilitation services, preparation programs for employment and recreational opportunities and aims to realize the child’s individual development, including cultural and spiritual aspects, as well as the child’s integration into society in the most complete way.
4. In the spirit of international cooperation, States Parties shall encourage the exchange of information and the utilization of that information, including information on methods of rehabilitation, education and vocational training services, as well as the exchange of necessary information in the areas of preventive medical care, medical, psychological and functional treatment of children with disabilities, with a view to enriching the strengths, understanding and experience of States Parties in these areas. In this respect, particular consideration shall be given to the needs of developing countries.
5. The disabled children of those who have been subjected to emergency decrees have also suffered serious deprivation of rights in this regard.
6. Although the Turkish state is committed to ensuring the welfare of children with disabilities in all aspects as written in the first subparagraph, the situation is completely different when it comes to the children of the Decree Law holders.
7. Many disabled and handicapped children have been denied financial assistance by the state on the grounds that their parents are members of the state of emergency decree. They have been expelled from education and rehabilitation institutions.
8. Examples reflected in open sources are listed below.
   • Rüveyda Tekgöz is a child with “very severe special needs” according to medical reports. Like all other disabled children in the country, Rüveyda was receiving social assistance from the state. During the state of emergency, this aid was cut. Mother Nazire Tekgöz’s applications were always rejected. After a while, the disability pension, which was required by law, was also canceled. The written response to Ms. Tekgöz’s application to the Prime Ministry Communication Center (BIMER) in 2017 stated that “the Social Assistance and Solidarity Foundation cannot provide assistance to citizens who have been prosecuted, dismissed, suspended or arrested within the scope of FETÖ/PDY terrorist organization activities”. As can be seen, an aid to a legally severely disabled child was canceled on the grounds that one of his parents was a subject of the Emergency Decree Law.
   • Burcu Aktaş is a girl with 70% Down syndrome. Her care allowance was cut off because her father is a member of the state of emergency decree[106] .
   • Yakup Ali Çetin is 94% disabled. When he was 15 years old, his father was arrested. His father Eyüp Çetin takes care of all his care. He also received special training in caring for his child. Eyüp Çetin, a member of the state of emergency decree, was arrested. The child is left with no one to take care of him, especially in times of crisis. The child is thus left to die[107] .
   • Nalan Dilber is 7 years old and has Down syndrome. Her mother Nuran Dilber is a member of the state of emergency decree and is imprisoned. Nalan Dilber could not bear the longing for her mother, so she prepared a bag for herself and tried to run away from home to go to the prison where her mother was being kept[108] .

15.   Right to Health and Health Services (UNCRC Art.24)

134. The provision of health services to children is regulated as a separate article in the convention. The article imposes obligations on the state in many areas such as reducing infant and child mortality rates, ensuring vaccination and protection against infectious diseases.
135. Article 24 of the Convention regulating the issue is as follows.
136. States Parties recognize the right of the child to the best attainable standard of health and to have access to medical care and rehabilitation facilities. States Parties shall endeavor to ensure that no child is denied the right to such medical care.
137. States Parties shall pursue the full implementation of this right and, in particular a) Reducing infant and child mortality rates; b) Providing all children with the necessary medical assistance and medical care, with emphasis on the development of primary health care; c) Combating disease and malnutrition within the framework of primary health care and through, inter alia, the use of readily available techniques and the provision of nutritious food and clean drinking water, taking into account the dangers and hazards of environmental pollution d) Provide appropriate prenatal and postnatal care for the mother; e) Help all sectors of society, especially parents and children, to acquire and use basic knowledge about child health and nutrition, the benefits of breastfeeding, public and environmental health and accident prevention; f) They take appropriate measures to improve preventive health care, parental guidance, family planning education and services.
138. States Parties shall take all appropriate and effective measures to eliminate traditional practices harmful to the health of children.
139. States Parties mutually pledge to develop and promote international cooperation with a view to progressively achieving the full realization of the right recognized in this article. Particular attention shall be paid in this regard to the needs of developing countries.

136. As in other areas highlighted in this report, the children of emergency decree subjects have been deprived of their rights in this regard as well.
137. In the 3rd Year of the State of Emergency’s Social Costs Report, it was found that 71% of the children of those subjected to emergency decrees are in need of medical and psychological support. On the other hand, it was revealed that 16% of the children of those subjected to emergency decrees do not have health insurance and therefore cannot receive medical/psychological support[109] . Some of these children are afflicted with chronic diseases that will affect the rest of their lives[110] .
138. Violations of rights faced by children subjected to the state of emergency decree
     • The green cards of families with emergency decrees, including children, were canceled. The green card is an opportunity for poor families to receive free treatment at state health institutions. Families subject to emergency decree and their children are forced to pay significant amounts of money for all medical needs, from the mildest ailments to the most serious one[111] .
     • Nurefşan Ketenci, who was born with Cat Meow Syndrome (Cri du Chat), which is seen in one in 50 thousand people in the world, was expelled from the rehabilitation center where she was receiving education because her father was a subject of the state of emergency decree[112] .
     • MP Ömer Faruk Gergerlioğlu shared that a member of parliament, Ömer Faruk Gergerlioğlu, said the following to him: “The day before the coup, a disabled baby was born. When my husband was suspended in September, we moved in with his family. While I was in the hospital with my baby, I received an order that all our health rights were taken away. I asked for help from the district governor’s office, I was repeatedly dismissed. All I wanted was for them to provide general health insurance for my baby, but they did not. My baby did not receive the necessary treatment and died in June 2017.”[113] .
139. Another issue that constitutes a violation of Article 24 of the Convention is the practices faced by pregnant women and infant mortality. In the 3rd Report on the Social Costs of the State of Emergency in its 3rd Year, findings were made on this issue. Accordingly, “According to TurkStat infant mortality statistics, the crude “infant mortality rate”, which refers to the number of infant deaths per thousand live births, is around ∼10 per thousand in Turkey. However, the State of Emergency Victim Families stated that the rate of “Miscarriage of the Child / Death of the Infant due to the Stress Experienced by the Spouse during Pregnancy” is 5.4%, which means that, according to the most tolerant calculations, the “infant mortality rate” among the families of the Emergency Decree Victims is at least 2 times higher than the average of Turkey[114] . “
140. A few examples of the incidents are given below.

• Nurhayat Yıldız, a KHK victim who was pregnant with twins, was arbitrarily arrested and imprisoned. She was not given a bed in prison. She had to sleep on the floor in front of the toilet. She experienced extreme stress. She was not provided with the necessary nutrition and medical support. She was not monitored. That was why she miscarried a child[115] .
• Gülden Aşık was a subject of state of emergency decree. She was arrested despite being pregnant. While in prison, her 7-week-old baby died in the womb. The baby was surgically removed[116] .
• Another detainee, a pregnant woman victim of a state of emergency decree, her baby died while still in her womb. Although the woman insisted to the prison administration that she could not feel her baby, she was not taken seriously. The dead fetus poisoned the mother and she died[117] .
• Hanife Çiftçi was detained while pregnant. Due to the harsh conditions of detention, she started bleeding. Although she insisted on reporting her condition, no medical intervention was provided. She was arrested in this state. She was also not given the necessary intervention while in prison. When her condition worsened, the baby died in the womb[118] .
• Büşra Atalay, a KHK subject who became pregnant through IVF and was in a sensitive period, was detained by the police at the hospital and her statement was taken. The stress of the situation triggered premature labor. In this state, she was taken from hospital to hospital and the baby died[119] .
• Detained unlawfully and arbitrarily, E.U., who was 8 weeks pregnant, miscarried and lost her baby due to stress[120] .
• Yasemin Atik was an educator subject of a state of emergency decree. When she learned that she was being investigated based on the criteria introduced by the decree laws, she hid in a house. However, she was pregnant. She did not want to give birth in prison. So she had to give birth at home without being able to go to a hospital, which was risky for her and for the baby’s life[121] .

16.   Right to Social Security (UNCRC Art.26)

141. The right to social security refers to the right to a dignified life in society, including unemployment, economic insufficiency, coverage of expensive medicines and treatment, and economic support in old age and retirement.
142. The Convention also provides for the right to social security for children. Even if they are under the control of a parent or guardian and need the economic support of others, they are entitled to this right independently.
143. Article 26 of the Convention regulating the subject is as follows. 

1. States Parties recognize the right of every child to social security, including social insurance, and shall take appropriate measures, in accordance with their national laws, to ensure the full realization of this right.
2. Social security shall be provided taking into account the resources and circumstances of the child and those responsible for the child’s care, and taking into account any other circumstances relevant to the application for social security benefits made by or on behalf of the child.

144. Although Turkey has recognized the right to social security through this convention and its constitution and has committed to provide this right for children, discriminatory practices and victimizations have been created when it comes to the issue of emergency decree subjects and their children.
145. Examples of this situation are listed below.
     • Families subject of emergency decrees have either had their child allowances cut off or their applications rejected[122] .
     • KHK victims, who already had difficulty finding a job and earning an income, were in a much more difficult situation during the corona pandemic. They applied for aid for themselves and their children, but their applications were rejected because they were on the list of a state of emergency decree[123] .
     • Families subjected to emergency decrees who lost their homes in natural disasters such as earthquakes were left deserted with their children but were not benefited from aid[124] .
     • Rüveyda Tekgöz, who has a daughter with autism, was deprived of social assistance on the grounds that her father was a subject of state of emergency decree[125] .

17.   Right to an adequate standard of living (UNCRC Art.27)

146. Children have the right to an adequate standard of living in accordance with their physical and mental development. In this regard, parents and guardians as well as the state have obligations.
147. This issue is regulated in a separate and special article in the Convention. The obligations of the state are listed in detail.
148. Article 27 of the Convention regulating the issue is as follows.
149. States Parties recognize the right of every child to a standard of living adequate for physical, mental, spiritual, moral and social development.
150. The responsibility for providing the necessary living conditions for the development of the child shall fall primarily on the child’s parents or other persons caring for the child within the limits of their means and financial capacity.
151. States Parties shall, according to their national situation and to the extent of their means, take the necessary measures to assist parents and other persons caring for the child in the implementation of this right of the child and shall, where necessary, provide financial assistance and support programs, in particular in the areas of nutrition, clothing and housing.
152. States Parties shall take all appropriate measures to ensure that the costs of caring for the child, whether in the territory of the State Party or elsewhere, are met by the parents or other persons having financial responsibility for the child. In particular, where the person with financial responsibility for the child lives in a country other than the country of the child, States Parties shall encourage the conclusion of international agreements in this regard or the conclusion of such agreements, as well as other appropriate arrangements.

149. As explained above, people on the lists of emergency decrees have been made the target of a “generational war” and they and their children have been deprived of their basic rights with the logic of “the child of a witch is also a witch!” and discrimination-based perspectives.
150. The following are examples of violations of the right to an adequate standard of living.
     • The state has taken away the right to benefit from the so-called green card health aid from the Decree Law subjects and their children[126] .
     • They were deprived of the support provided to economically disadvantaged groups such as childcare support, corona aid and earthquake aid[127] .
     • Many students were denied state scholarships on the grounds that their parents were on the list of a state of emergency decree[128] .

18.   Right to Education (UNCRC Art.28)

151. The right to education is one of the most fundamental human rights enshrined in all texts on human rights. Undoubtedly, the importance of this right increases even more when children are concerned.
152. The Convention makes detailed regulations on children’s right to education and sets out the obligations of states to ensure equality of opportunity for all children, to provide free basic education, to make higher education accessible, and to provide the necessary guidance support in the future.
153. Article 28 of the Convention regulating the issue is as follows.
154. States Parties recognize the right of the child to education and, with a view to the progressive realization of this right on the basis of equality of opportunity, in particular a) Make primary education compulsory and free of charge for all; b) Encourage the organization of secondary education in its various forms, general as well as vocational, and ensure that it is open to all children and take appropriate measures, including, where necessary, financial assistance and free tuition; c) Make higher education open to all according to their ability, using all appropriate means; d) Make information and guidance on educational and vocational choice available to all children; e) Take measures to ensure regular attendance at school and to reduce drop-out rates.
155. States Parties shall take all measures necessary to ensure that school discipline is conducted in a manner consistent with the dignity of the child as a human being and in conformity with the present Convention.
156. States Parties shall strengthen and encourage international cooperation in the field of education, in particular with a view to contributing to the eradication of illiteracy and illiteracy from the world and to facilitating the acquisition of modern educational methods and scientific and technical knowledge. In this regard, particular consideration shall be given to the needs of developing countries.
157. Children subjected and the children of those subjected to emergency decree have also suffered serious victimization in this regard. Their right to education was taken away from them and they were subjected to discrimination and oppression during education. Some children could not bear the situation and had to leave formal education and continue distance education. At schools, some teachers discriminated against children subjected to emergency decrees. They lowered their grades and blamed their parents when they were asked why. Children from closed military and private schools were bullied by other students in the schools they attended.
158. A few examples of violative practices in this regard are given below.
     • A student who won the National Defense University was denied enrollment on the grounds that his relatives were on the list of a state of emergency decree[129] .
     • Nurefşan Ketenci, who was born with Cat Meow Syndrome (Cri du Chat), which is seen in one in 50 thousand people in the world, was expelled from the rehabilitation center where she was studying because her father was a subjecct of the state of emergency decree[130] .
     • Many students were denied state scholarships on the grounds that their parents were subjected to a state of emergency decree[131] .
     • Some of the children of emergency decree subjects were discriminated against in schools and given low grades by teachers. It was even reported that a teacher said to a primary school-age child to whom she gave an unfairly low grade, “I am not giving this grade to you, but to your mother.”[132] .
     • Students of military high schools closed down by the State of Emergency decrees are banned from entering science and social sciences high schools that offer good education[133] .
     • Students of the closed schools were subjected to discrimination and bullying by teachers and students in the new schools they attended[134] .
     • Students from closed schools have faced obstacles in having their education from their old schools recognized in the new school[135] .
     • The daughters of the Kaçmaz family, who were abducted from Pakistan and forcibly brought to Turkey, were denied recognition and prevented from continuing their education[136] . However, for years, the diplomas of thousands of Turkish and foreign children who graduated from these schools have always been recognized.
     • When the Air Force Academy was closed down, students were given their diplomas through Istanbul Technical University, but on the diplomas it was written “This diploma was issued with the Decree Law No. 669”. Due to the Decree Law mentioned here, it has become impossible for them to enter business life and use these diplomas[137] .
     • Public schools in some cities did not accept the students of schools closed down by the State of Emergency Decree Law. Therefore, students living in those cities had to enroll in very expensive private schools[138] .
     • Harun Atayün, son of former Police Chief Anadolu Atayün, was not admitted to public schools due to the arrest and imprisonment of his father and mother on the grounds of criteria created by emergency decrees[139] .

19.  Right to Protection against Torture and Deprivation of Liberty (UNCRC Art.37)

156. Torture is explicitly prohibited in the Convention on the Rights of the Child, as it is prohibited in all international conventions. Again, arbitrary arrest is prohibited and even arrest itself is not recognized as a last resort for children.
157. Article 37 of the agreement regulating the issue is as follows.

States Parties shall ensure that: a) No child shall be subjected to torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. No child under the age of eighteen years shall be sentenced to death for crimes committed by them, nor shall they be sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of release. b) No child shall be deprived of his or her liberty unlawfully or arbitrarily. The arrest, detention or imprisonment of a child shall be in accordance with the law and shall be considered only as a measure of last resort and shall be limited to the shortest appropriate period of time. c) Every child deprived of his or her liberty shall be treated humanely and with due regard for the inherent dignity of the human person and the needs of persons of his or her age. Every child deprived of his or her liberty shall, unless his or her best interests require otherwise, be kept separate, in particular from adults, and shall have the right, except in exceptional circumstances, to communicate with his or her family by correspondence and interviews. d) Every child deprived of his or her liberty shall have the right to legal and other appropriate assistance as soon as possible, and shall have the right to challenge the illegality of his or her deprivation of liberty before a court or other competent, independent and impartial authority and to request an expeditious decision on such action.

158. As in many other areas of the convention, children under emergency decree and children of those under emergency decree have been subjected to serious violations of their rights.
159. Examples of torture practices are given below.
     • On July 15, 2016, military school students who had nothing to do with the events that took place during the shady coup attempt were tortured while in custody[140] .
     • The children of the Kaçmaz family abducted from Pakistan, who were under 18 years of age at the time of the incident, were tortured. The United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention has issued a decision of violation regarding this torture practice[141] .
     • Elif İstif was detained by the police on the grounds that she was over 18 years old, even though she was under 18 and had stated her condition. She was detained for 9 days. During this period, she was interrogated under the name of interview, in the absence of a lawyer, and subjected to pressure and torture. The lawyer assigned by the Bar Association refused to attend his defense. When there was a break during the interrogation in court, the police officers came to him and said, “You will be punished, are you ready to be arrested?” and continued their pressure there as well. After he was released from the court, a police officer who uncuffed him threatened him by saying “Don’t worry, you will be taken again when you turn 18”[142] .
     • When Erdem Can was 17 years old, his father was detained in Turkey on the grounds that he had links to the Hizmet Movement, based on criteria introduced by the emergency decrees. In other words, he is the child of a decree law subject. While in detention, he was tortured. He describes the torture he was subjected to as follows: “I was detained for 14 hours. They made me lie on the ground, insulted and swore at me, and handcuffed me. “[143] .
160. Arbitrary arrests and deprivation of liberty.
     • The Working Group on Arbitrary Detention found that the children of the Kaçmaz family were arbitrarily deprived of their liberty. Like them, dozens of children abducted from other countries have been detained and imprisoned together with their parents[144] .
     • 62 military students in grades 9, 10, 11 and 12 at Kuleli Military High School were arrested as part of the coup attempt investigation[145] . Many other minors from military high schools and cadet schools have been arrested.
     • The students of the closed Military High Schools, who were only 14, 15, 16 years old on July 15, 2016, are being included in investigations, detained and arrested pending their 18th birthday. There are even allegations of torture against some of them.
     • Some of the students of the closed military high schools are also charged with membership of an armed terrorist organization on the assumption that they are in contact or affiliated with the Hizmet Movement. The justification for this is the allegation that before entering military high schools, when they were 12-13 years old, they had dialogues with people connected to the Hizmet Movement. Moreover, the alleged dates go back years before the events of July 15, 2016. The justification for the allegation is that they went to study centers affiliated with the Hizmet Movement or to the homes of university students, where they studied and participated in religious conversations. However, precedent decisions have been issued by the ECHR and UN Decision-making bodies on all of these. It has been clearly demonstrated that the detentions and arrests made on these grounds were arbitrary.
     • As explained above, the life of a young university student named Mustafa Enis Durak was turned into hell due to the above criteria and practices. On July 15, 2016, when the shady coup attempt took place, he was a military high school student. His school was closed down by the State of Emergency Decree Law. He enrolled in another school and continued his education there, earning a degree in medicine. Years later, when he was 12-14 years old, he was accused of having contact with people affiliated with the Hizmet Movement. His accusation was based on phone call records from years ago obtained through completely illegal methods. Moreover, these phone call records are calls made from a pay phone to the child’s cell phone. Neither the caller nor the content of the call is known. The assumption was made that the call was a crime. However, no crime committed with those calls has been revealed. Despite this, he was sentenced to 7 years and 6 months and was arrested and sent to prison. There are hundreds of children in the same situation as Mustafa Enis Durak.
161. Children sent to prison with their mothers.
     • Another dimension of arbitrary arrest is children who are forced to stay in prison with their mothers. Thousands of pregnant women and women with babies have been detained and even arrested on the basis of criteria established by the State of Emergency Decree Laws. Their detentions and arrests are unlawful and arbitrary, as explained earlier.
     • Article 109 of the Code of Criminal Procedure Although there are many judicial control measures as an alternative to arrest in Article 109; Article 16/4 of the Law on the Execution of Criminal and Security Measures stipulates that the execution of sentences for pregnant women and women who have been in prison for less than 1 year and 6 months after giving birth shall be postponed; Article 105-A-3/a stipulates that women who are in prison, who have children aged 0-6 and who have less than 2 years left to complete their sentence shall be released early to benefit from probation; and Article 110/4 stipulates that women with babies who have less than 3 years left to complete their sentences shall be sentenced at home instead of prison. Despite this, pregnant women and women with babies on the Emergency Decree lists were not allowed to benefit from these provisions. Moreover, their detention periods were arbitrarily long. This is a clear and blatant discrimination.
     • Many children between the ages of 0-6 had to go to prison with their mothers[146] . The number of these children reached 780 in 2019. The only reason for this is that their mothers are members of the state of emergency decree. If it was a normal criminal offense, their arrest would not have been possible in accordance with legal regulations. Many basic and compulsory needs of children staying with their mothers in prison, such as nutrition, shelter, access to open air, access to playgrounds and swimming pools, toys, contact with the soil, kindergarten, access to a pediatrician, and contact with pets, have not been and still are not met.
     • Zeynep Öztan is a subject of a state of emergency decree. She is a mother of 3 children, the youngest of whom is 7 months old. She was referred for arrest and released on judicial control. Later, another criminal magistrate of peace, telling her to “raise her children in prison”, lifted the judicial control order and issued an arrest warrant[147] .
     • Betül Topçu is 5 years old. Her parents are both detained under a state of emergency decree. She was separated from her parents for 1 year. When she visited her mother in prison, she did not want to be separated from her. So she started to stay in prison with her mother. Due to the bad prison conditions and falling from the bunk bed, he could not stay in prison either. He had to leave his mother again[148] .

20.   The Right to a Fair Trial and Principles of a Child-Specific Justice System (UNCRC Art.40)

21. Children have the right to a fair trial as much or even more than adults. The Convention on the Rights of the Child regulates this issue in a more sensitive and detailed manner than for adults.
22. Article 40 of the agreement regulating the issue is as follows.
23. States Parties recognize the right of every child who is alleged to have violated, charged with or admitted to have violated the criminal law to be treated in a manner which promotes his or her sense of dignity and worth and fosters respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms in others, taking into account the child’s age and the desirability of his or her reintegration and constructive role in society.
24. To this end, and having regard to the relevant provisions of international instruments, States Parties shall, in particular, ensure that: a) No child shall be charged or alleged to have violated the criminal law, nor shall he or she be deemed to have done so, by reason of an act or omission which was not prohibited by national or international law at the time it was committed. b) Every child against whom a charge or allegation of a violation of the criminal law is made or made shall have the following minimum guarantees: i) ii) To be promptly and directly informed of the charges against them, or, where appropriate, through their parents or legal guardians, and to receive legal or other appropriate assistance in the preparation and presentation of their defense; iii) To have the matter determined without delay by a fair hearing in accordance with the law before a competent, independent and impartial authority or tribunal, with the benefit of judicial or other appropriate assistance, and in the presence of his or her parents or legal guardian, unless it is determined to be contrary to his or her best interests, taking into account in particular the age and condition of the child; iv) Not to be compelled to give testimony or to give an admission of guilt; to cross-examine or have cross-examined witnesses against him or her, and to ensure on equal terms the presence and cross-examination of witnesses in his or her favor; v) If it is concluded that a violation of criminal law has occurred, the decision and the measures taken as a result thereof shall be reviewed in accordance with the law before a higher, independent and impartial authority or court; vi) The right of the child to the assistance of a free interpreter if he or she does not understand or cannot speak the language used; vii) The right to full respect for the right to privacy at all stages of the proceedings;
25. States Parties shall promote the establishment of laws, procedures, authorities and institutions applicable exclusively to the child alleged, accused or recognized to have violated the criminal law, and in particular shall endeavor to: a) a) establishing a minimum age limit for violating the Criminal Code, recognizing that a child below that age limit is not criminally competent; b) taking measures for such children without judicial prosecution, where appropriate and desirable, provided that human rights and legal guarantees are fully respected. 4. In the application of various arrangements, such as protection measures, guidance and supervision orders, counselling, conditional release, placement in care, educational and vocational training programmes and other institutional care options, children shall be treated in a manner proportionate to their situation and offence and conducive to their well-being.
26. Turkey is already stayed quite behind when it comes to the juvenile justice system. Many scandals related to institutions affiliated to Social Services have come to the agenda many times. Again, the situation of juvenile prisons and education centers are constantly criticized in international reports.
27. The situation has not changed when it comes to children subjected to emergency decrees. As mentioned above, as of July 15, 2016, hundreds of military high school and military academy students between the ages of 14-18 were detained, tortured and arrested[149] .
28. Hundreds of children were detained and arrested after the age of 18 on charges of membership of an armed terrorist organization on the grounds that they had been in contact with people connected to the Hizmet Movement when they were 12-13 years old, that they had received education in schools and university preparation courses affiliated to the Hizmet Movement. At that time, as of the date of the report, the ministers who governed the country and members of all parties with groups in the parliament were in closer contact with the Hizmet Movement than these children. The Hizmet Movement was given awards by politicians and public officials who ruled the state at the time. In other words, the Hizmet Movement was completely legal and legitimate. Like hundreds of thousands of other people, these children were arrested on the basis of retrospectively created criminal assumptions.
29. These children were accused of having been called from a pay phone years ago. The prosecutors did not put forward anything that should have been put forward as an element of crime, such as who called, what they said, what was said, and the children were asked to prove that they were innocent. In other words, both a retrospective crime was created and the burden of proof was shifted[150] .
30. The right of detained children to meet with their lawyers in detention and in prison has been restricted.
31. Children were deprived of rights such as visits, letters, access to libraries and social activities during their imprisonment[151] .
32. Many principles of the juvenile justice system, such as detention being a last resort, alternative methods to detention, ensuring and increasing contact with family and relatives, have not been implemented.

CONCLUSION

Children are among the priorities of the state in Turkey, as in the rest of the world.  The state is primarily responsible for removing obstacles to children’s access to their rights, raising awareness on children’s rights, prioritizing the best interests of the child, eliminating discrimination and ensuring equal opportunities.

In Turkey, when it comes to Children subjected to Emergency Decree Laws and Children of People subjected to Emergency Decree Laws, everything in the state order has suddenly turned upside down.  As stated in this Report, these children have become the target of a unilaterally declared “war that will last for generations”, which is reflected in official meetings and documents.  With the approach of “the child of a witch is also a witch!”, a darkness which is much darker than the darkness of the Middle Ages has descended upon these children in the 21st century. Some of the children who are the subject of this report could not bear this oppression, discrimination and hatred and chose to commit suicide. Some may have seen suicide as salvation, while others may have seen it as a challenge, a rebellion against oppression.  Whatever the reason, young lives have become the victims of a meaningless and politically fabricated “war” to which they were in no way party.

As revealed in this report, almost all of the rights of Children who are the victims of Emergency Decree Laws and Children of Emergency Decree Laws victims, which are included in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, have been violated. These violations have been addressed with a legal approach. However, it is obvious that the violations of rights are far beyond what the bodies and souls of children can bear. Therefore, it is essential to address the issue with the data of sociology, psychology and pedagogy.

Although the state of emergency has officially ended in Turkey, it de facto continues. People subjected to emergency decrees are a disadvantaged group created by the state. Discrimination and rights violations against them still continue. Every child born into a family subjected to a state of emergency decree starts life with disadvantages. A life journey awaits him/her in which he/she will be subjected to intense discriminatory practices even in basic issues such as health and education. This senseless evil must end. National and international mechanisms must follow the issue and be forced to do so.

[1] The United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention in its resolutions 51/2020 of 18 September 2020 (Pa. 102) and 47/2020 of 25 September 2020 (Pa. 101) clearly emphasized that the systematic mass detention and arrest practices against the Hizmet Movement in Turkey may constitute crimes against humanity.

[2] Turkey, Fourth and Fifth Report, February 15, 2021, CRC/C/TUR/4-5: https://insanhaklarimerkezi.bilgi.edu.tr/media/uploads/2021/09/28/G2103335.pdf

[3] https://www.unicef.org/turkiye/raporlar/unicef-t%C3%BCrkiye-yillik-raporu-2018

[4] https://www.unicef.org/turkiye/raporlar/unicef-t%C3%BCrkiye-y%C4%B1ll%C4%B1k-raporu-2019

[5] According to the statements made by Minister of Justice Bekir Bozdağ, the number of people subjected to investigations on the grounds of being in contact with the Hizmet Movement is 559,322 in the files completed as of June 14, 2022. https://www.trthaber.com/haber/gundem/bakan-bozdag-6nci-yargi-paketiyle-stokculara-hapis-cezalari-artacak-687718.html

[6] European Commission 2018 Turkey Report, p.8.

[7] https://tr.solidaritywithothers.com/closed-institutions

[8] Human Rights Joint Platform, State of Emergency Practices: Updated Status Report – 2018 p. 45. ihop_OHAL_raporu_17042018.pdf (reports.org) ,

[9] https://www.gazeteduvar.com.tr/yazarlar/2020/02/13/yeneroglundan-silahli-teror-orgutu-uyeligi-raporu

[10] https://www.rudaw.net/turkish/middleeast/turkey/121220151, https://www.milliyet.com.tr/gundem/ipek-271-isid-li-cezaevinde-2135220 . This number includes people who have been in prison for years.

[11] https://www.icisleri.gov.tr/kurumlar/icisleri.gov.tr/IcSite/strateji/%C5%9EEREF/Stratejik-Yonetim/Butce-Sunumu.pdf . Here, the highest numbers from the data provided by the Ministry of Interior are taken. The estimated figures shared by the Ministry are as follows. 2016: 2.475 – 2.780, 2017: 1.835-1.995, 2018: 1.100 – 1.200

[12] Some Precedent Judgments of the ECtHR: https://www.solidaritywithothers.com/ecthr-judgments ,   https://hudoc.echr.coe.int/eng#{%22itemid%22:[%22001-207680%22]},  https://hudoc.echr.coe.int/eng#{%22itemid%22:[%22001-214483%22]}, https://hudoc.echr.coe.int/fre?i=001-194102#{%22itemid%22:[%22001-194102%22]},

[13] UN Human Rights Committee Resolution: UN documents | OTHERS (solidaritywithothers.com)

[14] UN Committee for the Prevention of Torture Resolutions: UN documents | OTHERS (solidaritywithothers.com)

[15] UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention Sample Resolutions : https://www.solidaritywithothers.com/un-documents

[16] Justice for Victims Platform, Social Costs of the State of Emergency in its 3rd Year Report, https://www.academia.edu/44609212/3_Y%C4%B1l%C4%B1nda_OHALin_Toplumsal_Maliyetleri_Roporu_Updated_

[17] Life Rights Association, Violations Under the Force of Law:  Rights Violations and Discrimination Research Report on Decree Law Victims, KHK_Raporu_-_Çalışma_Hakkı_İhlalleri.pdf (bianet.org)

[18] https://tr.wikipedia.org/wiki/N%C3%BCfuslar%C4%B1na_g%C3%B6re_%C3%BClkeler_listesi

[19] https://tr.solidaritywithothers.com/closed-institutions

[20] https://tr.wikipedia.org/wiki/T%C3%BCrkiye%27deki_asker%C3%AE_e%C4%9Fitim_kurumlar%C4%B1_listesi

[21] https://www.gazeteduvar.com.tr/engelli-yakinina-khk-gerekcesiyle-yardim-verilmedi-haber-1507972

[22] https://www.gazeteduvar.com.tr/gundem/2020/02/20/akrabasi-khkli-diye-universiteye-alinmayan-ogrenci-davayi-kazandi

[23] https://boldapp.de/2021/11/12/babasi-khkli-olan-otizmli-ruveydanin-engelli-ayligi-mucadelesi/

[24] https://boldmedya.com/2021/07/25/babasi-khk-ile-kapatilan-kurumda-calisti-diye-egitim-hakki-engellenen-nurefsan-vefat-etti/

[25] http://m.haberdar.com/genel/ysk-da-ilk-100-e-giren-ogrenciyi-vakif-universitesi-babasi-khk-li-diye-burslu-kaydetmedi-h211132.html

[26] 3rd Report on the Social Costs of the State of Emergency, p. 164.

[27] 3rd Year of the State of Emergency’s Social Costs Report, June 2020, p.283.

[28] 3rd Year of the State of Emergency’s Social Costs Report, June 2020, pp.59, 76, 283.

[29] 3rd Year of the State of Emergency’s Social Costs Report, June 2020, p.283.

[30] https://kronos35.news/tr/pakistanli-yetkililer-sucunuz-yok-biliyoruz-ama-erdogan-cok-baski-yapiyor-dedi/

[31] 3rd Year of the State of Emergency’s Social Costs Report, June 2020, p.283.

[32] 3rd Year of the State of Emergency’s Social Costs Report, June 2020, p.283.

[33] https://kronos35.news/tr/birsen-atayun-anadolu-beyin-gelmeyecegine-inansam-ben-de-yasamak-istemem-tabi-ki-gelecek/

[34] 3rd Year of the State of Emergency’s Social Costs Report, June 2020, p.283.

[35] https://kronos35.news/tr/bursada-baskan-skandali-egede-olen-bebeklere-cenaze-arabasi-vermedi/

[36] There are many precedent decisions of the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention and the European Court of Human Rights, examples of which are given above, that these detentions and arrests are arbitrary.

[37] https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/Documents/Countries/TR/2018-03-19_Second_OHCHR_Turkey_Report_Turkish.docx

[38] https://tr.solidaritywithothers.com/_files/ugd/b886b2_f17fdcf178da4ebe908d57d6cec6bea3.pdf

[39] https://www.tr724.com/pasaportu-verilmeyen-zekiye-atac-ne-olur-bu-cocugu-olume-mahkum-etmeyin/#:~:text=Babas%C4%B1%20cezaevinde%20olan%20ve%20kanser,verilmedi%C4%9Fi%20i%C3%A7in%20yurt%20d%C4%B1%C5%9F%C4%B1na%20%C3%A7%C4%B1kam%C4%B1yor.

[40] https://boldmedya.com/2022/01/11/hak-ihlali-khkli-ali-osman-kayan-iki-yildir-cocuklarini-goremiyor/

[41] https://boldmedya.com/2019/01/02/surgun-tutuklularin-aileleri-gorus-yolu-olum-yolu/

[42] https://gazetedavul.com/gundem/6-yasindaki-selman-hayatini-kaybetti-4784.html , https://www.tr724.com/kubra-cennet-kusu-oldu/

[43] https://boldmedya.com/2021/12/01/babasi-tutuklu-olan-kalp-hastasi-otizmli-omer-faruk-hayatini-kaybetti/

[44] http://magduriyetler2.blogspot.com/2019/05/bir-evlat-daha-baba-hasretiyle-vefat.html

[45] https://kronos35.news/tr/ozlem-zengin-ciplak-arama-yok-talimatla-hamile-kaliyorlar-fadimecim/ , https://www.internethaber.com/chpli-ozgur-ozel-de-kadinlar-orgut-talimatiyla-hamile-kaliyor-demis-2165457h.htm

[46] 3rd Anniversary of the State of Emergency’s Social Costs Report p. 99, 132.

[47] Emergency decree changes foster family’s life: Disqualified, their adopted child taken away | Euronews

[48] https://www.pa.edu.tr/Upload/editor/files/Yeni%20Nesil%20Ter%C3%B6r_FETO_014_07_2019(1).pdf

[49] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hHBUk5ssv28&feature=youtu.be

[50] 3rd Anniversary of the State of Emergency’s Social Costs Report p. 164.

[51] 3rd Year of the State of Emergency’s Social Costs Report p. 45.

[52] 3. Yılında OHAL’nın Toplumsal Maliyetleri Raporu p. 58, 76, 78, 79, 84, 87, 92, 164, 187, 201, 204, 231, 243, 282, 288 etc. …. .

[53] 3rd Year of the State of Emergency’s Social Costs Report p. 47, 74, etc… .

[54] https://ahvalnews.com/tr/khk/khkler-yuzunden-intihar-eden-10-12-yasinda-cocuklar , 3. Yılında OHAL’nın Toplumsal Maliyetleri Raporu p. 162, 165, 167, 173, 175, 178, 178, 234 etc…. .

[55] https://boldmedya.com/2022/01/14/psikolojisi-bozulan-tutuklu-khkli-ogretmenin-16-yasindaki-oglu-intihar-etti/

[56] https://bitenhayatlar.com/busra-nur-meseci/

[57] https://twitter.com/KHKLI_Platformu/status/1525756823810318336?s=20&t=7UOIhVZpcy2mJaY9I4zTJg

[58] https://boldmedya.com/2019/02/07/ohalin-12-yasindaki-kurbani-furkanin-olum-yildonumu/

[59] http://www.samanyoluhaber.com/surgun-tutuklularin-aileleri-yollarda-neler-cekiyor-haberi/1317197/ , https://www.tr724.com/babasini-son-kez-gormek-nasip-olmadi-minik-betul-cezaevi-onundeki-trafik-kazasinda-hayatini-kaybetti/

[60] http://www.samanyoluhaber.com/surgun-tutuklularin-aileleri-yollarda-neler-cekiyor-haberi/1317197/

[61] http://www.samanyoluhaber.com/surgun-tutuklularin-aileleri-yollarda-neler-cekiyor-haberi/1317197/

[62] https://www.sozcu.com.tr/2018/gundem/geriye-bu-kare-kaldi-2256200/

[63] https://kronos35.news/tr/7-kisinin-hayatini-kaybettigi-ege-denizi-faciasinin-yildonumu-karanlik-gecenin-hic-sabahi-olmadi/

[64] https://kronos35.news/tr/7-kisinin-hayatini-kaybettigi-ege-denizi-faciasinin-yildonumu-karanlik-gecenin-hic-sabahi-olmadi/

[65] https://kronos35.news/tr/7-kisinin-hayatini-kaybettigi-ege-denizi-faciasinin-yildonumu-karanlik-gecenin-hic-sabahi-olmadi/

[66] http://www.samanyoluhaber.com/maden-ailesinin-huzunlu-hikayesi-haberi/1293247/

[67] https://boldmedya.com/2019/02/13/abdurrezzak-ve-dogan-ailelerinin-yokedilisinin-yildonumu/

[68] https://boldmedya.com/2019/02/13/abdurrezzak-ve-dogan-ailelerinin-yokedilisinin-yildonumu/

[69] https://tr.euronews.com/2018/07/21/meric-nehrinde-turk-gocmenleri-tasiyan-bot-alabora-oldu

[70] https://tr.euronews.com/2018/07/31/ege-de-esi-ve-bebegi-bogulan-aksoy-cezaevinde

[71] https://twitter.com/HasanCucuk/status/1367734258501042178?s=20

[72] https://www.sozcu.com.tr/2018/gundem/anne-engelli-oglunu-oldurup-intihar-etti-2224153/

[73] https://boldmedya.com/2019/09/12/irfan-buna-dokunma-doktor-ikisi-de-olmus-dedi-sok-oldum/

[74] https://www.tr724.com/ohalde-cezaevinde-cinayet-gibi-ihmal-hamile-kadin-karnindaki-bebegi-hayatini-kaybetti/

[75] https://bitenhayatlar.com/isimsiz-melek-hanife-ciftcinin-bebegi/

[76] https://bitenhayatlar.com/isimsiz-melek-anne-busra-atalayin-bebegi/

[77] https://www.milliyet.com.tr/gundem/bylock-suphesi-hayatini-karartti-2697755

[78] 3rd Year of the State of Emergency’s Social Costs Report, June 2020, p.283.

[79] 3rd Year of the State of Emergency’s Social Costs Report, June 2020, p.283.

[80] https://kronos35.news/tr/pakistanli-yetkililer-sucunuz-yok-biliyoruz-ama-erdogan-cok-baski-yapiyor-dedi/

[81] https://kronos35.news/tr/birsen-atayun-anadolu-beyin-gelmeyecegine-inansam-ben-de-yasamak-istemem-tabi-ki-gelecek/

[82]  3rd Year of the State of Emergency’s Social Costs Report, June 2020, pp. 164, 165, 283.

[83] https://www.lodoshaber.com/gundem/my-dad-is-my-hero-yazili-tisort-giyen-kucuk-cocuk-annesiyle-birlikte-gozaltina-alindi-294940

[84] https://kronos35.news/tr/yeneroglu-vicdani-olanlara-soruyorum-14-yasindaki-bu-cocuk-nasil-teror-orgutu-uyesi-olur/

[85] Rights to Life Association: Research on Right to Work Violations and Discrimination Against Victims of Emergency Decree Laws, p.11. https://bianet.org/system/uploads/1/files/attachments/000/003/249/original/KHK_Raporu_-_%C3%87al%C4%B1%C5%9Fma_Hakk%C4%B1_%C4%B0hlalleri.pdf?1606816532

[86] https://m.bianet.org/bianet/cocuk/180997-gundem-cocuk-dernegi-kapatildi

[87] https://kronos35.news/tr/yeneroglu-vicdani-olanlara-soruyorum-14-yasindaki-bu-cocuk-nasil-teror-orgutu-uyesi-olur/

[88] https://kronos35.news/tr/2000-dogumlu-ogrenciler-14-17-yaslarindayken-ankesorluden-arandiklari-gerekcesiyle-tutuklandi/ ,               https://boldmedya.com/2021/09/09/15-yasindan-kucuk-askeri-ogrencilere-gozalti-tck-ve-anayasaya-aykiri/

[89] 3 Report on the Social Costs of the State of Emergency pp. 91, 124, 483, 501, 509, 520, 527 et al.

[90] 3rd Year of the State of Emergency’s Social Costs Report p. 47.

[91] https://twitter.com/BOLDmedya/status/1014647386600337410?s=20&t=RV-qePUltbKkL-KdMYFzeg

[92] 3rd Anniversary of the State of Emergency’s Social Costs Report pp. 91, 120, 124, 124, 125, 126, 129, 130, 131, 131, 135, 136, 137, 138, 140, 141, 483, 501, 509, 520, 527 et seq.

[93] https://www.boldmedya.com/2022/03/23/esi-5-yildir-hapisteydi-salca-satarak-iki-kizina-bakan-khkli-menekse-turen-gozaltina-alindi/

[94] http://sevincozarslan.blogspot.com/2020/02/tutuklu-anne-kzm-intihara-tesebbus-etti.html

[95] https://www.boldmedya.com/2022/04/30/khkli-ogretmen-munire-akyol-tutuklandi-uc-cocugum-uc-gundur-uyuyamiyor/

[96] https://www.boldmedya.com/2019/06/05/cezaevi-yollarindaki-bir-anneannenin-bayrami/

[97] https://www.boldmedya.com/2019/06/05/cezaevi-yollarindaki-bir-anneannenin-bayrami/

[98] https://www.boldmedya.com/2022/03/02/cezaevinde-panik-atak-olan-3-cocuk-annesi-ayse-meles-ne-zor-surecmis-yaka-yaka-kora-dondurdu/

[99] https://www.boldmedya.com/2021/12/07/ofke-nobetleri-geciren-otizmli-tarikin-annesi-babasinin-tutuklanmasi-oglumu-mahvetti/

[100] http://sevincozarslan.blogspot.com/2020/02/17-subat-2020-17-aydr-hapiste-olan-elif.html

[101] 3rd Year of the State of Emergency’s Social Costs Report p. 48.

[102] 3rd Year of the State of Emergency’s Social Costs Report p. 57.

[103]https://www.trthaber.com/haber/turkiye/bakan-betul-sayan-kayadan-feto-genelgesi-267695.html

[104] https://tr.euronews.com/2019/04/19/khk-koruyucu-ailenin-hayatini-degistirdi-ihrac-edilince-evlat-edindikleri-cocuk-ellerinden

[105] https://www.milliyet.com.tr/gundem/feto-cu-ailelerden-9-cocuk-geri-alindi-2386248,

[106] Burcu, 70 percent disabled, denied care salary because her father is a member of a state of emergency decree – Tr724

[107] https://www.boldmedya.com/2021/12/21/agir-zihinsel-engelli-ve-otizmli-yakup-alinin-babasini-tutukladilar/

[108] http://sevincozarslan.blogspot.com/2020/02/down-sendromlu-nalan-evden-kacp.html

[109] 3rd Year of the State of Emergency’s Social Costs Report p. xxxvi

[110] 3rd Year of the State of Emergency’s Social Costs Report p. 163.

[111] Green card of the name with a state of emergency decree also canceled | Güncel (haber3.com)

[112] https://boldmedya.com/2021/07/25/babasi-khk-ile-kapatilan-kurumda-calisti-diye-egitim-hakki-engellenen-nurefsan-vefat-etti/

[113] People with emergency decrees in Turkey: They treat us like plague – DW – 20.09.2019

[114] 3rd Anniversary of the State of Emergency’s Social Costs Report p. 162.

[115] https://boldmedya.com/2019/09/12/irfan-buna-dokunma-doktor-ikisi-de-olmus-dedi-sok-oldum/ ,

[116] http://sevincozarslan.blogspot.com/2019/06/bebegini-kaybeden-tutuklu-anne-benim.html

[117] https://www.tr724.com/ohalde-cezaevinde-cinayet-gibi-ihmal-hamile-kadin-karnindaki-bebegi-hayatini-kaybetti/

[118] https://bitenhayatlar.com/isimsiz-melek-hanife-ciftcinin-bebegi/

[119] https://bitenhayatlar.com/isimsiz-melek-anne-busra-atalayin-bebegi/

[120] https://www.milliyet.com.tr/gundem/bylock-suphesi-hayatini-karartti-2697755

[121] http://sevincozarslan.blogspot.com/2019/06/musambann-uzerinde-yaptg-dogumu-anlatt.html

[122] 3rd Year of the State of Emergency’s Social Costs Report, p. 1169. The green card of the name from the state of emergency decree was also canceled | Güncel (haber3.com)

[123] https://www.gazeteduvar.com.tr/gundem/2020/04/22/khkliye-bin-liralik-yardim-da-yok , Social Costs of the State of Emergency in its 3rd Year Report, p.46.

[124] https://kronos35.news/tr/deprem-yardimini-khkliya-sakincali-diye-vermeyen-vakifbank-pandemi-yardimi-da-bloke-etti/

[125] https://boldapp.de/2021/11/12/babasi-khkli-olan-otizmli-ruveydanin-engelli-ayligi-mucadelesi/

[126] Green card of the name with a state of emergency decree also canceled | Güncel (haber3.com)

[127] https://www.gazeteduvar.com.tr/gundem/2020/04/22/khkliye-bin-liralik-yardim-da-yok, https://kronos35.news/tr/deprem-yardimini-khkliya-sakincali-diye-vermeyen-vakifbank-pandemi-yardimi-da-bloke-etti/

[128] http://m.haberdar.com/genel/ysk-da-ilk-100-e-giren-ogrenciyi-vakif-universitesi-babasi-khk-li-diye-burslu-kaydetmedi-h211132.html

[129] https://www.gazeteduvar.com.tr/gundem/2020/02/20/akrabasi-khkli-diye-universiteye-alinmayan-ogrenci-davayi-kazandi

[130] https://boldmedya.com/2021/07/25/babasi-khk-ile-kapatilan-kurumda-calisti-diye-egitim-hakki-engellenen-nurefsan-vefat-etti/

[131] http://m.haberdar.com/genel/ysk-da-ilk-100-e-giren-ogrenciyi-vakif-universitesi-babasi-khk-li-diye-burslu-kaydetmedi-h211132.html

[132] 3rd Year of the State of Emergency’s Social Costs Report, June 2020, 164.

[133] 3rd Year of the State of Emergency’s Social Costs Report, June 2020, p.283.

[134] 3rd Year of the State of Emergency’s Social Costs Report, June 2020, pp.59, 76, 283.

[135] 3rd Year of the State of Emergency’s Social Costs Report, June 2020, p.283.

[136] https://kronos35.news/tr/pakistanli-yetkililer-sucunuz-yok-biliyoruz-ama-erdogan-cok-baski-yapiyor-dedi/

[137] 3rd Year of the State of Emergency’s Social Costs Report, June 2020, p.283.

[138] 3rd Year of the State of Emergency’s Social Costs Report, June 2020, p.283.

[139] https://kronos35.news/tr/birsen-atayun-anadolu-beyin-gelmeyecegine-inansam-ben-de-yasamak-istemem-tabi-ki-gelecek/

[140] First-hand information was given in the “Blue Bus” Documentary  on the subject:  https://youtu.be/7KXe48msKiw

[141] https://kronos35.news/tr/pakistanli-yetkililer-sucunuz-yok-biliyoruz-ama-erdogan-cok-baski-yapiyor-dedi/ , https://tr.solidaritywithothers.com/_files/ugd/b886b2_7e541d3e9ddd4ab18cf6fef13b52f5bc.pdf

[142] https://www.boldmedya.com/2022/03/08/resit-olmadan-gozaltina-alindi-evraklarla-oynayip-zorla-9-gun-tuttular/

[143] http://sevincozarslan.blogspot.com/2019/12/almanya-17-yasndaki-genci-acil.html

[144] https://tr.solidaritywithothers.com/illegal-deportations-extraditions

[145] https://www.odatv4.com/guncel/62-kuleli-askeri-lisesi-ogrencisine-tutuklama-2007161200-97710

[146] https://tr.solidaritywithothers.com/_files/ugd/b886b2_f17fdcf178da4ebe908d57d6cec6bea3.pdf

[147] http://sevincozarslan.blogspot.com/2019/07/hakimden-uc-cocuk-annesine-cocuklarn.html

[148] http://sevincozarslan.blogspot.com/2019/07/7-temmuz-2019-bir-yldr-annesinden-ayr.html

[149] https://www.odatv4.com/guncel/62-kuleli-askeri-lisesi-ogrencisine-tutuklama-2007161200-97710

[150] https://kronos35.news/tr/yeneroglu-vicdani-olanlara-soruyorum-14-yasindaki-bu-cocuk-nasil-teror-orgutu-uyesi-olur/

[151] https://tr.solidaritywithothers.com/_files/ugd/b886b2_d1428ddeaa3b4832b95dfae421cdce9b.pdf, https://tr.solidaritywithothers.com/_files/ugd/b886b2_f17fdcf178da4ebe908d57d6cec6bea3.pdf