Criticism of 'missing children' from 12punto columnist Lawyer Ruşen Gültekin: Since the data is not being published, the situation is even more dire

The lifeless body of eight-year-old Narin Güran, who had been sought for 19 days in the Tavşantepe neighborhood of Diyarbakır's Bağlar district, was found on Sunday morning. The discovery of Narin's body has caused great sorrow and reaction across the country.

This tragic event has also brought the issue of 'missing children' cases occurring in the country to the agenda. According to reports, the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK) has not released judicial statistics regarding missing children for 8 years. The fact that TÜİK has not shared data on missing children since 2016 is being harshly criticized by politicians, NGO representatives, and legal experts.

'THE STATISTICS WERE VERY DIRE'

12punto columnist Dr. Mehmet Ruşen Gültekin also addressed the painful reality of 'missing children' in Turkey in a post on his social media account. Stating that TÜİK has not published 'missing children' statistics since 2016, Gültekin said, "The statistics before that were very dire. Since no measures have been taken to eliminate this severity, it is even more dire now."

Gültekin continued his post with the following statements:

"The fact that they are not published already shows this. Since we are not in a democracy, saying that this is contrary to the principle of transparency is now meaningless. 

These statistics must be strongly demanded to be disclosed, the severity of the situation must be explained to society, and families must be informed on how to better protect their children."

TÜİK'S LATEST DATA

According to data from the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK), a total of 104 thousand 531 children went missing in Turkey between 2008 and 2016. However, TÜİK has not released any data regarding children who have gone missing or have been lost since 2016.

News Source: 12punto