Turkey Shocked by TV Footage of Child Abuse

The Turkish parliament Thursday launched an investigation into reports of abuse at a state-run orphanage, the latest in a string of allegations of physical and sexual violence at such facilities that have rocked the nation in recent weeks.

The accusations against the orphanage in Malatya province were reported Tuesday by the private Star TV channel, which showed footage of toddlers being beaten and cursed by female employees.

In one scene, a woman was shown knocking together the heads of two little boys before pushing them to the ground. In another, a group of small boys and girls were stripped naked and hosed down with what was described as scalding hot water. When one of the children complained, the attendant was shown hitting him on the head with a fist-sized stone.

The images, broadcast repeatedly nationwide, have provoked an outcry. On Thursday, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan called the actions “a crime against humanity” and vowed that “those who are responsible will be punished.” His administration launched its own investigation Wednesday.

“Such treatment of defenseless orphans is beyond torture,” said Mehmet Elkatmis, a deputy from the ruling Justice and Development Party who is leading the parliamentary inquiry.

The European Union, which opened membership talks with Turkey early this month after years of discussion and debate, has long cited the country’s poor human rights record as an obstacle to its entry into the alliance. Olli Rehn, who is in charge of the enlargement commission for the 25-member bloc, has said Turkey should brace for even tougher scrutiny with the start of talks, which are expected to last at least a decade.

The EU’s criticism has focused largely on Turkey’s ill treatment of political prisoners and its Kurdish minority. But attention has begun to shift to what is widely seen as appalling conditions in state-run orphanages and juvenile rehabilitation centers.

Nimet Cubukcu, the minister in charge of women’s, children’s and family affairs, recently disclosed that 478 cases of sexual abuse had been reported at such centers over the last five years. Cubukcu, who blamed the Malatya case on local officials, has been under intense pressure from the opposition to resign.

EU officials note that the extent of the ill treatment at state facilities was documented in a chilling report issued Sept. 28 by Mental Disability Rights International, a Washington-based advocacy group.

The result of a two-year undercover investigation, the report describes how young children are left to languish for years in a state of virtual inactivity, many of them tied down to beds, provided inadequate food and water, and drenched in their own vomit.

At Saray, the largest state-run rehabilitation center, which is near Ankara, the capital, the group’s investigators found emaciated children, some with plastic water bottles taped over their hands to prevent them from biting their fingers or scratching themselves out of boredom.

“A little girl, who looked to be about 2 years old, was crying and squirming in her crib,” one investigator wrote.

“A full bottle of formula was lying in the corner of her crib, just out of reach. I watched for over an hour and no one came to feed her.”

Ozlem Cercioglu, a lawmaker from the main opposition Republican People’s Party, said that she had presented a report to parliament on abuses at Saray a year ago but that the government “did not take us seriously.”

In Malatya, social workers said they had repeatedly warned local officials of the abuses at the care center, where children up to 6 years old are placed. “This has been going on for years, but they did nothing,” social worker Ece Buldan told the daily newspaper Hurriyet.

Turkish media reported that forensic experts sent by the government had examined children at the Malatya shelter and found bruises and cuts on nearly half of 46 children there.

Five women have been arrested in connection with the Malatya case.

Eight administrators, including the center’s director, have been suspended while the investigation continues.

Mehmet Gorgec, chairman of the Malatya bar association, said the women could be tried on a charge of torturing minors, which carries a sentence of up to 15 years under the newly revised penal code that came into effect in June.

Opposition lawmakers, who are conducting their own inquiry into events at Malatya, charge that the five women were not professional caregivers but cleaning ladies working for a company with close ties to Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party.

“If the government continues to place its children under the care of people who love politicians more than they love kids, the incidents at Malatya will repeat themselves across the country,” lawmaker Ferit Mevlut Aslanoglu said.