CHP protests against Justice Ministery over child abuse case

ANKARA

Main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, accompanied by his parliamentary group, has protested against the Justice Ministry for not taking any legal action over the child abuse case, which has shaken the entire country as the victim was a 6-year-old girl at the time of her forced marriage.

Kılıçdaroğlu and his deputies walked from the parliament to the Justice Ministry early on Dec. 12 to protest the inaction of the relevant state bodies on the issue.

“I am very angry. Nobody should be the subject of such injustice and unfairness,” Kılıçdaroğlu told the reporters in front of the Justice Ministry premises in downtown Ankara. “I am waiting for the day whether there will be a statement. Family Minister [Derya Yanık] admitted that they knew about the case for two years. What did you do on this in the past two years? I came here to be the voice of our girl. She wants justice,” he stated.

The issue came to the country’s agenda after the woman, identified only by the initials H.K.G., accused her father, Yusuf Ziya Gümüşel, the head of the Hiranur Foundation affiliated with İsmailağa Jamia, of forcibly marrying her to a sect member in 2004 when she was just 6.

An Istanbul court has accepted an indictment on the case, and the first hearing will be heard in May 2023.

Kılıçdaroğlu accused the justice and interior ministers of blocking legal and police actions against the perpetrators of this crime. “Isn’t our police aware of this case? Who is stopping them to do their job? Why the prosecutors are closing the file?” he asked.

After Kılıçdaroğlu’s protest, Justice Minister Bekir Bozdağ denied inaction on the case in a tweet. Recalling that prosecution is ongoing in line with Turkish laws, Bozdağ called on the politicians to trust in justice.

“Let’s wait for the court decision. Justice will be delivered as a result of prosecution,” he said.