Turkish PM Erdoğan describes murders of minors as ‘capital offense’

ISTANBUL

AA Photo

Aggravated penalties for the murder of children are on the agenda of the Justice Ministry following the death of minors across the country, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said May 2, describing recent murders as “almost capital offenses.”

“The Justice Ministry is working on the subject. These incidents are a kind of capital offense. Even though the death sentence will not come back, I have instructed [justice officials to impose] aggravated penalties,” Erdoğan said, adding that aggravated life imprisonment was on the agenda in order to prevent such crimes. 

Erdoğan also dismissed chemical interventions as punishment options.

One after another

Turkey has been shocked by the recent murders of children. On April 29, a 6-year-old girl who went missing on April 27 was found dead by a special police unit after a search operation in the southern province of Adana’s Seyhan district, in the third case of child murder this month.

The girl, Gizem A., showed signs of torture and was partially burned. Police believe that she was killed after being stabbed and strangled, according to initial findings.

The suspect, identified only as 20-year-old S.A., has been detained and reportedly confessed that he committed the crime in “revenge” against Gizem’s parents for not letting him marry her elder sister.

On the same day, 9-year-old Umut Zambak, who went missing in Manisa’s Akhisar district, was found dead in a watering well that is 500 meters away from his home.

After searchers removed the body from the well early in the morning, the authorities said initial indications showed no marks pointing to murder or sexual assault. It is presumed that the boy accidentally fell into the well and drowned.

Two weeks ago, a 4-year-old boy, identified as C.C., was found savagely murdered in a barn in the Aegean province of Aydın. Earlier this month, a 9-year-old boy was murdered in the northeastern province of Kars.