Juvenile crime increases 11 percent in one year in Turkey

ISTANBUL

The number of juveniles who were brought to the security units increased to over 273,000 in 2013, an 11.6 percent jump compared to the previous year, official data shows.

In 2013, 68.6 percent of juveniles who taken into security units were male, while 31.4 percent of them were female. In total, 273,571 juveniles were taken into security units in 2013, 57.9 percent of whom were between the ages of 15-17, 25 percent of whom were between 12-14, while 17.1 percent were under the age of 11, according to figures announced by the Turkish Statistical Office (TÜİK) on Aug. 19.

The total number of the juveniles taken into security units was 245,080 as of 2012.

In 2013, more than 115,000 juveniles were brought into security units for committing offenses, while 121,000 were victims and over 8,500 were witnesses.

Some 42,540 juveniles taken into security units were accused of assault, while 33,038 were accused of using, selling and purchasing drugs. Some 4,269 were accused of property damage and 4,020 of threatening behavior.

A total of 115,439 juveniles received into security units, or 41.9 percent, had used addictive drugs, according to the TÜİK figures.