US student sexually assaulted in Istanbul

The incident occurred when a 23-year-old U.S. national, identified only by her initials I.D., hitchhiked and got into a car driven by the two suspects. Taken to an open plot in Fulya, I.D. was raped by the suspects who also stole her cell phone before leaving her on the road. 

Trying to find the suspects, police tracked and found I.D.’s phone, which had been sold to a store in the Şişli district of Istanbul, and soon after captured the suspected assailants. 

While one of the suspects, a 21-year-old, was arrested, the other 17-year-old suspect was released pending investigation as he is a minor.

The frequency of sexual abuse and assault incidents in Turkey has reached pressing levels with politicians and activists voicing their growing concern for society and calling for measures to act against the offenses. 

Turkish Justice Minister Bekir Bozdağ called on April 21 for the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) government to take additional measures against child sexual abuse after a court in the Central Anatolian province of Karaman sentenced a teacher to 508 years in prison.

Meanwhile, according to a recent report prepared by the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), Turkey has been experiencing “social deterioration” since the AKP took power, alleging that the rates of homicide, sexual abuse, drug addiction and sexual assault incidents have been increasing.