U.S. includes Turkey on list of countries involved in child recruitment

WASHINGTON, D.C. / ANKARA — In a report published by the U.S. State Department on human trafficking in 2021, Turkey was put on the list of countries that recruit children. The report justified the listing because of Turkey’s support for the Sultan Murad Division, a member of the Turkish-backed and controlled Syrian National Army (SNA).

Turkey is accused of recruiting children to fight not only in Syria, but also in Libya.

It is the first time a NATO country has been included on the list of child recruitment.

Criminality in areas under Turkish population is rampant, especially against women and girls. Cases of kidnapping, imprisonment, rape, sexual trafficking, and murder have become commonplace.

Hardest hit by the Turkish occupation have been the regions women. Once co-equal members of society and government, the women of Afrin have been subjected to the worst violations imaginable. According to local human rights monitors, the SNA have reportedly trafficked women and girls from Afrin to Libya where they are being held in sexual slavery, subjected to mass rape and forced abortion.