30 September 2009 / TODAY'S ZAMAN WITH WIRES, İSTANBUL
A total of 645 children who went missing in Turkey in the first five months of this year have not been found, considerably more than last year, when just 528 children were lost.
The issue of missing children returned to the agenda once again last week when three children in Kayseri went missing on the second day of the Eid al-Fitr holiday while touring their neighborhood to collect candy. According to data from the Security General Directorate, this year is likely to break records in terms of the number of children who went missing. A total of 645 children who went missing from 43 provinces during the first five months of the year have not been found. Last year 528 children went missing and were never found, and this figure was just 210 in 2007. More children have gone missing in İstanbul, Mersin, Ankara and Kahramanmaraş than any other province.Seventy-five to 80 percent of children who go missing are found within 15 days. The rest are generally found years later or are never found. Kayseri police have begun to search some houses of interest in Kayseri to find Dilruba (7) and Ahmet Tuna Tekin (8) and Özlem Ay (11), who have not been heard from since they left their homes in the Kayseri's central Talas district nine days ago. Police have determined the addresses of sex offenders as well as the addresses of those living alone.
Speaking to the Anatolia news agency, Kayseri Police Chief Arif Akkale stated that police have been evaluating tips carefully and have conducted searches of some locations based on tips they deemed serious and credible. “I have assigned 100 police officers from the juvenile department to search for these children,” he said.
