Parliament voted on Feb. 17 to form an investigation committee to address the country’s missing children problem. The committee, which will investigate the problem and determine the measures needed, will comprise 16 members and work for three months under the auspices of Parliament. Addressing the deputies before the vote, Minister for Women and Children Selma Aliye Kavaf said a coordination protocol between her ministry, the Justice Ministry and the Interior Ministry will also be put into force to help overcome the problem. Police are currently searching for 1,657 missing children in Turkey.Leyla Tekin, the mother of missing Ahmet and Dilruba, said she has been distraught for six months because her two children are missing. Speaking to the Anatolia news agency, Tekin noted that she still has hope that her two children will be found. “I have been deprived of my two children for six months. Every day I am in great pain, and only mothers whose children are missing can understand me. A committee has been founded to address the country’s missing children problem. The committee will contact us. I trust this committee will solve our problems,” noted Tekin.
Özlem Ay, whose child, Türkan Ay (11), is also missing, wants the committee to find her daughter.
Kayseri police have been searching for the children since they were reported missing. All officers have been called back to work on the case, and no leaves of absence have been allowed since the children have gone missing. The police explored every building and talked to nearly every person in the area during the investigation, searching the neighborhood from riverbeds to basements and the interiors of abandoned buildings in the area, but the search so far has not yielded any clues.
The police also applied to the prosecutor’s office for a general search warrant to be able to search area homes; however, this request was denied by a court, which ruled that general warrants may only be issued in terrorism cases. The Kayseri police have set up a crisis desk to concentrate on the case of the three missing children.
The father of missing Türkan, İbrahim Ay, said police officers are looking for the missing children, but have not found any clues for six months. He added that he believes the children will be found if they are not dead.
