Terrorist organization PKK exploits more and more children everyday, according to Turkish security officials.
ANKARA
Figures obtained by the Anadolu Agency (AA) from the Turkish Police Department's Anti-Terror Desk indicate that terrorist organization PKK is using more and more children in incidents such as illegal meetings, illegal demonstrations, throwing molotov cocktail, fireworks, firecrackers and hand made explosives at Turkish security teams.
Turkish security forces arrested 1,727 children under the age of 18 in 799 terror incidents between May 1, 2009 and July 22, 2010. This figure went up to 2,148 between July 23, 2010 and November 16, 2011.
The Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, is a terrorist organization which has since 1984 been fighting an armed struggle against the Turkish state for an independent Kurdistan. PKK killed around 30,000 Turkish soldiers, policemen, village guards, teachers, engineers and other Turkish citizens in the past 28 years.
PKK is listed as a terrorist organization internationally by a number of states and organizations, including the United States and the European Union.
The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court classifies the recruitment of children into fighting forces as a war crime and a crime against humanity. The International Labour Organization's Convention No. 182 defines child soldiering as one of the worst forms of child labour. The African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child outlaws child soldiering, and the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child established 18 as the minimum age for children's participation in hostilities.
(Reporting by Kurbani Geyik)
