Prof. Dr. Esergül Balcı, who is under investigation as a part of the wider inquiry into cults and their operations has said that according to our finding there is around 2 million children in Turkey who are part of different cults. Most of these children come from poor families. Lack of family planning, poverty and depravation is leaving the families with little choice but to seek the help of cults. The families hand over there kids in as they can not afford to meet their basic needs. She further claimed that, “cult lodgings, schools, houses and courses are open to all types of abuse”.
Prof. Dr. Esergül Balci, who is under investigation as part of the larger inquiry into Cults in Turkey has spoken to, İpek Özbey from Cumhuriyet.
Here is a summary of the interview with Balcı:
“The governments withdrawal from education in stages and the closure of schools in some regions together with the impoverishment of the families has forced many into the difficult decision of handing over their kids to the cults. However, it is unclear how or for what purpose these children will be used in the future. Furthermore, they are also in risk of different type of abuse due to the conditions they are in.”
“According to our research, there are around 1 million children under the care of cults across Turkey. A great majority of these children come from poor families. Desperation has forced many families into making this hard decision. Most of these families have migrated into large cities and often live in a ghetto within the large cities. Most of these families are often from religious backgrounds and believe that they can protect their children by imposing traditional values.”
“Parents struggling to feed their large families see the cults as a way out. When they have handed their child into the cults there is one less person to feed. However, there are also families who hand over their children into the care of cults as they believe that rather than their children being pulled into bad deeds which are common in large cities that they should grow up with true faith and religion.” He further stated that, “there are also a some families who are being referred by their community. These families try to disregard their desperations by thinking that ‘at least our children are being educated for free’.”
“There are around 30 well known cults across Turkey. These cults have around 400 subsections. In Istanbul alone there is 448 convents that are in operation. There are around 800 medrese’s which are religious schools attached to a mosque. Most of these medresens are found in the cities of İstanbul, Siirt, Diyarbakır, Mardin, Adıyaman, Batman, Van, Hakkâri, Şırnak, Ağrı, Muş, Bitlis, Gaziantep and Şanlıurfa. Furthermore, it is not known how many unofficial medreses are operation within small blocks across the large cities.”
“The news that a little girl was abused whilst attending a Quran course in İstanbul and that another 12 year old girl was raped in Sakarya only represents the tip of the iceberg. Children in cult lodgings, houses, courses and schools are vulnerable to all types of abuse.” (EVRENSEL DAILY)
Bülent Falakaoğlu
Hakkı Özdal
