Turkey: 3,249 children lost, many in Far East as sex slaves

Turkey: 3,249 children lost, many in Far East as sex slaves

http://www.ansamed.info/ansamed/en/news/sections/generalnews/2014/05/15/turkey-3249-children-lost-many-in-far-east-as-sex-slaves_bc9ff16b-240c-4796-b17c-af0be2702858.html

According to the founder of the Lost Children Platform

15 May, 11:54

• 

 

Turkey: 3,249 children lost, many in Far East as sex slaves

 

(ANSAmed) - ISTANBUL - Many of Turkey's 3,249 missing children are now in the Far East, trapped as sex workers, the Lost Children Platform founder Yahya Durmaz said in an interview with daily Hurriyet. Durmaz, a businessman, founded the platform to find Turkey's missing children, including around 2,800 girls, and reached out to thousands of volunteers in seven countries.

After contacting the parents and relatives of the missing children, Durmaz followed their trails in several countries, including Syria and Afghanistan, as well as Europe and the Far East, where many children are trapped by human traffickers. Some children are being used as experimental subjects, while some others sold as prostitutes or hired as gang members, according to Durmaz. Claiming that the western Turkish city of Sakarya is an international center for human trafficking, Durmaz added: "The children who were smuggled from the Middle East or refugee children all pass through Sakarya. Some use human trafficking routes through the Aegean Sea, others the Thrace region (neighboring Bulgaria and Greece) and some others the Black Sea." Some 14,412 children have gone missing in the past five years alone in Turkey, the Gendarmerie General Command announced last month, noting many children are kidnapped for their organs, labor or fighting potential. (ANSAmed).