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Devlet Bahçeli, chairperson of government ally Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), said Türkiye should be alarmed over crimes committed by teenagers as a series of murders shook the country over the past year.
In a written statement on Thursday, the nationalist politician referred to a “16-year-old terrorist” who attacked a police station in Izmir earlier this week, killing two police officers, and the stabbing death of a 15-year-old boy in Ankara on Sept. 7 by another 15-year-old boy.
“Children are not murderers, but it is also a blatant mistake to apply leniency in sentencing when murderers and terrorists are defined as children. We should not show mercy to perpetrators, those inciting them to commit these crimes and those neglecting their actions (that led to the commitment of crimes),” he said.
Bahçeli pointed out that organized crime, street gangs and foreign intelligence had brainwashed the youth, turning them into “lethal weapons.” He also lamented that the children are increasingly “aligned with crimes” in media portrayals and that “systemic propaganda” is underway to that extent.
He emphasized that the true and broad meaning of “child” is innocence, noting that current laws already contain detailed provisions regarding minors who are legally exempt from full legal capacity.
“There is an urgent need to objectively analyze and study the alarming erosion of moral and spiritual values – values that are melting away like snow under the shadow of the social, economic, psychological and even material conditions that push children toward crime,” he said. “We must remember that children are our future. Just as we cannot compromise on our future, we also have no right to economize on it.”
Bahçeli stressed the necessity of confronting the multi-layered and complex factors that lead to children becoming involved in crime and even terrorism. “We must deal with the environment that encourages children to become killers or terrorists, arms them and turns them into instruments of violence with an integrated and determined strategy. This is not just a need, it is a national obligation.”
He called on all parties responsible for raising children, especially parents, to reflect sincerely and attentively on recent troubling developments in society. “There is no doubt that uncontrolled behavior, familial breakdowns and lack of love, respect and national values will drag children into loneliness and moral decay.”
He also called for comprehensive legal reform, stating that deepening criminal trends and rising criminal behavior are not just personal issues; they pose a direct threat to the future of the Turkish nation. Bahçeli praised the efforts of educators, social service institutions, law enforcement, religious authorities and local administrators for working to protect children and uphold national morals.
He proposed a four-pronged solution to the violence problem: disciplined and dedicated forces to deter crime, courts that fairly punish offenders, isolating offenders until their rehabilitation and clear laws defining crimes and appropriate punishments.
