Türkiye: Long Prison Terms for Children Accused of Crime

Click to expand Image Police cordon off the area outside of the Caglayan courthouse in Istanbul, Türkiye, March 22, 2025. © 2025 YASIN AKGUL/AFP via Getty Images (Berlin) – A new Turkish law that imposes heavy prison sentences on children found guilty of committing crimes is likely to cause harm and moves Turkish policy further away from international norms, Human Rights Watch said today. The law, which went into effect on August 18, 2026, allows courts to impose prison sentences up to 27 years