VZCZCXYZ0004
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHAK #2965/01 3481432
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 141432Z DEC 07
FM AMEMBASSY ANKARA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 4659
RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHDC
INFO RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 1572

UNCLAS ANKARA 002965 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT. FOR EUR/SE AND DRL/IL - TU DANG 
USDOL FOR ILAB - TINA MCCARTER 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ELAB EIND ETRD PHUM SOCI TU
SUBJECT: TURKEY: UPDATE ON WORST FORMS OF CHILD LABOR 
INFORMATION 
 
REF: A. STATE 158223 
 
     ¶B. STATE 149663 
 
¶1.  Turkey continues its efforts to eliminate all forms of 
child labor, increasing access to basic and vocational 
education to improve the prospects of children currently 
working, and withdrawing them from employment while they are 
children.  Post provides new information below in response to 
the request for updated information on those efforts conveyed 
in refs a and b, paragraph 9, sections A through E. 
 
¶A.  Laws and regulations proscribing the worst forms of child 
labor: 
 
-- Turkey continued to implement provisions stipulated 
throughout Turkish law regarding the elimination of child 
labor, as well as its cooperative agreement with the ILO's 
International Program on the Elimination of Child Labor 
(IPEC), the commitment to which was extended in 2006 through 
September 2011.  Turkey's efforts in this area are primarily 
coordinated through the GOT's Time-Bound Policy and Program 
Framework for the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child 
Labor, which is designed to totally eliminate the worst forms 
of child labor in Turkey by 2014.  In addition, Turkey 
ratified the Council of Europe's Social Charter in October 
2006, which further underscores the rights of children in 
Turkey.  The employment of children and enforcement of 
restrictions on such employment is regulated through a number 
of laws, including the umbrella Labor Law, General Health 
Law, Police Duties and Authorities Law, Apprenticeship and 
Vocational Training Law, Primary Education and Education Law, 
Debts Law, Unions Law, and Social Security Law.  Turkey 
ratified ILO Convention 182 in 2001 and has developed a list 
of occupations considered to be the worst forms of child 
labor as called for in Article 4 of the Convention.  Three 
categories of child labor classified as worst forms of child 
labor are found in Turkey, including: seasonal agricultural 
work; dangerous conditions in small and medium sized 
enterprises; and, child labor in the streets.  There were no 
new laws promulgated in 2007 specific to child labor. 
 
¶B.  Regulations for implementation and enforcement of 
proscriptions against the worst forms of child labor: 
 
-- Turkish laws addressing the child labor issue contain 
implementation provisions which specifically mention public 
agencies in charge of implementation and monitoring.  For 
example, Labor Law 4857 states that Ministry of Labor and 
Social Security inspectors are the responsible officials for 
the enforcement of child labor laws.  There are 600 
inspectors carrying out such duties throughout Turkey, all of 
whom have been trained to identify under-age children in the 
workplace and avenues of redress in such instances.  Legal 
remedies stipulated in several different articles of law 
include the removal of children from workplaces, fines levied 
against employers, and closure of places of business 
employing under-age children.  There is an Emergency Action 
Plan on child labor and a nation-wide economic Development 
Plan -- the ninth in a series of such plans -- designed to 
map out GOT priorities and programs in the economic and 
social fields over the next six years.  This Development Plan 
also incorporates efforts aimed at combating the worst forms 
of child labor. 
 
-- The GOT continued to conduct awareness-raising and 
training activities for officials in charge of enforcing 
child labor laws. 
 
¶C.  Whether there are social programs to prevent and withdraw 
children from the worst forms of child labor: 
 
-- The GOT continues to provide care and rehabilitation 
services to children subject to the worst forms of child 
labor at 44 centers located throughout the country (up from 
30 such centers in 2005). 
 
-- With financial support from the European Union and 
technical support from the ILO, a project to eliminate the 
worst forms of child labor, administered by the Ministry of 
Labor and Social Services and initiated in 2005 in seven 
provinces (Cankiri, Elazig, Erzurum, Kastamonu, Ordu, Sinop, 
and Van), was completed in 2007.  4,460 children benefited 
from the project, with 1,830 teachers trained to help 
identify children at risk of dropping out of school through 
use of a school-based child labor monitoring system, and 
another 1,935 teachers and school administrators received 
education to raise their awareness of the problem. 
 
-- In another EU-supported project supporting implementation 
of the Time-Bound Policy, efforts begun in 2005 in 20 
different provinces (Adana, Ankara, Antalya, Batman, Bursa, 
Cankiri, Corum, Diyarbakir, Elazig, Erzurum, Gaziantep, 
Istanbul, Izmir, Kastamonu, Kocaeli, Mardin, Ordu, Sanliurfa, 
Sinop, and Van) were completed in 2007.  Under the auspices 
of this project, over 25,000 children who were working or at 
risk of dropping out of school to work were directed to 
educational programs or provided incentives to remain in 
school.  Parents of the children also received vocational 
training to increase their access to employment. 
 
-- Turkey's largest labor union confederation, Turk-Is, and 
its largest employers union confederation, TISK, started a 
joint project in 2007 in Adana entitled "Societal Cooperation 
Project Against Child Labor."  The project is designed to 
prevent children from becoming involved in the worst forms of 
child labor as well as to direct children who are exposed to 
such labor to basic education programs.  The project 
specifically focuses on children in the agriculture and 
furniture production sectors, as well as those who work in 
the streets.  The project, designed to continue for a period 
of 16 months, will bring rise to a joint Turk-Is/TISK Child 
Bureau to bring greater focus to the child labor problem. 
 
-- In September 2007 TISK, in cooperation with ILO, organized 
a regional conference in Istanbul designed to enable 
participants to share experiences and lessons learned in the 
struggle to eliminate the incidence of child labor. 
Representatives of 12 countries in the region attended the 
conference and issued a declaration pledging determination to 
eliminate the child labor problem. 
 
¶D.  Does the country have a comprehensive policy aimed at the 
elimination of the worst forms of child labor: 
 
-- Information provided last year on the Time-Bound Program 
remains current, with awareness-raising efforts on the part 
of MOLSS' child labor unit continuing.  The Ministry 
distributed information through various media, including 
calendars, handbooks, leaflets, magazines, and CDs to public 
institutions, labor union and employers union confederations 
and other NGOs designed to raise the profile of the child 
labor issue in Turkey and gain additional support to decrease 
its incidence. 
 
¶E.  Is the country making continual progress toward 
eliminating the worst forms of child labor: 
 
-- Turkey is making steady progress toward its goal of 
eliminating all incidences of child labor for children under 
the age of 15, as well as all incidences of the worst forms 
of child labor, by 2014.  In 2006, ILO identified Turkey as 
one of three "most successful" countries in eliminating the 
worst forms of child labor. 
 
-- Turkey's State Statistics Institute conducted a survey on 
families in 2006, released to the public in 2007, which 
included some data on child labor.  However, the study makes 
no specific reference to the level of incidence of worst 
forms of child labor.  According to the survey, the number of 
children in the 6-17 year old age group engaged in economic 
activity in 2006 was 958,000.  Of those, 320,000 were in the 
6-14 year old age group, and 638,000 in the 15-17 year old 
age group.  Compared to figures from similar studies 
conducted in 1994 and 1999, the number of children aged 6-17 
engaged in economic activity has steadily decreased (2.27 
million in 1994, 1.63 million in 1999, 958,000 in 2006).  In 
percentage terms, whereas 15.2% of Turks aged 6-17 were 
engaged in some form of work in 1994, that number had 
decreased to 10.3% in 1999, and 5.9% in 2006. 
 
-- In the 2006 study, just over 40 percent of the total 
958,000 children aged 6-17 were engaged in agricultural work, 
while the remaining 59 percent worked in other undefined 
sectors of the economy.  53 percent of the children found to 
be working in the survey did so on a fee-for-service or 
salaried basis, while 44 percent worked for free or as part 
of a family business, and 3 percent were self-employed. 
 
-- According to 2006 data, there were 16,264,000 children 
aged 6-17 in Turkey.  13,772,000 or 84.7% of 6-17 year olds 
in Turkey attended school.  2,492,000 or 15.3% did not attend 
school.  Of those attending school, 302,000 (or 1.9% of the 
total age group) were engaged in economic activity, 5,896,000 
(or 36.3% of the total age group) engaged in household 
chores, and 7,574,000 (or 46.6% of the total age group) did 
not work.  Of those not attending school, 656,000 (or 4% of 
 
the total age group) engaged in economic activity, 1,106,000 
(or 6.8% of the total age group) engaged in household chores, 
and 730,000 (or 4.5% of the total age group) did not work. 
 
Visit Ankara's Classified Web Site at 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/ankara/ 
 
WILSON