VZCZCXYZ0020
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHAK #0119/01 0231425
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 231425Z JAN 09
FM AMEMBASSY ANKARA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 8561
RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHDC
INFO RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 1596

UNCLAS ANKARA 000119 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EUR/SE AND DRL/ILCSR TU DANG, LABOR FOR DOL/ILAB 
TINA MCCARTER 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ELAB EIND ETRD PHUS SOCI USAID TU
SUBJECT: TURKEY: CHILD LABOR INFORMATION FOR TRADE AND 
DEVELOPMENT ACT 2008 REPORT 
 
REF: STATE 127448 
 
¶1.  Turkey continues its efforts to eliminate all forms of 
child labor, with a special emphasis on eliminating all 
instances of worst forms of child labor, to include 
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 
reftel, 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.  With regard to the specific questions posed 
in paragraph nine, subpara A of reftel: 
 
-- There were no new laws promulgated in 2008 specific to 
child labor. 
 
-- According to Article 71 of Turkish Labor Law 4857, 
"employment of children "who have not completed the age of 15 
(i.e., under the age of 16) is prohibited." 
 
-- With regard to exceptions to the minimum age law, Article 
71 of Labor Law 4857 states that "children who have completed 
14 years of age and their primary education may be employed 
in light work that does not obstruct his or her physical, 
mental, or moral development and that does not obstruct his 
or her continuation of studies if he or she attends school." 
 
-- Regarding hazardous work, Article 85 of Labor Law 4857 
states, "children and young workers who have not completed 
the age of 16 years (i.e., who are under the age of 17) 
cannot be employed in heavy or hazardous works."  There is a 
separate regulation on "Heavy and Hazardous Works" that 
defines what shall be regarded as heavy or hazardous work and 
what work may be allowed to be performed by young (i.e., 17 
or 18 year old) workers.  Article 72 of the same labor law 
prohibits the employment of anyone under the age of 19 in 
mines or other underground work, including construction of 
tunnels or sewage systems.  Article 73 prohibits the 
employment of children under the age of 19 in industrial 
employment sites at night. 
 
-- Concerning worst forms of child labor, Turkey ratified the 
UN Charter on Children's Rights in 1990, the ILO Charter 138 
in 1998 and ILO Charter 182 in 2001.  International 
agreements to which Turkey accedes carry force of law in 
Turkey according to Turkish law. 
 
-- All work specified under ILO Charter 182 on worst forms of 
child labor is prohibited in Turkey.  However, Turkey has 
identified three areas of particular focus that continue to 
pose problems here, including: child labor in the streets, 
employment of children in heavy industry or in hazardous 
conditions in small and medium-size enterprises, and working 
as a salaried employee in "mobile and temporary" (i.e., 
seasonal) agriculture other than in connection with work 
performed on a family farm.  Penalties for those found to be 
in violation of the law in connection with the employment of 
children can include an administrative fine, imprisonment, 
and/or removal of the child from households and granting 
custody to the state. 
 
-- Minimum age for recruitment into the military in Turkey is 
¶20.  There is no differentiation with regard to involvement 
in armed conflict. 
 
¶B. Regulations for implementation and enforcement of 
proscriptions against the worst forms of child labor: 
 
 -- Legal remedies available to government agencies that 
enforce child labor and worst forms of child labor laws 
include the removal of children from workplaces; the levy of 
fines or pursuing criminal complaints with the possible 
result of imprisonment; and removal of children from the 
custody of parents/guardians found guilty of violating child 
labor laws.  Article 105 of Labor Law 4587 calls for a set 
fine per child for workplaces found to be in violation of 
child labor laws.  The current amount is about 1000 Turkish 
Lira (approximately 625 dollars) and can be raised annually 
 
by the Ministry of Finance. 
 
-- Ministry of Labor inspectors are instructed to give 
priority to complaints regarding allegations of child labor 
received by the ministry or uncovered in routine inspections, 
and routinely do. 
 
-- Regarding the level of resources devoted by the government 
to investigating child labor and worst forms of child labor 
cases, post has been unable to secure specific funding levels 
from GOT sources.  Labor Ministry officials indicated that 
public institutions routinely cooperate with NGOs and other 
social partners on the elimination of child labor and public 
funding typically entails part or all of the projects 
designed to address the issue.  Post will continue to seek 
more specific information in response to this question, but 
GOT budget figures for the Ministry of Labor did not have a 
separate line item specific to combating child labor. 
Rather, from a budgetary standpoint, child labor was treated 
more as a cross-cutting issue, addressed by a host of 
different ministries, directorates general, and bureaus. 
 
-- As of the end of December 2008, the Government employed a 
total of 546 labor inspectors but was in the process of 
hiring an additional 75 individuals to work as "deputy 
inspectors."  These 75 will begin work at the end of January 
¶2009.  According to the Labor Inspection Board, all 
inspectors have been trained in child labor issues and to 
identify under-age children in the workplace and avenues of 
redress in such instances. 
 
-- The Turkish National Police employs a total of 3500 
officers tasked with addressing issues regarding juveniles. 
They do not differentiate between those focused on child 
labor, child exploitation, etc. but rather handle the full 
panoply of issues related to the treatment of children and 
their protection under the laws of Turkey. 
 
-- According to the Labor Inspection Board, statistics for 
calendar year 2008 are still being compiled and will not be 
finalized until the end of March 2009.  For the period 
January 1-October 31, 2008, the Board reports it conducted 
inspections of 29,500 work places regarding labor health and 
safety, accounting for workplaces that employed 1.3 million 
men, 189,000 women, 1145 apprentices, and 37 children. 
During the same period, the Board reports it inspected 32,088 
workplaces regarding work hours, salaries, leave, and 
compensation, accounting for workplaces that employed 589,000 
men, 135,000 women, 1862 apprentices, and 130 children.  The 
Board informed post that its data collection system did not 
provide it the capability of specifically tracking the 
punishments levied to each individual workplace that was 
found to be employing children.  However, the Social Security 
Institution (SSI) reported to us that it routinely reports 
incidence of child labor discovered during its inspections of 
workplaces to the Labor Inspection Board for initiation of 
necessary legal procedures.  SSI indicates that in 2008, it 
uncovered 20 violations of employment of underage children in 
restaurants.  The children were removed from the workplaces 
and the offices of the applicable provincial governor were 
informed for follow-up.  The governors' offices contacted the 
families and arranged for the children to be enrolled in 
school.  The employers were fined. 
 
-- With regard to awareness-raising and training activities, 
the Ministry of Labor claims it provides regular refresher 
training for state employees in charge of enforcing child 
labor laws. 
 
¶C. Whether there are social programs specifically designed 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.  Two 
European Union-funded ILO projects focused on child labor 
were completed in 2007, while the USDOL-funded $6 million 
project, "From the Fields to School," which included 
contributions from both the Ministries of Labor and National 
Education, came to a close in September 2008, having targeted 
children working under hazardous conditions in season 
agriculture in four provinces.  No new sources of funding 
were identified in 2008 to initiate new child labor-specific 
projects. 
 
-- In the Minister of Labor's 2009 budget speech before 
parliament, the Minister referred to the completion of the 
 
USDOL project and a separate project on "Awareness Raising 
Against Child Labor Through Media Organization."  He also 
noted he had signed a protocol in late 2008 on the 
"Establishment of a National Information System on Children 
Under Risk," and noted that MOL plans to initiate new 
projects during the 2009-2013 time frame further targeting 
worst forms of child labor in four provinces, including 
Istanbul.  No further details are yet available on these. 
Minister Celik also noted MOL would be conducting an 
"awareness raising campaign at the national level in 2009." 
 
-- According to the Prime Ministry's Social Assistance and 
Solidarity Directorate General (SYDGM) and the Prime 
Ministry's Social Services and Child Protection Institution 
(SHCEK), the primary reason that child labor continues in 
Turkey at all is family poverty.  To help address the 
societal issues linked to poverty, SYDGM provided assistance 
and professional training for families with incomes below the 
poverty level.  The assistance included direct provision of 
cash, food, fuel, and housing, as well as health care costs 
associated with children attending school.  In rural areas, 
direct price supports and support for inputs were provided 
directly to farmers.  SHCEK noted its focus has been on 
attending to the needs of children working in the streets, 
ensuring they are able to attend school. 
 
-- Labor Ministry officials expressed concern, however, that 
with the economic crisis hitting Turkey, insufficient 
government funding and a lack of international support, 
combined with additional financial pressure on families, 
could pose a danger to the country's steady decrease in the 
incidence of child labor. 
 
 
¶D. Does the country have a comprehensive policy aimed at the 
elimination of the worst forms of child labor? 
 
-- Turkey's efforts in this area are 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. 
 
-- As noted in C above, child labor issues are taken into 
consideration and addressed in poverty reduction programs. 
 
-- To implement Turkey's Time-Bound Policy and Program 
Framework, public institutions, labor and employer 
confederations, and NGOs began implementing child labor 
projects which, according to the Ministry of Labor, have 
provided invaluable information on the scope of the child 
labor problem in Turkey, raised societal consciousness about 
the problem, and led to impressive gains in the fight against 
child labor.  MOL officials point to the diminishing number 
of children between the ages of 6 and 17 who are involved in 
economic activities (2,269,000 in 1994; 1,630,000 in 1999; 
958,000 in 2006) as clear evidence the GOT's efforts have 
been successful and the goal of eliminating all incidence of 
the worst forms of child labor by 2014 is within reach. 
 
-- Eight years of primary education are compulsory, both in 
law and in practice.  Such education is provided free of 
charge in public schools, both in law and in practice.  Some 
supplies and uniforms must be provided by parents.  These 
items are provided through special government programs or 
NGOs in circumstances where families are unable to afford 
them. 
 
¶E. Is the country making continual progress toward 
eliminating the worst forms of child labor? 
 
-- As noted in D above, Turkey is making steady progress 
toward its goal of eliminating all incidence of child labor 
for children under the age of 15, as well as all incidence 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. 
 
-- Regarding specific sectors/work activities/goods in which 
children work, Labor Ministry officials note that children 
work in some small-scale industries, including furniture and 
metal-work shops, as well as in the retail and service 
sectors in very small, often family-run enterprises, and in 
the streets.  Many also work as seasonal labor in the 
agricultural sector.  Children working in the streets and in 
agriculture are often from families who migrate internally in 
search of work and are especially vulnerable to remaining 
uneducated because of the temporary nature of their presence 
 
in any one place. 
 
Visit Ankara's Classified Web Site at 
http://www.intelink.sgov.gov/wiki/Portal:Turk ey 
 
Jeffrey