A 16-year-old child worker, Alperen Karaçengel, died in a factory fire in Tuzla, İstanbul, around 1.00 am local time. Karaçengel's body was transferred to the Forensic Medicine Institute.
The Health and Safety Labor Watch (İSİG), a group monitoring work-related fatalities across Turkey, said that Karaçengel was the 87th child to die in a work-related incident this year.
Under Labor Law No. 4857, those who have completed 15 years of age but have not yet completed 18 are defined as "young workers."
The law also specifies prohibited work for workers under 18, which includes and outlines the procedures for permitted light work for children who have completed 14 years of age and primary education.
Child rights advocates are united in their criticism that the law's separate definitions for "child worker" and "young worker," paired with specific age brackets, "create a loophole and fail to protect children." (NÖ/VK)
