* Photo: Mustafa Kamacı - Anadolu Agency (AA)

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Children's rights groups have harshly criticized President and Justice and Development Party (AKP) Chair Recep Tayyip Erdoğan for giving a 10-year-old child the microphone during an opening ceremony in Turkey's Black Sea province of Trabzon on Sunday (January 30) and making him insult main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) Chair Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu.

The Children's Rights Center of the Diyarbakır Bar Association has defined the incident as "raising the child in an environment of hatred".

The Center has said, "We do not accept that a child was abused by political actors by being brought before the public at a rally for the sake of political purposes, that children are turned into the objects of daily policies and that the struggle in the field of children's rights is disregarded."

It has added, "In the incidents reported in the press, we see that considerations such as child perception, approach to children, communication with children, the best interests of children, child abuse and the agency of children are not taken into account to a considerable extent."

Viewing the incident "as a reflection of the child being raised in an environment of hatred, above all," the Children's Rights Center has called on "parents and society to be meticulous about child raising and keep children away from violent environments and hate speech", saying: "Children are too precious to be used for the sake of adults' political purposes".

'Don't share the images'

The Center has underlined in its statement that "it is not right for the persons and institutions obliged to develop and introduce policies oriented towards protecting children to use a child at a rally in this way."

"This situation shows how far political actors are from child perception and that they do not recognize the child as a subject," the Children's Rights Center of the Diyarbakır Bar Association has indicated further.

"Lastly, we would like to stress that we need to show our reaction to the images where the child was abused for the sake of politics by not sharing the images because the images of abuse and violence reproduce them and will also maltreat the child," the Center has said in conclusion.

'It is against children's rights'

The Veli-Der (Students' Parents / Guardians Association) has also denounced the incident in a written statement.

"We definitely do not accept that our children are brought to the political arena and politics is done through them. We unfortunately see that today's politics is designed with a language polarizing, antagonizing, dividing society. We are of the opinion that abusing the affectionate and naive sides of our children is against children's rights as well as the best interests of the child," the Association has underlined in its statement.

"In that sense, it is enough for you to show your political maturity and compassion to our children," it has stated further, adding: "Moreover, considering that this incident and similar incidents will be traumatic for children, possible adverse consequences have to be kept in mind."

Concluding its statement, the Association has said, "Protecting and caring for our children is a duty of politicians as much as it is a duty of mothers and fathers. It is our primary request as parents that you act with this awareness and understanding." (AÖ/SD)