TURKEY’s opposition Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) warned today that rape is being used as a means of warfare by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP).
Speaking at a press conference in Ankara, the chairwoman of the party’s women’s council, Ayse Acar Basaran, charged the AKP with responsibility for two recent rapes allegedly carried out by Turkish soldiers.
A 13-year-old girl was raped in the largely Kurdish city of Sirnak earlier this month, while a 17-year-old girl was raped in Batman province. In both cases, the alleged perpetrators were non-commissioned officers of the Turkish army.
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