A Turkish psychiatrist has been sentenced to more than 25 years in prison on conviction of drugging children and manipulating sexual abuse allegations, in a case that has raised concerns over due process and a potential coverup of sexual abuse within influential families, the Bold Medya news website reported on Thursday.
Prof. Dr. Süleyman Salih Zoroğlu, a former head of the child psychiatry department at a major İstanbul medical faculty, was convicted of multiple offenses, including administering ketamine to children and coercing them into making false abuse accusations. The court sentenced him to 25 years, eight months and 26 days in prison. His trial has been widely criticized, with human rights advocates pointing to flaws in the proceedings and the Turkish government’s history of politically motivated prosecutions.
Zoroğlu’s supporters argue that the case is an attempt to silence his work, particularly since many of his patients were incest survivors. His defense team presented handwritten notes and voice recordings as evidence that the abuse claims were real, in order to counter allegations that Zoroğlu fabricated or manipulated them. Critics say the prosecution relied on retracted statements, a common pattern in family abuse cases where victims later withdraw allegations to protect relatives.
Adding to concerns, Zoroğlu was dismissed from his university position in 2016 in a mass purge of alleged Gülen movement supporters following a failed coup.
Turkey experienced a coup attempt on the night of July 15, 2016 that killed 251 people and wounded more than a thousand others. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) government immediately pinned the blame on the Gülen movement, a faith-based group inspired by the late Muslim preacher Fethullah Gülen, labeling it as a terrorist organization.
Although Gülen and the movement strongly deny involvement in the abortive putsch or any terrorist activity, Erdoğan initiated a widespread purge aimed at cleansing sympathizers of the movement from within state institutions, dehumanizing its popular figures and putting them in custody.
Some critics hinted at a possible coverup carried out by influential families to conceal abuse cases, leveraging their political connections to the AKP.
The Turkish Medical Association called for an independent and transparent review of the case, while rights organizations warn that the trial may have served to shield well-connected perpetrators of child abuse rather than protect victims.
Turkey has a long history of controversial legal cases involving child abuse allegations, with previous instances where authorities were accused of covering up crimes to protect powerful figures. The case against Zoroğlu, instead of investigating the original abuse claims, has focused on criminalizing the psychiatrist, raising further doubts about the motives behind the prosecution.
Zoroğlu has denied all wrongdoing, maintaining that his treatment methods were based on internationally recognized practices.
His lawyers plan to appeal the verdict, arguing that his designation by the government as a Gülen movement member has provided a convenient pretext for those who were hurt by his sessions uncovering abuse to discredit and punish him rather than addressing the allegations of sexual violence that surfaced during his time with patients.