Turkish lawmakers are pressing the government for an explanation after allegations surfaced that Ukrainian orphans evacuated to Turkey under a humanitarian program were subjected to severe neglect and abuse, including two cases of rape that resulted in pregnancies.
The allegations are detailed in a March 2024 report signed by 11 Ukrainian officials that was obtained by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project, an international investigative journalism network, and recently disclosed by Ukrainian investigative news outlet Slidstvo.Info.
The inspection team included representatives of the Ukrainian parliament’s human rights commissioner, the Dnipropetrovsk Regional Military Administration, Turkey’s ombudsman institution and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).
The report is based on the inspection of a hotel in the Beldibi area of Antalya that housed a group of orphaned and institutionalized children evacuated from war-torn eastern Ukraine after Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022. They were placed in the hotel under the “Childhood Without War” project managed by Ukrainian businessman Ruslan Shostak’s private foundation.
Independent İstanbul MP Mustafa Yeneroğlu and national opposition İYİ (Good) Party lawmaker Turhan Çömez each submitted detailed motions to the Ministry of Family and Social Services, demanding clarification on claims that 510 Ukrainian children brought to Turkey were exposed to unsafe living conditions, psychological and physical abuse and sexual exploitation by Turkish hotel staff.
Both deputies referred to the Ukrainian officials’ report, which found that the children were allegedly left in unsafe, unsupervised contact with adult male hotel staff; exposed to neglect, psychological abuse and physical mistreatment; housed in conditions described as unhygienic and deprived of proper access to emergency medical services; forced by some caregivers to clean rooms; pressured to recite poems, sing, dance or appear in donation-campaign videos; and unable to receive consistent psychosocial support despite visible trauma.
The report’s most serious allegation stated that two girls, aged 15 and 16, became pregnant after being repeatedly raped by hotel employees. Both girls were then sent back to Ukraine and later gave birth without adequate social services, with one reportedly attempting suicide.
According to the Karar daily, Yeneroğlu submitted a detailed motion asking which legal protocols governed the children’s transfer to Turkey, when authorities learned of the pregnancies and whether returning the girls to Ukraine hindered the investigation. He also asked whether the Shostak Foundation obstructed inspections, what administrative or judicial steps were taken regarding neglect and child labor claims, whether Turkey complied with international child-protection obligations and how many Ukrainian children remain in state care.
He also asked whether new regulations are being prepared for future cross-border evacuations of vulnerable children.
In a separate motion, Çömez accused the Turkish government of failing to prevent or effectively investigate the abuse. He said in a tweet about the motion that the evidence in the report showed that “two girls were raped by hotel staff” and alleged that “the incident was downplayed by claiming the children had ‘consented.’”
“After all these violations, the entire group of children was sent back to war-torn Ukraine along with their trauma,” Çömez said, adding that parliament must determine whether Turkish institutions fulfilled their legal obligations.
📍Savaş’ta ailelerini kaybetmiş 510 yetim çocuk, Ukrayna merkezli bir vakıf tarafından Türkiye’ye getirildi ve devlet himayesinde otellere yerleştirildi.
📍Bir süre sonra Ukrayna Parlamentosu İnsan Hakları Komiseri Ofisi bir gözlem ziyareti gerçekleştirerek rapor hazırladı.… https://t.co/ZQ1jblADG8 pic.twitter.com/C7vWtxEFpU— Turhan Çömez (@ComezTurhan) December 2, 2025
According to local media, the Turkish Ministry of Family and Social Services filed a criminal complaint after discovering the pregnancies. Turkish prosecutors nevertheless closed the investigation due to “insufficient evidence.” An appeal lodged by the ministry’s own lawyers was rejected. Ukraine shut down its parallel probe in June 2025 on the same grounds.
The Turkish presidency’s Directorate of Communications, through its Disinformation Combat Center, dismissed the allegations as misleading, saying the hotels were selected by a Ukrainian foundation and that daily care was provided by Ukrainian personnel, adding that Turkish authorities learned of the abuse only after the children had returned to Ukraine.
Yeneroğlu rejected this explanation in his parliamentary motion, saying that “every child on Turkish soil, regardless of which country sends them, is under the direct protection of Turkish authorities.”
He noted that the ministry’s official website states that the Ukrainian children’s accommodation and access to social services were monitored by provincial staff.