Lawyers hired by Ankara's Yazidi community to speak with girl rescued from ISIS

Lawyers hired by the Yazidi community in Ankara will be speaking to a seven-year-old Yazidi girl rescued from the captivity of an ISIS member in Ankara on Feb. 24. Employed by the Germany-based Yazidi Culture Foundation and Viranşehir Yazidis Culture Association, lawyers Ayşe Özdemir and Medine Turan Tayran petitioned the Justice Ministry to speak with the child last week.

Monday March 15 2021 01:21 pm

Hale Gönültaş / DUVAR

Lawyers hired by Ankara's Yazidi community will speak with the seven-year-old Yazidi girl who was rescued from an ISIS member in the capital on Feb. 24

"We will also tell the Justice Ministry that we want to collaborate with them on the rescues of Yazidi women and children," said lawyer Medine Turan Tayran.

Employed by the Germany-based Yazidi Culture Foundation and Viranşehir Yazidis Culture Association, lawyers Ayşe Özdemir and Medine Turan Tayran petitioned the Justice Ministry to speak with the child last week.

"We think that we'll be able to meet with the kid on Monday or Tuesday with a child counselor present," Tayran said.

The Justice Ministry and the Family, Labor and Social Services Ministry have had a positive attitude in working with the lawyers, they said.

The police have withheld the case file about the Yazidi girl from the attorneys, but the lawyers believe that they will be able to seek charges of human trafficking.

"We will also obtain her medical reports from the hospital she was taken to upon her rescue to see if she was sexually abused in any way in the house where she was held," Tayran added.

The child was found by police on an online black market for human trafficking, with her location being tracked down through her captor's IP address.