Dutch Justice Ministry Secretary-General Joris Demmink’s Travels to Turkey in the 1990s
In the mid 1990’s, Dutch Justice Ministry Secretary-General Joris Demmink is accused of sexually assaulting numerous boys between the ages of twelve and sixteen in Turkey. Yet, he adamantly denies being in Turkey during this time. Evidence, logic, and a paper trail prove otherwise.
Before he was appointed Secretary-General of the Dutch Justice Ministry in 2002, Joris Demmink was Director-General of the Dutch Department of Immigration and International Affairs in the Ministry of Justice. In this position, he was focused on Turkish-Kurdish issues. From 1993-2002, he was also a member of the European K4 Committee, which focused on immigration issues for Turks and Kurds.
Turkish government officials have provided documents confirming that Joris Demmink did enter Turkey several times in the 1990s, as would be expected for someone in his appointed positions dealing with Turkish-Kurdish issues. As a member of the EU K4 committee, it is expected that he was a member of the delegation which visited Turkey in March 1998. As told by Turkish security officials, he entered Turkey in the 1990s under aliases or false names and identities. While this was likely done for security reasons, the use of a false identity also likely emboldened Demmink to victimize the young Turkish boys, since no repercussions were expected.
In addition to the reports received by Turkish government officials, included are supporting documents demonstrating the certainty that Joris Demmink entered Turkey in the 1990s, including the following written by Nicholas Burch in his article “Asylum and Immigration Policies of the EU”: “In summer 1998, it emerged that officials of the K4 Committee under the EU Justice and Home Affairs Council had held several secret meetings in Istanbul and Ankara, with representatives of the Turkish government and the Turkish police and security authorities. According to a confidential K4 Committee report, Turkey pledged to set up so-called ‘reception houses’ for the retention of so-called ‘illegal migrants’ that is, involuntary migrants using Turkey as a transit country on their way to destinations in Western Europe. The k4-Report noted that the ‘[EU] Presidency and the Commission indicated that this could be a project where EU expertise and funding might be of benefit.”
The document “Groupe de travail ad hoc pour aider la Presidence et le Secretaire General a etablir la position du Conseil de sa cooperation avec l’Union europeenne (GR-EU)” lists Joris Demmink as a member of the K4 Committee, while a EU memo regarding the influx of immigrants from Iraq and the region (Turkey) describes 1) visits of the Migration Working Group (of which Demmink was a member) to Ankara in March 1998, 2) description of meetings between European officials and Turkish security services, 3) the cooperation between Turkish foreign and interior ministries and the Migration Working Group, and 4) details of a meeting between Istanbul’s secret police chief and the delegation.