Letter from Representative Ted Poe to his Excellency Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Prime Minister of the Republic of Turkey
His Excellency Recep Tayyip
Erdogan Prime Minister of the Republic
of Turkey Office of the Prime Minister
Vekaletler Caddesi Basbakanhk Merkez Bina P.K.06573
Kizzlay, Ankara
Turkey
Dear Prime Minister Erdogan,
As a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, a co-founder and co-chair of the Congressional Victims' Rights Caucus, and a member of the Congressional Caucus on Turkey and Turkish Americans, I write to bring a serious matter to your attention.
It has come to my attention that Secretary-General of the Dutch Ministry of Justice, Mr. Joris Demmink, allegedly made an agreement in the mid-1990s with the government of Turkey to cover up multiple complaints of child sexual abuse filed against him. Investigations into this matter reportedly have found that Turkish police officers provided Mr. Demmink with minor boys during his visits to Turkey in the 1990s. According to law enforcement officers in Turkey and the Netherlands, Mr. Demmink used the power of his position to obstruct efforts to file complaints against him and used investigations as a way to deter his accusers.
These allegations of crimes committed in Turkey and the Netherlands are serious and deeply concerning. Two Turkish citizens have brought suit against Demmink for allegedly sexually assaulting them in the 1990s in Turkey when they were 14 and 12 years old, and, the suit claims, "numerous" other Turkish boys were victimized. A third alleged victim has also since come forward.
While recent developments in Turkey related to this matter are encouraging, the information that my office received leads me to seek your attention regarding this case as a matter of urgency. I believe that this issue should be thoroughly and promptly investigated and then handled by the appropriate judicial authorities of your country.
Sexual abuse and child trafficking are not just issues that affect the Netherlands, Turkey, or the United States, but they are crimes that our countries have agreed to combat internationally as serious crimes against human and moral dignity. I look forward to working with Turkey, one of our longtime allies, to find an effective remedy in this case so that justice is served for the victims and that others know that these crimes will not be tolerated.
Ted Poe
Member of Congress
You can download scanned PDF version of this letter here.