سفير تركيا
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In early December 2025, vocational education became the focus of a wider public debate in Türkiye after 16 young members of the Workers’ Party of Türkiye, TİP, were remanded in custody following a protest in Istanbul against child deaths in workplace training. Contemporary accounts commonly described the group as students.
The case brought together three issues: the protection of children in the vocational training system known as MESEM, the responsibilities of schools and employers, and the right to challenge education policy through protest. This account concerns the initial December decisions, rather than the defendants’ subsequent legal position.
What does MESEM involve?
MESEM centres combine classroom teaching with practical training at a workplace, such as a factory, workshop or industrial establishment. The standard four-year route generally involves one day a week at school and four days in a business.Students who successfully complete the relevant training and examinations can obtain an Ustalık Belgesi, or mastership certificate. A vocational secondary-school diploma also requires completion of the prescribed academic and supplementary subjects; the mastership certificate alone is not a secondary-school diploma.
Critics argue that, without adequate safeguards, the system can become a means of supplying cheap child labour under the label of training. They say young people may be pushed towards production work before they receive sufficient education, supervision or protection. This is the criticism at the centre of the dispute, rather than a finding that every placement is unlawful or exploitative.
What happened in Istanbul?
TİP members protested at a hotel hosting the Türkiye Century Vocational and Technical Education Summit, an event held on 1–3 December with Education Minister Yusuf Tekin’s participation. The protest took place on 2 December.The demonstrators used red paint to symbolise the blood of children who had died at work and displayed a banner accusing the authorities of failing to protect them. Contemporary reporting put the number detained at 17. On 3 December, a Bakırköy criminal judgeship of peace ordered 16 to be held on remand.
Initial reports of the decision referred to allegations of obstructing officials in the performance of their duties and damaging property. These were allegations supporting a custody decision, not convictions. Accounts also distinguish interventions by private security staff from the subsequent police detention; describing every stage simply as resistance to the police would obscure that distinction.
The protesters denied violence and said they were exercising their constitutional right to peaceful protest. According to accounts of the defence statements, any damage occurred during the confrontation when they were pushed or forced to the ground. Their lawyers disputed an intention to damage property. These explanations were the defence’s position, rather than findings accepted by a court.
The figures behind the protest
Several figures circulated in the debate, but they refer to different sources, populations and periods:- Enrolment. Opposition and trade-union accounts cited roughly 1.5 million MESEM participants, including around 300,000 under 18. These should be identified as estimates used in that debate, rather than a verified December census. At the summit, Tekin separately reported 420,000 students in 408 vocational education centres. The totals cannot be treated as interchangeable without reconciling their coverage and reference periods.
- Accidents and MESEM deaths. The Istanbul Medical Chamber’s 2025 report cited 336 children who had experienced workplace accidents as of April 2024, alongside at least nine MESEM-related child deaths. These older figures must not be relabelled as a complete tally for the year preceding December 2025. An accident count also does not, by itself, specify the severity of every injury.
- Child worker deaths across Türkiye. The Health and Safety Labour Watch, İSİG, recorded at least 85 child worker deaths between January and November 2025. This is the organisation’s monitored total across employment sectors, not a count of 85 deaths exclusively within MESEM. Its reports compile information from the press and workplace, family, union and professional contacts, and may be revised as further information emerges.
The government and opposition responses
Education Minister Yusuf Tekin defended cooperation with industry and professional organisations. At the summit, he said the ministry cared about children’s development, health and safety and would continue working with supportive partners in the interests of the country and young people. Those assurances form the government’s response; they do not resolve the questions about individual deaths or workplace supervision.TİP leader Erkan Baş attended the courthouse and strongly criticised the remand decision and restrictions on access to the hearing. In his remarks, he portrayed the judges as serving the presidential palace and accused the authorities of punishing young people for exposing a system that exploited children and sent them to their graves. These were his political allegations and condemnation of the decision, rather than established facts about the judges’ motives.
The wider social and educational questions
- Where does training become exploitation? Practical experience can be part of education, but the debate asks whether poverty pushes families to accept early work and risks that their children should not face. It also asks whether a placement teaches a trade or mainly supplies low-cost labour.
- Who is responsible for safety? The dispute raises questions about the enforcement of occupational safety standards, the suitability of workplaces for minors, and accountability when schools or employers place young trainees in dangerous environments.
- How can students challenge policy? Rights advocates and the protesters argue that remanding people after a demonstration can discourage young people from expressing opposition. Assessing that concern requires distinguishing protected peaceful protest from the specific conduct alleged by prosecutors, with the allegations and defence tested through the legal process.
Why the case mattered
The initial remand of 16 young protesters intensified an existing debate about child labour, workplace safety and the boundaries of vocational education. It also raised a separate question about the treatment of people who object to the state’s education policies.The deaths behind the protest, the quality of supervision and the proportionality of the judicial response each require scrutiny. Keeping the figures, dates and competing accounts distinct is essential to understanding the case without presenting disputed accusations as a verdict.