EXCLUSIVE - Over 1,000 children recruited, used by PKK terror group and its offshoots in Syria in 2022: UN report

By Betul Yuruk

UNITED NATIONS (AA) - More than 1,000 children were recruited and used by the PKK, a designated terrorist organization in the US, Türkiye, and the EU, and its offshoots the SDF and YPG in 2022 in Syria, according to a UN report seen by Anadolu.

The UN annual report on children in armed conflict covers the period from January to December 2022.

According to the report, a total of 32 children as young as 11 were also recruited and used in Iraq.

"I am gravely concerned by the recruitment and use of children by HPG/PKK. I urge them to end the recruitment and use of children and to release all children from its ranks, " UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said in the report.

There were more than 2,438 grave violations against 2,407 children in Syria.

As many as 1,696 children in Syria were recruited and used mostly by "SDF/YPG/PKK" and other armed groups and non-state actors.

The PKK terror group's Syrian branch, the SDF, recruited and used 637 children while 633 children were recruited by YPG/YPJ and four others by other components of the SDF.