Witnesses ANF spoke to regarding the increase in substance use in Siirt (Sêrt) highlighted that young people cannot escape this situation due to both the lack of sufficient treatment centers and the failure to take necessary measures.
The age of drug use, which has become a social problem, has fallen to 9 in many cities. These individuals, who either receive no support during the process of addiction, cannot access support, or refuse support, also worsen treatment processes, and cause great harm to their family members. The most recent example of this occurred in the Kurtalan district of Siirt. Onur Arı, who was stated to be addicted to drugs, shot and killed his wife and his uncle, and severely injured his mother and two others. It was learned that Onur Arı had previously received treatment and had returned to substance use shortly afterward. Like Onur Arı, who was detected to have used drugs three days before the incident, there are countless similar examples in Siirt, yet there is still no effective method of struggle against addiction in the city.
No centers or treatment available
In this city of 300,000, the only institution against drug addiction is the Green Crescent Counseling Center (YEDAM), which is affiliated with the Green Crescent. Young people who want to free themselves from these substances are sent to cities such as Izmir and Elazığ for treatment. Because the treatment centers are far away, many of those who go either cannot stay where they are sent or give up on treatment altogether, and during the time they remain in Siirt they continue to harm both themselves and their families. Two parliamentary questions submitted on this issue by Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) Siirt MP Sabahat Erdoğan Sarıtaş remained unanswered.
A threat to those around them
A witness ANF spoke to described the suffering their family endured during their sibling’s addiction and the many obstacles they faced seeking help in Siirt. The witness said they had been turned away at every door and that, in the last incident, their sibling even tried to stab their mother. They stressed the urgent need for a lasting solution. The witness also said: “I fought for years to save my sibling. I knocked on every state door but received no help. The laws do not treat addicts, they push them into crime. Over time, they become a danger not only to us, but to everyone around them. I went to the courthouse and demanded compulsory treatment. The court issued a warrant clearly stating that they must be apprehended, taken to hospital and brought before the court. Yet even though this order was forwarded to the police, they were not arrested. When I asked people around them, they said: ‘They are with the police.’ The police were supposedly searching for them, but in reality they were with them. I took them to the hospital myself and took them into the police room. I showed the arrest warrant. One officer said, ‘I am the hospital police, I won’t deal with this.’ The doctor did not want to act because the shift was ending. I waited in the police room with my sibling, spoke to the doctor and did the paperwork myself. When the police finally arrived, they asked me: ‘How did you bring them here?’ I told them: ‘I did the job you refused to do.’”
Treatment denied
The witness said the court initially refused compulsory treatment, and that both doctors and the judiciary avoided responsibility and continued: “In court I said, ‘They are under the influence of drugs, they cannot control themselves.’ They replied, ‘Their mental capacity is intact,’ and refused to order treatment. I even asked, ‘Do they need to completely lose their mind before they can be treated?’, but there was no answer. My sibling was like a buddy to the police. People kept telling me: ‘First save your sibling from the police.’ Imagine this: instead of being treated, a drug-addicted person is being used. This is a complete lack of conscience, a moral collapse. Someone who should be saved is being thrown away, by the state itself.”
Turned away from the AMATEM
The witness said they eventually convinced their sibling and took them to the Alcohol and Substance Addiction Treatment Center (AMATEM) in Diyarbakır (Amed) but faced the same refusal there as well and added: “They were willing, they wanted treatment. I begged the doctor: ‘Please admit them immediately, before they change their mind.’ They told me, ‘Our shift is over, come back on Monday.’ When I insisted, they called security and threw us out. Even the director told me, ‘Should we treat everyone who wants to be treated?’ Is this something a hospital director should ever say?”
Families threatened
The witness said that because treatment was not carried out that day, their sibling disappeared again and was later arrested after returning and holding a knife to their mother while demanding money. The witness said their sibling spent around five to six months in prison: “In prison they were away from drugs. They are clean now, but we are still afraid. There is no real programme against drugs in Turkey. Addicted people are not rehabilitated, they are punished. This system does not prevent crime, it produces it. If proper treatment centers were opened, the prisons would not be this full.”
Therapy centers needed, not more prisons
The witness noted that treatment centers are severely lacking, especially in Kurdish cities, and continued: “There are nearly 20 million people in this region and only two AMATEM centers. The facilities in Diyarbakır and Van each have around 40–50 beds. Every province needs at least one AMATEM. Young people are being abandoned to their fate. Those who celebrate new prisons should instead be announcing new AMATEM centers.”