While the statement from IOG said the incident likely had a religious or faith-based prejudice motive, the developments should be treated with great sensitivity, according to the Istanbul Governor's Office statement.
In its statement, the IOG said:
"The statement of the Governor's Office also states that this destruction, which may have a religious or faith-based prejudice motive, was carried out by children aged 11-13. The allegation that the destruction was carried out by children requires an even more sensitive treatment of the matter. A protective justice system that considers the best interests of the child. "It is necessary to conduct a careful investigation by considering the possibility of a hate crime. It should also be remembered that hate crimes in the past remain in the memory of societies for a long time and have a profound effect when similar events occur."
"We call on the authorities to take action"
The statement also highlighted that the April 2021 Human Rights Action Plan includes important goals related to hate crimes, but they have not yet been implemented.
The goals set in the April 2021 Human Rights Action Plan to establish a new regulation in the Turkish Penal Code on discrimination and hate crimes (Activity 4.4.e.) and to establish a database on discrimination and hate crimes and offenses within one year and to keep statistics in a healthy way (Activity 4.4.h.) have not yet been achieved.
You can read the full statement ( in Turkish) here.