Around 100,000 children are in the registered labor force in Turkey, Labor and Social Security Minister Mehmet Müezzinoğlu has stated in response to a parliamentary question filed by main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) deputy Atila Sertel.The declaration came after CHP İzmir deputy Sertel asked the ministry about the situation of child labor in Turkey. “Children who work or who are forced to work in sectors from agriculture to industry, from construction to textile, are victims of loopholes in the law or of bad implementation of the laws,” Sertel wrote, asking for details on the official number of children currently working in Turkey, their age groups and sectoral presence. Noting that half of the children who are in the labor force are in the agriculture sector working as seasonal workers, Sertel asked if the ministry had any planned regulations concerning seasonal working conditions of children...the ministry stated that the Social Security Law concerning the social security of seasonal workers applies only to those are above 18 years of age. Sertel also asked about the social security conditions of working children and what kind of monitoring the ministry conducted on these conditions. The official answer...ministry officials had conducted a total of 22,413 inspections as of Dec. 21. 2016 and regular inspections showed that child labor was identified as a priority risk, while administrative fines were applied to establishments that violated the regulation provisions. Despite Sertel’s inquiry, the ministry’s response did not include figures concerning the labor condition of Syrian children who are currently residing in Turkey under refugee status.