ANKARA, Turkey, Nov. 29 (UPI) -- Turkey, which is seeking to join the European Union, is a center for prostitution trade known as "white slavery" mostly with women from Eastern Europe.
According to Amnesty International, Turkey is a transit stop for women from the former Soviet republics who are forced into prostitution in European and Arab countries.
Reports said an estimated 2,000 women are being forcefully prostituted in Turkey annually.
Human rights groups have criticized the Turkish government for granting the women fleeing poverty at home temporary work permits to be able to engage in prostitution.
Turkish human rights activist Ahmed Uglu said the majority of the women were being lured by the promise of decent work in Turkey and then forced into prostitution.
"These girls are being promised decent jobs and living, but they end up in sex shops and nightclubs after being stripped of their passports and identification cards to stop them from fleeing," Uglu said.
Prostitution is not a crime punishable by law in Turkey. As in other Muslim countries, police are not authorized to arrest foreign prostitutes unless their residence and work permits are not legal.
