Ankara - Turkish Health Ministry authorities launched an investigation Tuesday into reports that a butcher's shop was used to perform circumcision operations on 12 boys in western Turkey, the Anadolu news agency reported. Turkish newspapers on Tuesday reported that the municipality of Geyve in the town of Sakarya had offered to perform the operations, a rite of passage for Muslim boys, for free for poorer members of the community.
Sabah newspaper reported that the under supervision of municipal officials, 50 boys were circumcised on Sunday.
Due to a lack of beds at the main facility, itself a market normally used for selling potatoes and onions, 12 of the boys were taken to a local butcher's shop where the operations were performed.
Geyve Mayor Mehmet Kir said that all of the boys were circumcised under hygenic conditions and that all were now in good health.
