Turkey’s ruling party withdraws controversial sexual abuse law

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) has withdrawn a controversial law that may have pardoned the sexual abuse of minors if the convict agreed to marry the girl.

 

Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım announced on Tuesday that his party has withdrawn the motion at the Turkish parliament, in a press conference at Istanbul’s Ataturk airport.

 

“These issues will be discussed at a (parliamentary) commission,” Yildirim said. “If a proposal comes from them (the opposition), it will be developed. If not, we will fix the issue by taking the suggestions of NGOs, citizens, experts and academics,” he was quoted as saying by Turkish media. 

 

Yildirim added that the government wanted to heal some grievances in society through the amnesty law, but said he understands that other parties have different views and that this will now give a chance for other parties to set forward their proposals on this issue.

 

The law, which if passed, would have affected about 3,000 people who are currently in prison for breaking the child marriage, according to the state-run Anadolu Agency.

 

The controversial law, which faced strong resistance from the opposition parties and women’s rights organizations, stipulates that the sentence for the convict would be deferred if he marries the underage girl with her consent, and that of her family. 

 

The bill received the majority vote in the Turkish parliament on Nov 17, and was supposed to receive a second vote today.