Protests force Turkish gov't to revise child abuse draft

A midnight draft by six ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Parti) MPs upended Turkey's already hectic political agenda after Nov. 18.

The draft recommended a change to Article 103 of the Penal Code regarding penalties for the sexual abuse of children, (ie. those under the age of 15). It followed a Constitutional Court ruling on July 13 this year, which said that if the government did not make corrective changes in the penal code within six months (expiring on Jan. 13, 2017), convicts currently in jail for child abuse could be set free. Justice Minister Bekir Bozdağ vowed that a correction would be made to introduce gradually heavier penalties as the age of the child victim got younger. That soothed the reactions from society and a parliamentary commission was set up to find the right wording.

But the midnight draft suggested something beyond the reconciliation reached by the parties in parliament. If it had passed, all those currently in jail for child abuse would have been freed "for one time," meaning that it would not be applicable in future. 

When Bozdağ defended the case in parliament, he said there are some who have suffered because of "early marriages." He added that the proposal aimed to save young grooms who have married under the legal age from jail, saying provincial governors and even MPs had taken part in celebrations of some of those weddings.

Angry reactions against the motion grew further after his words. Opposition MPs said that instead of prosecuting public officials who ignored such marriages' illegality, Bozdağ was praising underage marriages. They said such a proposal would open the way to rape-weddings, in which a rapist could be left free if he agreed to marry his young victim. Others noted that nobody...