Bekir Bozdağ

A bill proposed by the ruling Party of Justice and Development (AKP) in Turkey has enjoyed mixed reception in Parliament and among the public.

Under the draft amendments, perpetrators of sexual abuse of children may avoid being prosecuted if they get married to the victim.

A top Turkish government official recently met with Attorney General Loretta Lynch and told her the prosecution of Turkish-Iranian businessman Reza Zarrab was "based on no evidence," according to a court filing unsealed on Nov. 15. 

Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu has criticized a group of foreign diplomats for attending a People's Democratic Party (HDP) parliamentary group meeting on Nov. 8 after its two co-leaders and eight other deputies were arrested on terrorism charges.

Turkey - U.S. relations are more important than any individual American president, Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmuş said on Nov. 12.

Kurtulmuş told reporters in Istanbul the election of Donald Trump was a major development for the region and the world.

"This is the American people's choice," he said.

Turkish Justice Minister Bekir Bozdağ has expressed "regret" that a prosecutor who is facing charges over Gülenist links was appointed to probe daily Cumhuriyet's writers and executives for alleged ties to the movement, which is widely believed to have staged the coup attempt on July 15.
 

The government is drafting a package of comprehensive changes in the criminal procedures act and the penal code in order to make the trials of July 15 coup plotters more efficient, Justice Minister Bekir Bozdağ has told reporters.

The new legislative year of the Turkish parliament is set to kick off on Oct. 1, as debate on decree laws issued under the state of emergency are expected to dominate the agenda. 
The Turkish parliament, which has been on summer recess since Aug. 20, will convene at 3 p.m. under the leadership of Parliament Speaker İsmail Kahraman.      

The Turkish Justice Ministry has introduced heavier penalties for assaults causing injuries, after a controversial court decision to release an assailant caused an uproar in the country. Those who commit intentional offences against the physical integrity of another person will be able to be arrested with the ministry's draft law, Anadolu Agency reported on Sept. 19. 

A total of 2,839 soldiers have been detained over the charges of coup attempt, Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım said July 16 in a press briefing. 

There are high-ranking officers among the detained.

Broadcaster CNNTürk said four of them were generals and 29 of them were colonels.

AKP Deputy Chairman Bekir Bozdağ has said his party will object the Supreme Election Board (YSK) decision to ban the use of “Bismillah” (in the name of God) in the AKP’s campaign jingle.