Child abuse

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

Turkey's Religious Affairs Directorate (Diyanet) has issued a fatwa against underage marriages, saying they "shattered the lives of children."

The fatwa, included in a release responding to frequently asked questions from the public, said underage marriage could never be approved from a religious perspective. 

Live streaming of child sexual abuse and so-called "revenge porn" is on the rise on the internet, Europe's police agency warned Sept. 28, saying vulnerable children are increasingly falling victim to sexual predators.

The Turkish Justice Ministry has sent a judicial reform package to the Prime Ministry including heavier penalties for sexual abuse of minors and graded sentences in accordance with the age of the victim.

Two men, aged 69 and 46, were arrested Wednesday in the Athens districts of Peristeri and Rendi on child molestation charges.

According to police, the 69-year-old, a photographer, was nabbed in Peristeri for the alleged sexual abuse of two girls, aged 10 and 13, over a nine-month period.

Turkish Justice Minister Bekir Bozda?

An 8-year-old girl was sexually abused by a 24-year-old guy living in the same apartment building in 2012. The man abused another neighbor's daughter and when their moms learned about the situation they went to the police. A case was opened. The defendant was sentenced to three years and nine months on charges of sexual abuse.

Turkey is suffering a lack of any system to guard against child sex abuse, according to a lawyer who has advocated for children.

Stories of the sexual abuse of minors have been pouring in for the last couple of weeks. In almost every case, the molester is a character that the child should be trusting: A teacher, an imam or a family member such as an uncle.

Figures by the Justice Ministry have displayed the plight surrounding child sex abuse cases in Turkey, which have recently come under the spotlight, with the main opposition party leader suggesting child sex abuse has increased almost 500 percent since the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) came to power in 2002.