Turkey withdraws Child rape bill after street protests

Turkish Prime minister Binali Yildirim has withdrawn a bill that pardons men convicted of sex with under aged girls if they have married them. The bill, part of a package of amendments to the legal system, was sent back for further work just hours before a final vote in parliament.

This had sparked waves of protest across the country, and was condemned abroad. Critics said it would legitimate statutory rape and encourage the practice of taking child brides.

UN agencies had called on the government of Turkey not to approve the bill, arguing that it would damage the country's ability to combat sexual abuse and child marriage. But the government said that the main aim is to exonerate men imprisoned for marrying underage girls apparently with her or her family's consent.

The draft law will now be returned to a commission which will take into account the views of the opposition and civil society, Mr. Yildirim said.

"This would allow for broad consensus, and to give them for the opposition parties to develop their proposals." Turkey's legal age of consent is 18, but the practice of under age weddings in religious ceremonies remains widespread.

Opposition parties widely criticized the bill which had been approved in an initial parliamentary reading. The ruling AK Party dominates parliament in Ankara. Justice minister Bekir Bozdag had defended the legislation, saying: The bill will certainly not bring amnesty to rapists. This is a step taken to solve a problem in some parts of our country."