Turkish government withdraws child rape conviction bill after protests

Turkey's government has withdrawn a bill which proposed the overturning of men's convictions for child rape if they married their victim.

The prime minister, Binali Yildirim, said on Tuesday: "We are taking this bill in the parliament back to the commission in order to allow for the broad consensus the president requested, and to give time for the opposition parties to develop their proposals.

"This commission will evaluate and take into account all sides and surely a solution will be found."

Opposition parties from across the political spectrum had heavily criticised the bill, which was introduced last week and led to protests in Ankara, Istanbul and beyond.

If passed, the bill would permit the release from prison of men guilty of assaulting a minor if the act was committed without "force, threat, or any other restriction on consent" and if the aggressor "marries the victim".

Critics have said that the bill, which would allow the release from jail of men convicted of assaulting underage girls if they marry their victims, risks legitimising rape.

The government said on Monday it was open to changes proposed by the opposition.

Thousands of Turks rallied at the weekend against the bill, urging the government to withdraw the proposals.

"This does not in any way cover rape crimes... This is not forgiveness, it is only a legal amendment," said the deputy prime minister, Numan Kurtulmus, on Monday.

But he said the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) and Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) could suggest changes ahead of a second vote on Tuesday.

"If the MHP or CHP have other proposals regarding this case, we state clearly that we are open to evaluating those proposals," Kurtulmus added.

Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag has said marriages involving minors were "unfortunately a reality" in Turkey but the men involved "were not rapists or sexual aggressors".

He said the measure would affect some 3,000 families.

Yildirim said last week that claims the bill would de-facto legalise rape were "completely false" and the measure would only be applied once to past offences committed before 11 November 2011.

On Monday, the UN children's agency UNICEF together with three other UN agencies said if the bill was passed in its current form, it would weaken Turkey's ability to fight against child marriage and sexual abuse.

In a statement they said the proposals would "create a perception of impunity in favour of perpetrators of such child rights violations".

The legal age of consent in Turkey is 18.