Name: Anonymous 2010-03-18 17:12
...I read the following with a mixture of horror and disbelief.
ISTANBUL, March 16 (Reuters) - International responses were at best mixed today as the Turkish government passed into law a contentious amendment of the Sexual Health Act. The amendment in effect removes the country's age-related constraints on homosexual activity, legalising sexual relations between adults and young boys.
Since the establishment of the Republic of Turkey in 1923, there has never been an age of consent for girls, a position traditionally defended by reference to the nine-year-old wife of the Prophet Mohammed. Although religious figures and particularly the stricter Muslims within the country have campaigned bitterly against this new legislation, the present secular Turkish government felt it had no choice but to bow to pressure from the country's increasingly influential gay lobby. A spokesperson for the ruling Justice and Development Party, whose Europeanising agenda won them the 2007 election, said, "We may not yet be formal signatories to the European Convention on Human Rights, but we feel confident this amendment will demonstrate to the world our commitment to equal rights, irrespective of sexual orientation."
ISTANBUL, March 16 (Reuters) - International responses were at best mixed today as the Turkish government passed into law a contentious amendment of the Sexual Health Act. The amendment in effect removes the country's age-related constraints on homosexual activity, legalising sexual relations between adults and young boys.
Since the establishment of the Republic of Turkey in 1923, there has never been an age of consent for girls, a position traditionally defended by reference to the nine-year-old wife of the Prophet Mohammed. Although religious figures and particularly the stricter Muslims within the country have campaigned bitterly against this new legislation, the present secular Turkish government felt it had no choice but to bow to pressure from the country's increasingly influential gay lobby. A spokesperson for the ruling Justice and Development Party, whose Europeanising agenda won them the 2007 election, said, "We may not yet be formal signatories to the European Convention on Human Rights, but we feel confident this amendment will demonstrate to the world our commitment to equal rights, irrespective of sexual orientation."