Jew World Order

Christof Lehmann (nsnbc) : Turkey’s Islamist AKP government banned television dating shows and dating services by decree under emergency laws. The decree was published in Turkey’s Official Gazette on April 29, describing such shows as incompatible with Turkish cultural values. It’s noteworthy that the same AKP government, last year, removed the minimum legal age clause the previously prohibited sex with minors under the age of 15.

A happy couple according to AKP interpretation of Turkish values – child marriages on the rise again.

The AKP government declared a state of emergency following the attempted military coup on July 15, 2016. Ironically, the military mystery coup resulted in the AKP’s grab for power in a constitutional referendum that according to OSCE observers as well as the opposition CHP and HDP was plagued by irregularities. It is noteworthy that the referendum that resulted in the introduction of an executive presidential system, the weakening of the judiciary, and the reintroduction of the title “head of State” also was held under emergency laws.

With the latest decree, the AKP government banned televised dating shows. The shows are very popular in Turkey, but Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus signaled already in March that such shows would be banned because they are not consistent with Turkish traditions.  On March 16 Kurtulmus said:

“There are some strange programs that damage the institution of the family, taking away its nobility and sanctity. … God willing, in the near future, we will remedy this with a state of emergency decree. Efforts are at their latest stage.”

However, the decree does not merely ban the televised dating shows. The decree also targets advertising for dating / matchmaking services. The decree, published in the Official Gazette on April 29, stipulates:

“In radio and television broadcasts, shows where people are introduced to each other and/or brought together to find friends … cannot be made.”

Officials from Turkey’s ruling, Islamist Justice and Development Party (AKP) claimed dating shows receive thousands of complaints every year. Moreover, Turkey’s Radio and TV watchdog the Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTÜK) levels fines against them for violations of broadcasting principles almost every week. RTÜK has also been involved in draconian censorship measures against media. According to the decree, stations that violate the ban more than 20 times per year will not be able to broadcast for up to five days.

So, what does the AKP government consider as “consistent with Turkish values”?

The decree stipulates that “programs and TV series encouraging family life” will be promoted in cooperation with the Family and Social Policies Ministry.  Istanbul lawmaker Sezgin Tanrıkulu, a member of the opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP)commented on the decree and said that such sweeping laws “remove the function of parliament” and stressed that the decree is entirely unrelated to security or the state of emergency.

Speaking with the daily Birgün on April 29, Tanrıkulu stressed that the latest decrees “include regulations that are against basic human rights.” He asked rhetorically “Was the coup attempt staged by marriage programs? Was the state of emergency issued to address marriage programs?”

But wait – promoting child marriage and underage sex is also consistent with the AKP’s interpretation of Turkish values, isn’t it?

In August 2016 Turkey’s Constitutional Court ruled on the issue after a district court complained that the current law does not discriminate between age groups in cases of child sex abuse. In practice, the law makes no difference regardless whether an adult has sex with a 14-year old or a 4-year old.

The district court noted that the law does not provide legal consequences for the “consent” of victims in cases where the child victim is from 12 to 15 years of age and able to understand the meaning of the sexual act. The District Court added that: “This creates an imbalance between legal benefits and sanctions that should be preserved in crime and punishment”. In a 7 – 6 decision the judges at the Constitutional Court agreed with the District Court and annulled the provision. The new (old) rules were to come into effect on January 13, 2017.

The ruling prompted protests from women’s rights activist, child rights activists as well as from prominent academics who stress that all persons under the age of 18, under international conventions to which Turkey is a party, are children. Nazan Moroğlu, the coordinator od the Istanbul Women’s Association and lawyer criticized the Constitutional Court for even considering the District Court’s application in the first place.

Moroğlu stressed that the ruling will lead to children being vulnerable to sexual abuse and rape and will lead to more female children getting married at an early age without getting an education. She added that the problem with child brides is already acute in Turkey, noting that there are some 3.5 million of them already and that the ruling guaranteed that their numbers will increase.

Sabit Aktas, the head of the Child Rights Center of the Ankara Bar Association, warned that many children will be affected and suffer due to the Constitutional Court’s decision. Aktas said:

“We can foresee what this decision will bring about. Those jurists who are distant from society in their ivory towers should go to courtrooms to see and hear what those children go through when describing their experiences. They should only make a ruling on this issue after doing that”.

In 2013 the Turkish AKP government under the then Prime Minister R. Tayyip Erdogan adopted the so-called 4+4+4 educational system for Turkey. A large number of Turkish experts in social sciences and education stressed that this new educational law especially encourages young Turkish girls to leave school at a very early age rather than seeking education.

Statistics from 2013 showed that 853 women were murdered in the last four years;  15% of them were killed because they wanted to divorce, 66% were killed by their ex-husbands or boyfriends. 12.5% were killed by their husbands, even though they filed a complaint and were provided with protection by the state. Violence against women in Turkey is more prevalent in the countryside where girls more often are taken out of school at an earlier age and where child marriages are more common.

In October 2013 a study conducted by researchers a Gaziantep University revealed that one in every three marriages in Turkey is a child marriage. The marriage of Turkish child brides to older men has repeatedly led to fatal tragedies. Among the most known cases in 2014 alone, is the death of two so-called child brides.

In January 2014 one 14-year-old teenage girl died from “several” allegedly self-inflicted gunshot wounds in what was declared a suicide. Police investigations suggested that the girl may have been as young as ten or eleven years when she was married away to a significantly older man. In July 2014 the 15-year-old Seter Aslan succumbed to a gunshot wound in what was declared a suicide.

Could one feel tempted to extrapolate that the AKP government’s interpretation of “consistent with Turkish values“, in this context, can be translated into “stop watching dating shows and go and have fun with your kids instead”?

CH/L – nsnbc 01.05.2017