Erdogan blocks child rape bill as EU Parliament votes on bid freeze
After a public outcry, Turkey's ruling party scrapped its controversial bill pardoning child rapists who marry their victims in what could be a sign that common sense still has some sway in President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s "New Turkey," but likely has more to do with an expected EU move to freeze Turkey's membership bid.
It seemed too good to be true: First there came the shelving of a controversial bill that would have given amnesty to child rapists who married their victims.
Then today, Nov. 23, two prominent prisoners of conscience were reported to have been cleared of terror charges, inspiring hope that they would be set free. It later emerged that the trials of novelist Asli Erdogan and translator Necmiye Alpay over purported links to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party will continue and that they would remain in jail.
