The AKP has withdrawn its bill that pardons rapists

Prime-Minister Binali Yıldırım fielded questions from members of the press at Atatürk Airport. Yıldırım said that they had taken the bill that would pardon rapists and had caused outrage in society back to the commission. Prime-Minister Binali Yıldırım said, “We are taking this bill before parliament back to the commission to allow time for agreement on this matter to be forged in society and, also, in line with the President’s call for agreement on this matter, for opposition parties to develop their own proposals.”
Prime-Minister Binali Yıldırım commented as follows on the sexual abuse law:
 “Underage marriage, even if this is at the consent of underaged couples or if they marry with the family’s consent, is a crime in the eyes of the law. There was no such crime before the AK Party came to power. The AK Party, so as both to protect young people and to protect the family, even if underage marriage is consensual, made it a crime under the penal code. But, young people who are unaware of this change get married before they are 17 or 18. When they have children in such marriages, it only comes to their attention that this is a crime when they register these children with the civil registry or at birth. And thus the husband is imprisoned and the wife is left on her own with the kids. So, the children pay the price for this marriage that the youngsters have entered into. This in particular is a deeper bleeding wound in this society than is realised. This is a point that on the election campaign trail confronts both us the AK Party, the main opposition CHP party and the MHP and others. We made a pledge. The AK Party, which has got where it is today by solving all of society’s problems, has a principle. To create solutions, not hand problems down to our grandchildren. Mindful of this, let’s sort this business out.”
 “WE ARE TAKING THIS BILL BEFORE PARLIAMENT BACK TO THE COMMISSION”
Yıldırım continued:
“We said, ‘Let’s bring a bill before parliament.’ Before you knew it, all hell broke loose. There were cries of: ‘They’re going to pardon rapists.’ There’s no such thing. Our goal is to do away with this injustice. We have called on the opposition parties to come to an understanding over this. Or indeed, have said, ‘If you have a proposal by all means bring your proposal and let’s straighten this affair out so that a bleeding wound will cease to exist.’ Unfortunately, just as our call did not elicit the response it deserved, they at the same time opted to exploit this for political gain and once again passed over this serious problem. They have also succeeded in confusing society over this matter.We are taking this bill before parliament back to the commission to allow time for agreement on this matter to be forged in society and, also, in line with the President’s call for agreement on this matter, for opposition parties to develop their own proposals. And the commission will most certainly broker a solution to this problem having deliberated on it with the views of all parties taken into account.”
THE CHP’S ECONOMIC CRISIS WARNING
Following the victory in the US elections not of the candidate who had been favourite, but of Mr Trump, volatility broke out. The dollar started to rise against all currencies in the world. What was happening was a marriage party. That is what it was about. We monitor what’s going on in the Turkish economy like these were the workings of a heart. This will go on for a little longer. It may particularly be affected by exchange rate volatility. There are steps that must be taken by Turkey. These can be brought under two headings. The first covers the measures to be taken by the Central Bank and the other measures are those things we will do. There are statutory regulations and structural reforms. Apart from this, there are administrative decisions. To do with ministries. Regarding banks, we have freed up funds to make it easier for SMEs to access financing; we have made 17 billion available in loans. State banks will accept deposits at a lower rate of deposit interest under a joint decision. The purpose of state banks is not to make a profit, but to support the economy.  A number of incentive packages relating to the economy have been announced. Additional support principally to attraction centres in the east and south-east, restructuring, regulations over the cheque law, regulations over fraudulent bankruptcy and postponement of bankruptcy. We will continue with this business in the required manner. There is no call for concern. The Turkish economy sits on firmer foundations than the economy of many countries. There is no need for our citizens and our business people to be gripped with concern. We thank the CHP for their crisis warning. They give a crisis warning over everything. We take this seriously and are doing what is called for.