As reported in this previous post, a decision by Turkey's Supreme Court of Appeals to lower the sentences imposed on a group of men found guilty of raping a 13-year-old girl because she was deemed to have "consented" to the acts has drawn widespread shock and criticism in Turkey. But the fallout from the court's decision continues. From Today's Zaman:
Deputy Prime Minister Bekir Bozdağ joined on Sunday a chorus of criticism over an appeals court decision that gave reduced sentences to 26 men accused of raping an 13-year-old girl on the grounds that she had consented to intercourse.
“I wonder what these judges would say for that decision if N.Ç. was their own daughter,” Bozdağ said, referring to the victim, who is now 21. “This decision has disturbed the nation and, as a jurist, disturbed me as well,” Bozdağ said during a meeting with members of his Justice and Development Party (AK Party) in the central Anatolian province of Yozgat.
Critics of the court's decision are now asking if the ruling is indicative of a systemic problem in Turkey's judiciary, particularly when it comes to cases of violence against women. From Hurriyet:
While politicians from all parties criticized the law in the case, what Turkey really needs are not legal amendments, but a change in the male-dominated judicial system that interprets that law, according to prominent lawyers.
“Amending the law will not change the result now,” lawyer and women’s rights activist Hülya Gülbahar told the Hürriyet Daly News. “There are gaps in the laws that are open to interpretation.
When the story of N.C., a 13-year-old who had been systematically raped by a group of 26 men, was first reported, Turks were understandably horrified. But the case has now provoked a second outrage after Turkey's Supreme Court of Appeals upheld a lower court's ruling that reduced the sentences of the men involved in the case because the victim had "consented" to the abuse. From Today's Zaman:
Turkey was faced with a major legal and human rights scandal earlier this week when the Supreme Court of Appeals upheld a lower court's ruling that a 13-year old who was raped by 26 men, most of whom are employed in public agencies, had given her “consent” to the sexual abuse that she was subjected to for seven months in 2002, which the victim, now 21, says hurt her the most in the lengthy legal process after her ordeal.
Her rapists included muhtars, or village heads, a gendarmerie captain, village guards (individuals armed by the state to fight separatist terrorists in the region) and even the manager in charge of correspondence in the Mardin Governor's Office. She was sold by two individuals for seven months to these 26 men, some of whom came back repeatedly. Turkish justice offered no consolation, as they were given between one to slightly more than four years in jail due to good behavior in the courtroom and the judges' finding that she willingly consented to the abuse.
Human rights activist Leman Yurtsever, who together with lawyer and Human Rights Association (İHD) member Eren Keskin took care of N.Ç., now a young woman who recently finished high school, after she ran away from the Adana Child Protection Agency Home for Girls, talked to the Vatan daily about the process and N.Ç.'s feelings.
The jail where the events in the 1978 film "Midnight Express" were supposed to have taken place may today be an elegant Four Seasons hotel, but the movie remains a sore spot for many Turks, who feel it portrayed their country in an unfair light. In pop culture terms, "Midnight Express" certainly remains one of the leading references for Turkey. Now, in an online interview and in an upcoming episode of the National Geographic Channel's "Locked Up Abroad" (a show about Americans who have done prison time overseas), Billy Hayes, the man who's story "Midnight Express" tells, is providing some more details about his experience and his views on the film's impact.
The biggest problem I had with the film is the fact that you don't see any good Turks at all in the movie. It creates an overall impression that Turkey is this terrible place and Turks are a terrible people. Which is not valid or true, both to my own experience and to reality. I actually loved Istanbul. I got along great with the Turks until I was arrested.
