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7/26/20

Middle East-Turkey: Turkish opposition warns state is using rape as a means of warfare

URKEY’s opposition Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) warned today that rape is being used as a means of warfare by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP).

peaking at a press conference in Ankara, the chairwoman of the party’s women’s council, Ayse Acar Basaran, charged the AKP with responsibility for two recent rapes allegedly carried out by Turkish soldiers.

A 13-year-old girl was raped in the largely Kurdish city of Sirnak earlier this month, while a 17-year-old girl was raped in Batman province. In both cases, the alleged perpetrators were non-commissioned officers of the Turkish army.

“It is becoming apparent, almost every day, that this is a method of special warfare of the governing coalition of AKP and MHP [the far-right Nationalist Movement Party],” she said.

The recent murder of 27-year-old student Pinar Gultekin triggered mass protests and a call for the government to ditch plans to withdraw from the Istanbul Convention.

Signatories are obliged to tackle gender-based crime, provide protection and services for women and ensure that perpetrators are prosecuted.

Read more at: Turkish opposition warns state is using rape as a means of warfare | Morning Star

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