Diyarbakır Bar: A Girl Child Got Married Overtly Despite All Attempts

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The Diyarbakır Bar Association has made a statement denouncing the marriage of a 15-year-old girl child.

In a notice delivered to the Diyarbakır Bar Association Center for Children's Rights on January 26, it was said that a 15-year-old child will get married. The Bar applied to the Diyarbakır Chief Public Prosecutor's Office to defend the child's rights.

After the attempts to prevent the marriage failed, the Center for Children's Rights released a statement, saying, "What happened has shown us that we, as a society, could not get rid of the phenomenon of girl children's marriage."

"All suspects were released"

The following remarks were made in the statement:

"On January 26, 2019, at around 01.00 a.m., we were informed that a 15-year-old girl child was about to get married.

"Attorneys who are members of our center reported the marriage to the Diyarbakır Chief Public Prosecutor's Office.

"Our petition was delivered to the Kulp district Chief Public Prosecutor's Office.

"The Chief Public Kulp Prosecutor's Office had the testimonies of all suspects and the statement of the child. The suspects were released on the ground that the child and his parents did not file a complaint, upon the Turkish Penal Code (TCK) Article 104.

"The marriage could not be prevented despite all attempts"

"Rights after, we called the complaint line affiliated to the Ministry of Family, Labor and Social Services and a record of the incident was created. Despite all the legal and institutional attempts, the marriage could not be prevented and unfortunately, the girl child got married before all the neighborhood's residents.

"What happened has shown us that we, as a society, could not get rid of the phenomenon of girl children's marriage.

"We remind all the authorities the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Cedaw Convention (Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women) and call the authorities to take the protective and preventive measures to prevent similar incidents." (AÖ/VK)