KJA denounces marriage law change in Turkey
DİYARBAKIR (DİHA) - After Turkey's ruling AKP pushed for a law that facilitates marriage by only an imam, Kurdish women's group Congress of Free Women (KJA) denounced the decision as an attack on women's power to make decisions.
Previously, imams who married a couple without a civil marriage faced jail time in Turkey. With the new legal change, this jail time has been lifted. Imams can grant religious marriages before couples obtain a legal marriage. Women's group KJA says that the change will facilitate child marriage, as the religious marriage system is often used to marry minors when the state would deny permission for a civil marriage.
In addition, said the group, women with a religious marriage will have no rights in the case of divorce—including economic rights, legal rights and decision-making power regarding any children in the marriage.
"This is a concrete step by the state to legitimize the existing patriarchal mindset," said the KJA.
(nt)
