The headline “Turkey allows sex with children under the age of 15” infuriated officials in Ankara who described the wording of the report, made by Austrian newspaper Kronen Zeitung, as “indecent”.
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“We deplore and strongly condemn that an worldwide airport.is abused by a discredited newspaper to spread its irresponsible, distorted and falsified messages in order to defame a friendly country”, the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.
Last month the Turkish Constitutional Court ruled that an adult having consensual sex with a 15-year-old should be punished less harshly than one who abuses a four-year-old.
Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom had tweeted on her official account that the “Turkish decision to allow sex with children under 15 must be reversed”, following a controversial ruling by the Turkish constitutional court.
The age of sexual consent in Turkey remains 18 years.
European nations have voiced concern over Turkey’s massive crackdown on alleged supporters of a religious movement led by USA -based cleric Fethullah Gulen, whom Ankara claims orchestrated last month’s violent coup attempt that killed at least 270 people.
Cavusoglu also said that Wallström had failed to act “responsibly”.
Women’s rights activists have also voiced concern it would lead to cases of child abuses going unpunished.
Turkish authorities have detained, sacked or suspended tens of thousands of people over their alleged links with Fethullah Gulen, a USA -based cleric whom the government blames for orchestrating the coup attempt.
The EU-Turkey migrant deal was created to encourage Ankara to stem the flow of migrants into Europe in return for visa-free access for its citizens to the EU Schengen area. He also stressed that the Turkish government was determined to fight child abuse and added the justice ministry was now working on new rules.
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan and many Turks accuse the West of focusing more on the rights of the coup plotters and their supporters than on the coup itself, in which more than 240 people were killed after rogue soldiers bombed parliament and seized bridges with tanks and helicopters.
“It is alarming that the slander campaign that started in Austria – the capital of racism and Islamophobia – is spreading into Sweden, which is actually more sensitive on human rights”, he said.
Ties between Turkey and Austria have been tense for several weeks, with a top Austrian official saying Turkey was heading toward a dictatorship and other leaders calling for an end to Turkey’s European Union membership talks.
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Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven told the country’s news agency TT: “For our part it’s important to express what we believe in”.
