ANKARA, Turkey — Turkey’s religious affairs state agency comes under heavy criticism on Thursday from the main opposition party after it reportedly said girls as young as nine could marry under Islamic law.
The Diyanet religious affairs directorate said on Tuesday the minimum age for girls to marry was nine, while for boys it was 12, according to Turkish media including Hurriyet daily quoting the agency’s official website.
The post, which took the form of an explanatory statement on Islamic law, has since been taken down after a backlash from the opposition and women’s rights groups.
The head of the High Commission of Religious Affairs Ekrem Keles on Thursday tells Hurriyet that the earliest age for a girl to marry is 17 and 18 for a boy.
“Forget a nine- or a 10-year-old child marrying, a child at 15 should not marry and should not be married,” he said.
The legal age to get married in Turkey is 18.
— AFP
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