Huda Par's official: Not lawful to base decisions on women's statements

A senior offiicial of Islamist Huda Par said that a law for the protection of women against violence should be amended or annulled "to prevent victimization of men."

Speaking to T24's Gozde Yel, Aynur Sulun, a woman official of Huda Par, said that in cases of violation against women it was not lawful to give precedence to the statements of women.

"The perpetrators of violence and those who have been subjected to slander should be distinguished," she said, adding:

"What would be fair is to hear both the woman and the man. Many men who have been ordered by the court to leave their homes say they were subjected to slander, but they cannot prove it. Similarly, many men are able to prove their innocence only months, even years after they were subjected to false allegations of sexual abuse. We believe that it is not lawful to take a decision solely over the woman's statement. This makes it impossible to distinguish between the perpetrators of violence and those who have been subjected to slander."

She continued:

"Law 6824 should be revised, or annulled and replaced by a more home bred, ethical, fair one that will favor both sides."

Aynur Sulun's remarks came shortly after the parliamentary elections at which Huda Par candidates ran under the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and the party secured at least three seats in the Turkish Grand National Assembly.

This will be the first time in Turkey that Huda Par will have a parliamentary presence.

The party has its roots in the armed Hezbollah group (not related to Lebanese Shi'a organization with the same name) who is responsible for the murder of hundreds of people including Kurdish dissidents and rights activists in the 1990s, when the group assisted state forces in their operations to root out the Kurdish democratic opposition through extrajudicial killings and forced disappearances.