Turkey summons Austria charge d’affaires over ‘indecent’ report

ISTANBUL – Reuters

Turkey summoned Austria’s charge d’affaires in Ankara late on Aug. 13 over what it said was “indecent report” about Turkey on a news ticker at Vienna airport, a foreign ministry official said.

“Turkey allows sex with children under the age of 15,” read a headline on an electronic news ticker at the airport, images circulated on social media showed.

“Our disturbance and reaction over this display which tarnishes Turkey’s image and deliberately misinforms the public have been strongly conveyed to the charge d’affaires,” the ministry official said, adding that the headline was removed following the ministry’s intervention.

Turkey’s constitutional court last month ruled in favor of removing a provision in the penal code which identifies all sexual acts against children under the age of 15 as “sexual abuse” following an application made by a local court.

Tensions between Turkey and Europe have risen following Ankara’s crackdown in the wake of last month’s failed coup in Turkey.

Last week Turkey’s foreign minister called Austria the “capital of radical racism” after Austrian Chancellor Christian Kern suggested ending EU accession talks with Turkey which have made minimal progress since they began in 2005.