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Divorced dads get organized in Turkey

Divorced Turkish fathers are seeking parliamentary help with high alimony judgments and ex-wives who bar them from seeing their children.
A man kisses his sons as he sits outside the Eyup Sultan mosque after Eid al-Fitr prayers in Istanbul September 20, 2009. REUTERS/Morteza Nikoubazl (TURKEY SOCIETY) - RTR2825L

Female victims of violence and abuse by men often make the headlines in Turkey, but now men are also raising their voices, to complain about ex-spouses. More than 400 Turkish men have lodged complaints with the parliament’s Petition Commission over outrageous alimonies and being barred from seeing their children.

A total of 287 divorced men called for their rights to be protected, saying that they were unable to see their children, that mothers raised barriers for fathers and that existing procedures worked against men. Another 151 requested legal amendments to reduce the alimonies they are forced to pay.

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