Defying a nationwide outcry, Turkey’s ruling Islamist Justice and Development Party (AKP) appears bent on ramming a bill through parliament that would pardon child rapists if a perpetrator marries his victim. AKP parliamentary whip Mustafa Elitas refused to withdraw the measure, which is likely to be approved in a second round of voting on Nov. 22. Scrapping the bill “is out of the question,” he said.

A simple majority, which the AKP commands, will suffice for its adoption.

Many see pardoning men who engage in sex with little girls as part of the AKP’s broader agenda of imposing what human rights lawyer Erdal Dogan described to Al-Monitor as “a medieval lifestyle governed by Islamic laws.”

Elitas claimed that his party would consider changes to the bill proposed by the main opposition secular Republican People’s Party (CHP). Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus echoed the offer. But CHP whip Ozgur Ozel said no one from the government had contacted his party with regard to the affair thus far. He further asserted that the bill, if passed as is, offers “a ticket to freedom” for "17,000 abusers.”