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In a move which has shocked world politicians, the Muslim majority country proposed exonerating paedophiles en masse. Hardline president Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government insists that the new law is designed to pardon men who did not realise they were having sex with underage girls.

REUTERS Recep Erdogan's government is set to pass a law legalising child rape

But critics have reacted with open fury to the legislation, saying it officially legitimises both deliberate child rape and forced child marriages. It comes after a shocking rise in violence against women in Turkey, which has risen by 40 per cent in the past decade.

AFP The hardline leader has adopted increasingly extreme positions as ruler of Turkey

AFP But his increasingly divisive leadership has sparked protests across Europe

The shocking bill, which sill surely provoke an astonished reaction from the EU, was approved on a preliminary basis yesterday after being put to parliament by the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP). Opposition MP Ozgur Ozel raged: "Sexual abuse is a crime and there is no consent in it. This is what the AKP fails to understand. "Seeking the consent of a child is something that universal law does not provide for."

MPs will have a second vote on the new legislation on Tuesday at which point, if the ballot goes the same way, it will be officially passed into Turkish law. It is estimated that the change in the law would quash the convictions of some 3,000 men accused of assaulting an under-18. The government says this will happen if their act was committed without "force or threat" and if the aggressor marries the victim with the consent of their family.

A look back on the shocking Turkish military coup that left 294 dead Wed, July 27, 2016 The violent military coup to overthrow Turkey's President Erdogan has 'failed' leaving at least 104 dead and more than 1,500 wounded Play slideshow Getty Images 1 of 42 A police officer talks with the soldiers involved in the coup attempt after they surrendered