Similarly, Article 16 of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), referring to the definition of a child in the LEGAL AGE OF MARRIAGE: 18 WITH FAMILY APPROVAL: 17 WITH COURT RULING: 16 first article of the CRC (a person under the age of 18) and the unconditional best interests of the child in all cases, states the obligation of States parties to the The UN Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women and Girls, its Causes and Consequences, [5] who paid an official visit to Türkiye from 18 to 27 July 2023, similarly, emphasised that ‘the legal age of marriage under the Turkish Civil Code is 18, but marriage is permitted at 17 with the consent of parents or guardians and at 16 with the approval of a judge in exceptional cases’. The Special Rapporteur made similar recommendations to the Committee on the Rights of the Child and the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women: ‘More effective efforts should be made to eliminate child marriage, including Convention to prevent the condoning or legitimising of the marriage of minors. Recommendation No. 21 of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women entitled ‘Equality in marriage and family relations’ provides additional clarifications to Article 16 of the CRC: ‘The Committee sets the minimum age of marriage at 18 years for men and women. Women and men assume important responsibilities when they marry. Therefore, marriage should not be permitted unless the parties are of full age and have the capacity to act.’ In its concluding observations on the eighth periodic report of Türkiye, the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against through an explicit prohibition of child marriage in the Penal Code and de facto tolerance of religious marriage. Efforts to raise awareness of the harmful effects of Women recommended that ‘the State party should adopt legislation prohibiting child marriage and setting the minimum early marriage on the health and development of girls should be strengthened. Awareness-raising efforts age of marriage at 18 for men and women, and continue to take all necessary measures to eliminate polygamous and child marriages, in this area should be carried out in line with the joint recommendation/general comment No.31 of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women and No.18 of the Committee on including unregistered religious marriages, and require the official registration of all marriages’. the Rights of the Child on harmful practices.’ [5] Press release: https://turkiye.un.org/tr/192234-birle%C5%9Fmi%C5%9F-milletler-kad%C4%B1na-ve-k%C4%B1z%C3%A7ocuklar%C4%B1na-y%C3%B6nelik-%C5%9Fiddet-nedenleri-ve-sonu%C3%A7lar%C4%B1-%C3%B6zel 11