Istanbul ( CNN ) -- Turkey 's judicial system faced an uproar this week after one of the country 's highest courts upheld a decision to reduce sentences against 26 men convicted of having sex with a 13-year old girl . Public outrage stemmed from a court ruling that the 13-year old girl had willingly engaged in `` consensual '' sexual relations with the 26 men . Among the growing chorus of critics was Turkey 's President Abdullah Gul . `` I take particular care not to make any direct statements on issues that are in the judicial process , '' Gul wrote in a series of statements on his Twitter account on Friday . `` [ But ] the decision about reducing the punishment related with what happened to a young child of ours made me deeply uncomfortable ... there is still the possibility for an appeal . I am hoping for an outcome that will comfort the public conscience . '' The case in question dates back to 2002 , when 26 men from the southeastern Turkish town of Mardin were accused of repeatedly having sex with a 13-year old girl identified only by the initials `` N.C. '' According to Turkish media reports , the men , who included village 'muhtars ' [ mayors ] and a gendarme officer , were accused of paying money to two adult female intermediaries during a 7-month period for repeated access to the girl . Turkey 's Supreme Court of Appeals has now found itself under fire from women 's rights groups , lawyers ' associations , and senior government officials . In response , the head of the Supreme Court 's 14th Criminal Office adopted a somewhat contradictory position . `` The evaluations of the court were correct . We made a decision . This decision is not definite , it is also not possible for this decision to be changed by making noise , '' said Fevzi Elmas of the Supreme Court of Appeals , in an interview with the semi-official Anatolian Agency on Friday . The courts sentenced the 26 accused rapists ' according to an earlier version of the country 's penal code , which underwent significant revisions in 2005 . The older penal code entailed lesser punishments for defendants found guilty of sexually assaulting children . `` In the old penal code there was a very clear article which said it did n't matter if you were under 15 [ years of age ] or over 15 ... if any rape or sexual assault happened with the consent of the girl or the woman , then the sentence would be reduced , '' said Pinar Ilkkaracan of the group Women for Women 's Human Rights , who lobbied for the 2005 revision of the Turkish criminal code . `` In the new Turkish penal code there is no question of consent , that is incredibly important for us , '' Ilkkaracan added . `` In terms of girls and boys under 15 it says very clearly any violation of the body for sexual purposes is defined as sexual abuse in the new code . Which means that sexual assault or the violation of the body should have a higher sentence . '' According to Turkish media reports , some of the 26 defendants were acquitted , while others received jail sentences of one to four years . `` This decision is an outright scandal , '' said Ilkkaracan , the women 's rights advocate . In his statement to Anatolian Agency , Elmas , the official from the Supreme Court of Appeals , argued that the court had no choice but to sentence the defendants according to the pre-2005 version of the penal code . `` We do n't have any other option , '' Elmas said . `` This is an undebatable rule of law . '' But that decision was challenged by the Union of Turkish Bar Associations on Friday , which called the ruling `` legally inappropriate . '' Meanwhile , in a written statement released on her ministry 's web-site , Family and Social Policies Minister Fatma Sahin argued the ruling violated not only the current criminal code , but also the older version which had been in force in 2002 at the time when the 26 men were accused of having sex with the 13 year old . `` I find the decision of the Supreme Court of Appeals 14th Criminal Office to approve the verdict of the local court that a 13-year old child 'got together with the defendants of her own free will ' unacceptable and worrying , '' Sahin wrote . `` I would like to remind the judiciary that its primary task is to protect the victim and the rights of the one who was sexually abused , '' she added .
Sentences for 26 men convicted of having sex with a year - old were reduced . The ruling said the men had engaged in ` ` consensual '' sex . Turkey 's president said the situation made him ` ` deeply uncomfortable ''