'' According to Turkish media reports , the men , who included village ` muhtars ' -LSB- mayors -RSB- 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
Istanbul -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- 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 . '' -LSB- But -RSB- 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.