Turkey: Turkey cleared a hurdle on its long path towards European Union membership yesterday when its parliament approved a new penal code which will boost women's rights and punish police more severely for torture.
Ankara's attempt to join the EU however was complicated yesterday after the French Finance Minister Mr Nicolas Sarkozy said Turkey would not join the European Union for at least 15 years and could only do so once France had held a referendum on the issue.
Turkey's 550-seat assembly held an extraordinary session to debate and pass the reforms after the European Commission made clear they were a condition for granting Ankara a green light to start entry negotiations.
"Now a date for negotiations will be given [by the EU]. This is my view," government spokesman Mr Cemil Cicek told parliament.
"The speed of our drive to full membership depends on our efforts. No article in this new code can be used to limit rights and freedoms," said Mr Cicek, who is also justice minister.
The vote, by a show of hands, came just 10 days before the European Commission publishes a detailed report on Turkey which will include a recommendation on whether Ankara is ready to start the long-delayed talks.
EU leaders will decide in December, based on the report, whether to open the talks, which are expected to last up to a decade.
"The law complies with EU legislation ... We have taken a big step towards the EU," Mr Koksal Toptan, head of parliament's justice committee, said.
Parliament had already approved much of the new penal code earlier this month, but the government then decided to shelve it due to a row over separate plans to outlaw adultery, triggering dismay in the EU and near panic in Turkish financial markets. Prime Minister Mr Tayyip Erdogan, a devout Muslim, only abandoned the planned adultery ban after crisis talks last Thursday in Brussels. - (Reuters)