TURKEY: Turkey's prime minister has scrapped a proposal to ban adultery and promised to reform his country's penal code without delay, resolving a dispute that threatened to wreck Ankara's prospects of starting membership talks with the European Union, writes Denis Staunton in Brussels.
Mr Recep Tayyip Erdogan visited Brussels yesterday to tell the European Commission and the European Parliament that Turkey would do everything necessary to fulfil the political conditions laid down in Copenhagen in 2002 for the start of accession talks.
"We have fulfilled everything with regard to the political criteria of Copenhagen so there is no reason not to receive a positive answer," he said.
The Commission will report next month on Turkey's readiness to start membership talks and EU leaders will decide on December 17th if negotiations should start next year.
The Enlargement Commissioner, Mr Günther Verheugen, said he had resolved all outstanding difficulties with Mr Erdogan and hinted that next month's report would be positive.
"There are no further conditions that Turkey must fulfil to enable the European Commission to make a clear recommendation. There are no more obstacles on the table now. The assurances I got will allow me to make a very clear recommendation," he said.
Mr Erdogan said he would recall the Turkish parliament for an emergency session on Sunday to approve a sweeping reform of the country's 78-year-old penal code, which was borrowed from Mussolini's Italy.
Mr Erdogan's conservative Justice and Development Party withdrew the reform package last week rather than abandon plans to outlaw adultery. Mr Erdogan insisted yesterday, however, that the adultery ban had never been part of the reform package and said such a ban would not form part of the new penal code.
"My government and party will continue to work with what is on the table now. I can't tell you what other governments will do."
He said he was confident that the EU would agree to start membership talks with Turkey but he acknowledged that the negotiations could be lengthy.
During his visit to the European Parliament, Mr Erdogan met leaders of the political groups, including the Fianna Fáil MEP, Mr Brian Crowley, who is joint leader of the right-wing Union for a Europe of Nations. Mr Crowley said that, if Turkey fulfilled all the conditions laid down by the EU, it should be allowed to start on the road to full membership. "It could take at least 10 years," he said.
Most EU governments favour starting talks with Turkey but some remain wary, particularly on account of its overwhelmingly Muslim population.
In an interview with the Wall Street Journal Europe yesterday, the French Prime Minister, Mr Jean-Pierre Raffarin, expressed scepticism about the prospect of accepting Turkey into the EU.
"We are not doubting that good faith of Mr Erdogan, but to what extent can today's and tomorrow's governments make Turkish society embrace Europe's human rights values. Do we want the river of Islam to enter the riverbed of secularism?" he said.