JURIST - Paper Chase: EU warns Turkey not to recriminalize adultery

[JURIST] EU Enlargement Commissioner Gunther Verheugen [official profile] has warned Turkey not to pursue legislation currently before the Turkish Parliament [official website in Turkish] that would recriminalize adultery. Adultery had been struck down as a punishable crime by the Turkish Constitutional Court [official website] eight years ago as unfairly punishing women more than men. A criminal law reform bill before the Turkish Parliament last fall was hotly contested [JURIST report] for its inclusion of an anti-adultery provision, just as Turkey was entering talks with the EU about integration into the Europe-wide regional body. The reform package was eventually passed without the ban [JURIST report], but proponents recently reintroduced it as part of a new reform package. Verheugen called any such ban completely out of step with Europe, and warned Turkey that it would be viewed as an attempt to introduce Islamic law into modern, secular Turkey, a move the EU has said would be unacceptable. JURIST's Paper Chase has background on Turkey [JURIST Country news archive]. Deutsche-Welle has more.

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