25 September 2004	Saturday	09 Shaban 1425

TURKEY'S application to join the EU was boosted on Thursday when a row over a law criminalizing adultery was resolved. Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey's prime minister, said in Brussels that a revized penal code would be introduced to parliament in Ankara at an emergency session on Sunday.

All references to proposals to outlaw adultery, which were inserted into the legislation by conservative members of the ruling Justice and Development party (AKP), would be dropped.

"No item which is not already included in the draft of the Turkish criminal code will be included and I mean by that the issue of adultery," Mr Erdogan told a news conference.

Gunter Verheugen, the EU's enlargement commissioner, indicated that the European commission intends to give Turkey the go-ahead for formal talks for entry when it publishes a recommendation for its progress report on October 6. The final decision would be made by the EU's leaders in December.

Turkey, overwhelmingly Muslim and with a population of 70 million, has been a candidate country since 1999. No country which has begun negotiations on joining has failed to meet the EU's requirements.

"The assurances I received today ... will allow me to make a very clear recommendation [on the start of entry talks]," Mr Verheugen said at a joint press conference, with Mr Erdogan, after their meeting.

The EU had required Turkey to incorporate the new penal code, which reinforces women's rights, bans "honour killings" and increases penalties for torture and rape, into law in order to satisfy its standards on human rights.

Mr Verheugen did not reveal what the formal recommendation would say, but he praised Turkey's reform efforts and said "no remaining outstanding obstacles remained on the table".

He also said he was confident, following additional checks by commission officials, that there was no basis for accusing Turkey of "systematic torture". Mr Erdogan jeopardized his country's long term quest for European membership earlier this month when he threatened to drop the whole penal code package.

He has already driven through reforms such expanding language rights, abolishing the death penalty and reducing the political role of the military, which were requested by Brussels.

Yesterday he sought to reassure EU leaders, many of whom would relish an opportunity to capitalize on Ankara's difficulties, that he was prepared to make the necessary arrangements.

"We are implementing all our reforms very seriously ... We are very resolute on this," he said. It had been assumed the commission would reward Turkey's aspirations, but the surprise inclusion of the law on adultery threatened to derail the synchronised process.

The proposal to criminalize adultery was initiated by back bench AKP members. The party's roots lie in Islamist politics.

The government initially backed the proposal, partly, it is thought, to soothe more devout factions of the AKP which were disappointed by the party's failure to lift the state's ban on the wearing of Muslim-style headscarves in official places. Women's groups warned that the adultery law would be used almost entirely against wives.

The row over legal reforms may be resolved, but doubts among Europe's politicians about Turkey's inclusion in the EU continue to surface. Jean-Pierre Raffarin, the French prime minister, voiced his misgivings yesterday.

"We are not doubting the 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?" he told the Wall Street Journal.

"Do we want the river of Islam to enter the riverbed of secularism?" Jacques Toubon, a former French justice minister, said: "To bring Turkey into the European Union is not consistent with our concept of the European project and it is not good for Europe." -Dawn/The Guardian News Service.