Turkish opposition calls for key reform debate
EUobserver.com
22.09.2004

By Lisbeth Kirk

Turkey’s main opposition party, The Republican People’s Party, has
called for a special parliamentary session to be held on 28 September
to adopt the new penal code, in a bid to keep Turkey’s bid for EU
entry on track.

“We want to open a window of opportunity for Turkeyâ=80¦. Turkey
shouldnot destroy its advantages with its own hands”, leader of the
party, Deniz Baykal, told reporters, according to the IHT.

The governing party indicated yesterday (21 September) that it might
allow the Turkish Parliament to reconvene to pass the laws.

Last week Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan was forced to
delay penal code reform because of a row within his own party over
plans to criminalize adultery.

The 346-paragraph code was originally intended to bring Turkey into
line with European norms, but the inclusion of the proposal to
criminalize adultery brought widespread protests in the EU as well as
in Turkey.

Turkish boders with Armenia – new prerequisite?

Meanwhile the European Commission has denied apparent comments from
President Prodi calling for Turkey to reopen its borders with Armenia
as a new prerequisite for starting EU membership talks.

On Tuesday a Commission spokesperson told Turkey’s Zaman newspaper
that Mr Prodi had said nothing that would lead one to believe that
such a condition would be placed on Turkey.

During a visit to the Southern Caucuses last week the Armenian
Mediamax agency reported that Mr Prodi said Ankara must reopen its
border gate with Armenia as a condition for eventual membership.

“I do not exclude that the issue of closed borders could be one of the
preconditions for Turkey’s membership”, Mediamax news agency quoted Mr
Prodi as saying.

Turkey closed its gate with Armenia and severed its diplomatic ties a
decade ago, in protest of Armenia’s occupation of the Azeri territory
of Nagorno-Karabakh.

EU officials have called on Turkey to revise its decision but have
never publicly linked the issue to Ankara’s bid to join the EU.

Erdogan in Brussels on Thursday

In the final run up to publication of the Commission’s crucial report
due 6 October the Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is to
meet in Brussels on Thursday (23 September) with EU enlargement
commissioner Günter Verheugen and with leaders of the political
groups in the European Parliament.

The report will serve as a basis for a decision by EU leaders on 17
December on whether or not to give Turkey a starting date for
membership negotiations.