Job Discussion Forums

[bron]

OK, in a way I'm getting more confused here but in a way things are becoming more clear.

Was this law conceived as a way to criminalise religious polygyny, or is that a side-effect to simply, as it presents itself, punish marital infidelity and general sexual immorality (15-year-old sex, wed or unwed)? Because JustMe is right to point out that if the first is the goal then it should be seen as secularist, in line with EU goals (kissing up), and I completely hadn't thought of that before, but it makes so much sense. Of course if it's the second -- trying to prohibit cohabitation before marriage, pre-marital sex and extra-marital affairs -- then it's a religiously conservative move.

Also I thought I heard it mentioned on the BBC that they were voting on whether to retain the law, rather than whether to introduce it. Did the previous Turkish penal code have an amendment against adultery? Why are they amending the code right now anyway, is it to try and bring it up to EU standards, and if so, then surely this must be a way of trying to prevent polygyny? But if that's the case, why isn't the EU aware of that fact and why are they treating it (solely) as a religiously backward move designed to force everyone into faithful nuclear families?

I mean, of course that could very well be the result even if it's not the original goal. If they are trying to prevent religious extra-legal polygyny, that's all very well, but they need to separate that issue from people falling in love and being unfaithful to their spouses or falling in love and having sex before marriage. Which could be a difficult thing to do. *sigh* Burada T�rkiye, I guess, and complications ensue.

JustMe, I think the 300 day waiting period was originally conceived in Islam so that if the divorced women had a baby then its paternity wouldn't be in doubt... old religious divorce laws... is there anything in all that paperwork about you getting a "deferred dowry" if you get divorced, or are they only retaining the pain-in-arse laws?

[dervish]

Article:

Turkey's developments on penal reform have been put on hold as its parliament goes into recess.



Turkish parliament went into recess on Saturday until 1 October, leaving a crucial penal code reform package in limbo and unlikely to be enacted upon before the release of a vital EU report.



The EU Commission report is scheduled for 6 October, and will state whether or not to start membership talks with Turkey.



The penal reform package froze in parliament because of an internal dispute on the legal status of adultery.



Turkey's ruling party argued whether adultery was a crime, bringing Ankara and the EU to the brink of crisis on Friday, with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan telling the European body not to meddle in his country's domestic affairs.



Sharp reactions from Turkey and the EU led the Justice and Development Party to drop the adultery clause as debate on the reform package began in Parliament on Tuesday.



Effectively frozen


EU's Verheugen (L) has signalled
disapproval of the adultery law


Parliament convened in an extraordinary session to push through the reform intended at overhauling the country's 78-year-old penal code and bringing it up to European standards.



It was generally admired for granting greater individual freedoms and providing heavier penalties to rights abusers and torturers, despite being overshadowed by the adultery clause.



But as deputies pushed the package through the House, voting 343 of the bill's 346 articles in two and a half days, parliamentary sources began reporting that Islamist hardliners within the ruling party were insistent the adultery clause be reinstated.



The voting stopped three articles short of closure before the clauses on the law's application could be enacted, and the bill was effectively frozen.



Erdogan's explanation on Friday was that it would be resubmitted to parliament when it officially opens on 1 October as part of a larger reform package, including two other related laws.



'Wrong signal'



As the first week of a parliamentary session is usually taken up by the election of the speaker and other officials, it appears highly unlikely that the code will be enacted before the crucial EU report is released.



Whether the adultery clause will be introduced remains a mystery.



"We have achieved
and complied with everything concerning the Copenhagen
political criteria and
the Maastricht
economic criteria"

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan

Jean-Christophe Filori, spokesman for EU Enlargement Commissioner Gunter Verheugen, said criminalising adultery would "certainly cast doubt on the direction of Turkey's reform efforts and would complicate Turkey's European prospects".



"This would send the wrong signal ahead of the report. The outcome of this will be fully reflected in the report," he added.



However, Erdogan said on Friday, "We have achieved and complied with everything concerning the Copenhagen political criteria and the Maastricht economic criteria.



"But let us make one thing clear: We are Turkey, we are Turks."



Verheugen will meet the Turkish ambassador to the EU to discuss concerns on political developments on Sunday.

[dmb]

I believe it is all media hype. There are other important reforms going through parliament but the media has focused on the irrelevant part of the reforms, that being zina.

[calsimsek]

Quike up date.
I've heard that the AKP under alot of pressuer from the far relgious wing of the party caved in and agreed to pull back the reforms and Zina.
This has in turn pissed off the E.U who have said that Turkey can piss in the wind if it thinks the E.U will accept a member with this type of law. The Turkish press and companies are out for blood for what they say is total waste of time with the whole Zina shit.
So we wait to see, my wife would just shoot me. I'm more afraid of her than any law.