Türkiye's governing Justice and Development Party (AKP) plans to introduce legislation next month that would make adultery a criminal offense, reinstating a prohibition that was removed from the law eight years ago.
The measure is part of a broader overhaul of the penal code. Justice Minister Cemil Cicek has argued there are "social reasons" for the change, saying the public backs it.
The main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) has indicated it will not block the bill when parliament takes it up on 14 September, on the condition that men and women face identical penalties.
The issue of equal treatment has a legal history: in 1996, the constitutional court struck down an earlier adultery statute because it treated the sexes differently, allowing a wife to be imprisoned after a single incident while a husband could only be convicted for repeated and open violations. That earlier law had set prison terms of six months to three years.
Legislators drafting the new bill have not yet determined what sentence it would carry. Türkiye is also pursuing EU membership and has been aligning its legal code with European Union standards.
Historical summary. TurkishPress restated this AFP wire report, first published in August 2004, in its own words.