BRUSSELS, Sept 7 (AFP) - The European Commission rebuffed questions Tuesday about Turkish plans to outlaw adultery, which critics suggest could threaten the Muslim country's hopes of joining the European Union.
A spokesman for the EU executive pointed out that the Commission will publish a report on October 6 in which it will recommend whether or not the EU should begin membership negotiations with Ankara.
He declined to comment on the adultery legislation plans, citing the fact that the EU enlargement commissioner -- himself on a trip to Turkey -- had not publicly spoken about them.
"On October 6 there will be the report which will cover all of these matters. You will have to wait until 6th of October. We can't say anything more than that today," said the spokesman.
Turkey's ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), with roots in political Islam, last week introduced a bill to recriminalize adultery eight years after it was struck from the statute book.
The bill, which has provoked a furious reaction from secular and women's rights organizations in Turkey, is to go before parliament -- where the AKP has a nearly two-thirds majority -- on September 14 as part of a vast overhaul of the country's penal code.
EU leaders have pledged to decide at a summit in December whether or not to open negotiations with Turkey on joining the Union, which expanded from 15 to 25 years in May and aims to admit Romania and Bulgaria in 2007.