ANKARA, Sept 23 (AFP) - Turkey's main opposition party hailed a government move Thursday to urgently push through parliament a delayed penal code reform crucial to the country's bid to join the European Union.
"We are happy with the result, this is what we wanted," Kemal Anadol, a deputy chairman for the parliamentary group of the social-democratic Republican People's Party (CHP), told reporters here.
He was speaking shortly after the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) said it would summon lawmakers for an extraordinary session on Sunday to adopt the reform package to overhaul the country's 78-year-old criminal code.
The announcement came after talks Thursday in Brussels between Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and EU Enlargement Commissioner Guenter Verheugen after a week of tensions over the bill.
In a surprise move last week, the AKP withdrew the bill just as it was about to be adopted amid a raging debate on whether to squeeze in a clause making adultery a punishable crime, a move that created a furore at home and abroad.
The AKP move sparked strong warnings from the EU, which said failure to adopt the bill would jeopardize Turkey's chances of starting accession talks with the pan-European bloc.
"Unfortunately, Turkey's EU policy has been harmed by unnecessary debates on internal politics, adultery and the penal code, strengthening the hand of those against Turkey's entry into the European Union," Anadol said.
The CHP had submitted a proposal Tuesday for an extraordinary parliamentary session to discuss the penal code on September 28, but this was received coolly by the AKP, with a ruling party spokesman saying it would be up to them to decide, since the party holds an absolute majority in the house.