By Yusuf Kanli
TDN- Finally the Turkish Parliament, with the blessings of our benevolent Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, convened on Sunday and eradicated a major thorn in Turkey's relations with the European Union, offering us salvation from the disaster of not getting a date for the start of EU accession talks.
The plot -- staged by the incredibly bad Turkish press -- was exposed to our European allies just in the nick of time, thank God, by our all-capable prime minister. Our most courageous premier, to offset the damage the Euroskeptic press had inflicted with their heinous campaign on the country's European vocation, reaffirmed Turkey's loyalty to the EU and its norms.
How lucky we are that we have such a gifted prime minister and ruling party. Otherwise, we would suffer tremendously because of the persistent speculation on the part of the infidel press that this kind of law was intended to be included in the new Penal Code, despite repeated government denials and warnings from our dear comrade, Mr. Verheugen, that such a move would upset the European public and derail the slightest hope of getting a date for the start of talks.
Long live the prime minister, who with great skill explained to opponents that the politicians of a country aspiring to join the European Union cannot make declarations like, "We are Turkey, we are Turks, the EU cannot meddle in our internal affairs." It was through his generous and patient explanation that these naive opponents came to understand the difference between independence and interdependence and the obligation to open up our internal affairs to the scrutiny of other family members, if the intention of joining that family exists.
What would have happened if we had not had such an able leader in these difficult times? Who would have explained to the illiterates in the media that the integrity of the family cannot be maintained by banning adultery and making it a crime punishable by up to three years' imprisonment? What would the cost be to Turkey had our leader failed to convince Mr. Verheugen that his government never had adultery on its agenda but rather that it was the Turkish press who had concocted the whole thing?
It is due to the strong and far-reaching vision of our great leader that the Penal Code reform was completed yesterday by Parliament and that our country has been brought to its nearest point ever to EU accession. He has saved us and our country.
The Turkish press and the domestic political opponents of our benevolent leader must all be ashamed of the plot they tried to hatch. They must appreciate the greatness of our supreme guide, who was noble enough to forgive them despite all they have done.
Long live our super leader.