ANKARA - Turkish Foreign Minister & Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Gul said, ''Turkish Parliament will decide about postponement of implementation of the new Turkish Penal Code (TCK).''
Holding a joint news conference together with Foreign Minister Rodolphe Adada of Republic of the Congo, who is currently in Turkey on an official visit, Gul said, ''TCK is a reform law and it is prepared by Parliament for the first time.''
''Penal codes concern everybody and the new TCK is a package including very comprehensive articles,'' added Gul.
''Current penal code will be invalid as of April 1st and new TCK will come into force. However, we are faced with several technical problems. A new law is being adopted to eliminate several gaps,'' he noted.
Gul said, ''President Ahmet Necdet Sezer has 15 days to examine the laws. We had a phone conversation with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan overnight, and Justice and Development Party (AKP) group acting chairman and Justice Minister Cemil Cicek also had a meeting. We saw that we had a technical problem about the new TCK.''
''Also non-governmental organizations have demands. Press issue is included in this. NGOs and press representatives conveyed the problems they will face with new TCK to government. Thus, we need a short postponement by taking these problems into consideration,'' added Gul.
Gul noted, ''debates will certainly continue after TCK will come into force. We are ready for these debates. If necessary, we will make corrections and proposals. It is a dynamic process.''
Gul said, ''the EU should be aware of this issue as well. We invited Hansjoerg Kretschmer, the head of delegation of the European Commission to Turkey, and EU acting presidency to Turkey, and we will inform them about the issue.''