President Sezer Vetoes Law On Amendments To New T.C.K.

ANKARA (AA) - Turkish President Ahmet Necdet Sezer vetoed the law on amendments to the new Turkish Penal Code (TCK) on Friday.
     President Sezer returned the law to the Turkish parliament for reconsideration of articles 3 and 29.
     The new penal code aiming at advancing Turkey's bid to join the EU, went into effect on Wednesday without a number of amendments that required President Sezer's approval.
     All the amendments will now be resubmitted to parliament while the new code remains in force in its original form.
     The bill was adopted last year as part of Turkey's efforts to start membership talks with the EU. The code originally was scheduled to go into effect in April, but the government delayed its implementation until June because of criticism that it hindered press freedom.
     (UK-MS)
2005-06-03