I’m not in favor of adultery myself, but to make it a criminal offense is just one more step toward Sharia … in “secular” Turkey, a state that has survived only by making innumerable concessions, large and small, to political Islam over the last few decades. Note that this time the law is designed to make Turkey more acceptable to the European Union. I guess they know a dhimmi when they see one. From Reuters, with thanks to Ali Dashti:
ISTANBUL (Reuters) – Turkey’s government wants to make adultery a crime, the justice minister has been quoted as
saying — a proposal that has outraged the main opposition and women’s groups.Although the legislation would also apply to men, a previous adultery law abolished six years ago was used mainly against women.
The ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), which traces its roots to a banned Islamist movement, wants to include the adultery ban in an overhaul of the penal code, promised as part of reforms aimed at meeting European Union criteria.
The main opposition party has threatened to vote against the entire penal code reform if the clause on adultery is included in the bill and brought to parliament.
“We believe that adultery should be a crime, because society also expects this,” Justice Minister Cemil Cicek was quoted as saying by newspapers on Monday.
Turkey’s top court struck down a law penalising adultery in 1998 and said in its ruling that the law had been mainly used against women, leading to gender inequality.