Justice Commission Approves EU Adaptation Package

In a speech yesterday during the meeting of the Justice Commission, Minister of Justice Cemil Cicek said that the sixth adaptation package represents an important step in the EU process. Cicek, explaining that Turkey did not have the luxury of wasting time, said: "The EU issue is a national matter. It has become the state policy. Turkey is a country that has chosen democracy and human rights. The EU already requires that the scope of essential rights and freedom be increased."

During the sixth adaptation package discussion at the Justice Commission, two motions to modify the draft were accepted. One modification involved the definition of the crime of "terrorism." In a joint motion by the ruling and opposition parties, "terrorism" was included in the class of "actions conducted with violence and force." The "repression" concept was removed from the draft as being no longer an essential component of a terrorist crime. As a result of the change, making "repression without using force and violence" will no longer be considered a crime of terrorism.

Punishments involving honor crimes were modified in Article 453 of the Turkish Criminal Code. The sentence for an honor crime involving the murder of an illegitimate child by its mother was increased from 6-10 years to 8-12 years.

Orhan Eraslan of the Republican People’s Party objected to an article in the package that called for Turkish elections to be observed by foreign parties.