ARAB-EUROPEAN RELATIONS - Sep 17 - EU Turns Up Heat On Turkey As Decision Looms.

The EU warns Turkey to keep up progress on human rights ahead of a key decision on EU membership negotiations, but Turkey replies by warning Brussels against meddling in its affairs. The remarks comes during a period of rising sensitivity ahead of the European Commission's long-awaited decision on Oct 6 on whether Turkey can begin talks to join the EU. The Commission is growing increasingly concerned after the Turkish government delayed a new penal code that is seen as crucial in furthering reform and democracy in Turkey. The code was blocked after pressure from hard-liners who wanted to reintroduce a clause that would make adultery a criminal offense. The commissioner in charge of European enlargement Gunther Verheugen, told reporters in Leuven, near Brussels: "It is a very worrying development that I see in Turkey. I can only say that it would be much better to have the new penal code adopted because this is the centerpiece of the question of whether Turkey meets the conditions of being a state of law". The Commission's stark intervention brought a rebuff from the Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Erdogan said: "At this point, nobody has the right to interfere in our internal affairs and the functioning of our Parliament. Turkey has already done what is necessary to start talks with the EU". The issue of Ankara's possible accession has triggered an increasingly intense debate about where Europe's borders should lie. It comes just five months after the EU took in 10 countries, mainly in Central and Eastern Europe, boosting its membership to 25 nations and its population to 450m. Verheugen is drawing up a report on whether Turkey has met conditions qualifying it to join the EU, which he will present to the commission next month. The commissioners will then decide, and the European national leaders will deliberate on that decision in December. If Turkey is found to be ready, it could begin negotiations for possible entry in about 10 years. But the European Commission opposes the adultery clause and has made it clear that inclusion of the clause would affect its findings next month. The external relations commissioner Chris Patten, indicated in an interview Sep 14 that Turkey should be allowed to join. He said: "If Turkey could point plausibly that it met the criteria, then what would be the consequences of giving the thumbs-down to attitudes in the Muslim world? We can't say you can't come in, no Muslims allowed, ours is a Christian club". But conservative groups like Germany's Christian Democratic Union and factions in France and Austria believe Turkey's accession should be delayed. They think Turkey's big Muslim population - the overwhelming majority of Turkey's nearly 69m residents are Muslim - would overwhelm the EU, upsetting its voting structures and draining its budgets, and leading to an influx of Turkish immigrants. There are also doubts about Turkey's human rights record amid reports of continued abuse in southeastern Turkey. A fact-finding mission sent by the commission to investigate recent reports of torture was due to return to Brussels on Sep 17 evening. This month, the EU internal markets commissioner from the Netherlands Frits Bolkestein, said Turkey would "Islamise" Western Europe, while the agriculture commissioner from Austria Franz Fischler, warned that Turkey's accession would burden the EU's agriculture budget. The Vice-Chairman of the European Parliament's foreign affairs committee Geoffrey van Orden said: "A lot of attitudes are now sharpening. It does not help for Turkey to be sending this Islamist message now".