AKP is Seeking Support From Conservatives

"Adultery," which describes an affair out of wedlock by a married person, was brought onto agenda by Justice Minister Cemil Cicek ahead of an extraordinary meeting on September 14 about the new Turkish Penal Code (TCK).

TCK sub-commission head Hakki Koylu from the Justice and Development Party (AKP) said Anatolian housewives sent them letters asking for adultery to become a crime.

According to sociologist Prof. Dr. Nilufer Narli, AKP deputies are trying to keep the support of their voters by bringing onto agenda such women's issues.

Narli said adultery, which was removed from the law by the Constitutional Court on grounds of violating equality, would be used by men to divorce their wives.

Narli: Adultery will be used against women if it becomes a crime

Prof. Nilufer Narli said the following about adultery becoming a crime:

* AKP's supporters are very different from each other in terms of both social-economic status and culture. While the traditional, lower-middle class people of Anatolia support AKP, middle-class citizens from cities also support it because of its efforts on European Union (EU) reforms. On the other hand, AKP is both supported by the poor villagers, and the bourgeois of cities.

* The religious conservative voters want the party to act more conservative especially in women's issues. AKP did not increase women's participation in politics during local elections. There were only 16 women candidates out of a total of 3, 225. The party did not approve punishing those responsible of honor crimes without taking into consideration any excuses. It did not have a clear attitude about banning virginity tests.

* Saying "Anatolian women want this, " means "my conservative voters want this." When adultery was a crime, women in Anatolia, who were married through religious ceremonies, did not complain about their husbands who had two-three wives.

* While a photograph taken at a restaurant that sold alcohol would be enough proof that a women was adulterous, a man had to have rented a flat for a woman to be accused with adultery. The article on "adultery" was usually used against women.

* An adulterous person can be condemned by the society. But a woman, who gets a divorce because her husband is having an affair, can be rejected by her family because of that divorce. The mentality that looks down to women is obvious here. (OG/BB/EA/YE))