BRUSSELS, Sept. 20 (UPI) -- Harsh words flew Monday between the European Union and Turkey, which announced it had dropped reforms to ban "honor killings," The Times of London said.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan ordered the reforms dropped Saturday after Islamic hardliners in his party said they must include a law making adultery a crime punishable by imprisonment.
In emergency weekend talks in Brussels, less than three weeks before Turkey's membership application was to be given the green light, Gunter Verheugen, the European Commissioner for Enlargement, told the Turkish ambassador to the EU he would not recommend the start of membership talks unless the Turkish parliament passed the reforms by Oct. 6.
The EU says Turkey's move to criminalize adultery and turn a blind eye to adultery-related honor killings is not consistent with the EU's human rights doctrines. However, the Turkish parliament went into recess Saturday and could pass the reforms only if the government orders it to reconvene in an emergency.
Meanwhile, Erdogan said the EU had no place in internal Turkish affairs.
"Let us make one thing clear -- we are Turkey, we are Turks. We will make our own decisions," he said.
