Under existing Turkish law the married woman convicted of adultery can be given up to three years in jail. A man, on the other hand, receives no punishment at all.

After a long debate the Justice Commission has recommended a change in the law. The Minister responsible for womens' affairs has described it as a major source of inequality.

Many members of parliament wanted the penalty to be scrapped altogether saying it's out of date for a modern society to treat adultery as a criminal offence. Instead the commission has decided that men should be punished too.

It wants adulterer of either sex to face prison terms of between six months and two years. Parliament has to vote on the recommendation by the end of next week.

The issue has been hotly debated in the media and ridiculed by many commentators. Although the campaign to abolish prison sentences for adultery was unsuccessful it did gain more support than the views of one member of parliament from the Democratic Left Party.