Sept. 18 (Bloomberg) -- Turkey's parliament decided to go into recess until Oct. 1, after the government this week delayed debate of a law that the European Union says is central to the nation's membership aspirations, a parliament spokesman said.

The governing party yesterday said it plans to tackle the penal code after Oct. 6, when the European Commission, the EU's executive arm, will recommend whether Turkey has met the political criteria to begin the membership talks.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan yesterday warned the EU not to interfere in Turkey's internal affairs after a commissioner called the government's decision to delay the penal code ``worrying.'' The government delayed the legislation after a dispute within its ranks over a proposed ban on adultery that the EU opposed.

Membership talks, which the commission says may start in the first half, would draw in foreign investment and help lower yields on the nation's $208 billion of debt, the government says.

Lawmakers from Oct. 1 will elect the parliament's next speaker and the members of its legislative committees, deputy speaker Nevzat Pakdil told reporters yesterday. The government may pass the penal code as part of a wider package of legal measures, Erdogan said.

The penal code, designed to bolster Turkey's human rights and democracy, ``is one of the most important pieces of legislation -- a centerpiece of the whole reform,'' EU Enlargement Commissioner Guenter Verheugen told reporters yesterday in Leuven, Belgium.

To contact the reporters on this story: Mark Bentley in Ankara at mbentley3@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: September 18, 2004 05:42 EDT