Blair urges Turkey to seize reforms

British Prime Minister Tony Blair, ahead of a visit to Turkey today, said the European Union would start membership talks with the country if it met requirements on human rights and democracy by the end of the year, a newspaper reported in Ankara.

Blair, who strongly backs Turkey’s aspiration to join the EU, was scheduled to meet President Ahmet Necdet Sezer and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.