EC recommends Turkey EU talks

The European Commission today recommended the start of EU membership talks with Turkey but set stiff conditions to prevent it from backtracking on sweeping democratic and human rights reforms.

Commissioner Franz Fischler said the EC had approved the start of talks on Turkey “in principle” but with conditions.

If the EC’s recommendation is approved by the 25 EU leaders at a December summit, entry talks could begin in early 2005, capping years of lobbying by Turkish leaders who say their country could form a bridge between Muslim countries and Europe.

There was no recommended date to start negotiations.

Many Europeans – including some commissioners – are wary of admitting Turkey, an overwhelmingly Muslim country of 71 million people, into the EU fold.

Several commissioners have expressed scepticism about allowing in a secular Muslim nation with a weak economy and a questionable human rights record, whose projected population would be the largest in the EU by 2025.