Turkish premier gets hero's welcome after EU deal

Prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan returned to Turkey early today to a hero’s welcome, as hundreds of supporters waved Turkish and European Union flags at the airport to celebrate a historic agreement to start EU membership talks next year.

Erdogan arrived in Istanbul, hours after Turkey and the EU sealed the agreement in Brussels after hammering out a compromise over Ankara’s relationship with Cyprus. The talks, aimed at bringing the crowded, poor and predominantly Muslim nation into the bloc, will begin on October 3, 2005.