ANKARA, 7 October 2004 — Turkey came a step closer to fulfilling a 40-year-old dream yesterday when the European Commission recommended that the European Union (EU) should begin membership talks with Ankara. But the commission made it clear that Turkey could not join for at least a decade and warned that negotiations would be called off if it backtracked on human rights and democratic reforms.

Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul said it was “a historic step for both the EU and Turkey,” and there was a warm welcome too from many EU states.

“If the European Council and (EU) countries decide in December that Turkey fulfils the criteria, opening membership negotiations in the second half of 2005 is an option,” said the Dutch EU presidency in a communiqué.

In Strasbourg, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Turkey wanted “the same criteria and methods” as other countries joining the 25-member union and warned that EU must not backtrack from its recommendation.

He also harshly criticized French President Jacques Chirac for seeking a referendum on Turkish EU membership. Chirac has asked for an amendment to the French constitution that gives voters a say when the EU wants to take in a new member.

Erdogan said the move was unjust because none of the 10 EU members that joined the bloc in May had to win voter approval first. “It is unfair and will destroy the motivation of Turkey to stay the course on economic and political reforms to get into the EU,” Erdogan told the Council of Europe.

He suggested that Turkey could simply wait out Chirac, whose current terms ends in 2007. “No political leader will hold office until all eternity,” Erdogan said. “Leaders should never forget that they may leave office.”

Chirac has spoken of admitting Turkey to the EU in the future, although polls show the French public is opposed to such a move.

Erdogan also insisted Turkey will accept no special conditions on talks, and that any suspension of negotiations “will show disrespect to a country which has accelerated” economic and political reforms in recent years.

“The EU will enter into a collision with its own values” if it stops talks with a “country that is a functioning democracy,” he said.

Erdogan also took issue with European Commission President Romano Prodi, who said the recommendation issued yesterday came with some provisos, including the possibility of a suspension of negotiations if Ankara abandons its reform process. “There is no conditional yes,” Erdogan said.

Britain, Germany, Italy and Poland were among those who said Ankara could count on their support when EU leaders make the final decision at a summit in Brussels in mid-December on whether and when to start membership talks. But aware of deep splits among Europe’s population on accepting what would be the bloc’s first mainly Muslim country, governments stressed that any talks would be attached to stringent tough conditions on Ankara’s progress on human rights, democracy and the rule of law.

There was also a fair degree of skepticism, with Denmark, some conservative European lawmakers and Austria’s EU commissioner all expressing caution.

British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw urged EU leaders to vote in favor of Turkey at the December summit. “Turkey has undergone remarkable changes over the last few years, putting in place the extensive reforms the EU asked of it,” Straw said in a statement. “The EU must now deliver its side of the bargain.”

Germany, which has Europe’s largest Turkish immigrant community, said Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder would vote at Brussels in favour of talks.

“We warmly welcome the commission’s decision,” its foreign minister Joschka Fischer told a press conference, saying he was confident “the political risks of opening the door to Turkey could be foreseen.”

While Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi had made no comment by late yesterday, Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said Rome would work hard to get a positive result.

In Warsaw, Foreign Minister Wlodzimierz Cimoszewicz called Turkey “the best example of a democratic state in the Islamic world.”

“It is proof that the fundamental values of Western democracy can also be applied in Islamic countries,” he added.

His Spanish opposite number Miguel Angel Moratinos had already said Tuesday Madrid would support membership negotiations.

EU newcomers Latvia and Estonia said yesterday that they would do likewise.

Swedish Foreign Minister Laila Freivalds said she was “very happy” to hear the news. Athens, Ankara’s regional rival, said it “supports Turkey’s road to Europe.”