Turks say they are `humiliated' by conditions on offer for accession

The European Council faced a difficult task defining its future relations with Turkey last night as a dinner planned for this evening was cancelled by the Turkish Prime Minister, Mr Mesmut Yilmaz, following discussions with the EU presidency. A document setting out the EU's position will be examined further by the summit today following a discussion over dinner last night.

It is expected to confirm Turkey's eligibility for EU accession on the same criteria as for the other applicant countries. But it will acknowledge that Turkey's particular political and economic problems will not allow accession negotiations to start for some time.

In the meantime, a strategy should be drawn up to prepare Turkey for accession and to bring it closer to the EU in every field. The forum for this would be a standing European Conference of heads of state or government of the 15 member-states and the 12 applicants, Turkey included.

This stops well short of what is on offer to the other 11 applicant states. The Turks complain that the EU has not so far explicitly recognised their country's entitlement for membership and is seeking to attach conditions to its eligibility.

The commitment to Turkey's future membership was laid down in a 1963 accession treaty and reaffirmed in recent meetings, but has since become more controversial in a number of member-states. This is partly based on its allegedly non-European Islamic culture, partly on human rights considerations and partly on its disputes with Greece over the Aegean and Cyprus.

Turkish representatives say they are humiliated by the terms on offer. They seek an unambiguous statement that their country is eligible to join and a clear understanding that conditions apply to negotiations rather than this basic qualification. Otherwise they say they will withdraw their application and proceed to integrate northern Cyprus.