The European Union said today it wants Turkey to deliver by next week a progress report on its agreed reforms package that is designed to meet EU accession criteria.
Newly elected Turkish leader Mr Recep Tayyip Erdogan is due to meet Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen at the EU summit in Copenhagen on Monday to discuss the issue.
Turkey, the laggard among 13 candidate states, has yet to open formal accession talks over EU concerns on its human rights record and other political and economic standards which do not meet EU criteria.
Sceptics have also expressed reservations over the country's crippled economy and cultural differences stemming from its Muslim population of some 70 million.
Ankara passed a first set of reforms in August in an effort to meet the EU concerns, and it has pledged to push through other crucial legislation in an effort to get formal membership talks under way.
Although Ankara appears to have the support of some EU nations, such as Britain, Italy and Portugal, and a strong backing from the United States, many others believe the time is not right.
Germany and France are understood to favour EU leaders meeting at the end of 2004 to discuss the progress Turkey has made.
AFP