Turkey has begun a final series of meetings with EU leaders today at a landmark summit in Copenhagen in a bid to agree a date to start EU membership talks.
Turkish Prime Minister Abdullah Gul demanded a date in 2003 and held out the prospect of a deal on Cyprus, which was the subject of last-ditch talks in the Danish capital.
Mr Gul said after talks with Greek Prime Minister Costas Simitis that Turkey had gone a long way towards meeting EU membership criteria through a series of reform packages.
"We did our homework and now the EU cannot tell us 'you should fulfill the rules of the club'," he told reporters. "It's our right to get a very firm, clear date to start negotiations. We ask EU leaders to take a decision. We are expecting a firm date within 2003," he said.
But a possible compromise on Turkey's long-running bid to join the EU was in the air with Mr Gul and the head of Turkey's ruling party, Mr Recep Tayyip Erdogan, planning a meeting with the leaders of France and Germany.
A diplomat said the meeting at tomorrow would see the Turkish leaders demand the EU make a firm decision on a date for their accession talks by May 1st, 2004.
If Ankara won such a commitment from the EU, it would give its backing to a United Nations peace plan for the divided island of Cyprus, the source said.
Last-ditch talks were under way to strike a deal on Cyprus in time for the island to be invited to join the EU as a united island.
The EU has made it clear that it will invite the internationally recognised Greek-Cypriot administration to join if no settlement can be reached in time with the Turkish Cypriots.
AFP