Turkey will have to accept tough conditions, including de facto recognition of Cyprus and possible permanent restrictions on labour migration, to ensure the start of European Union membership talks, according to a draft EU summit statement circulated today.
The draft, circulated by the Dutch EU presidency today and obtained by Reuters, left the crucial wording of the decision on whether and when to open entry negotiations with Ankara blank for leaders to fill in at a Dec. 16-17 summit.
It welcomed "the decisive progress made by Turkey in its far-reaching reform process" but set a strict framework for negotiations and said talks could not be concluded until the bloc had agreed on its post-2014 budget.