The Turkish foreign minister, Mr Ismail Cem, expressed hope today that Turkey would be ready to open accession talks with the European Union by the end of 2002.
In an interview with the CNN-Turk news channel, Cem said that setting a date for the start of the talks could become possible at the EU Copenhagen summit in December at the end of the presidency of Denmark, which will take over from Spain in July.
"Turkey could come to the point (of being ready) to start accession talks at the end of the year. I see such a possibility," Cem said.
"Of course, this also depends on what we do at home," he added.
Turkey, an EU membership candidate since 1999, is the only country among the 13 hopefuls that has not yet accomplished the required reforms to start accession talks with Brussels.
Ankara has undertaken a series of reforms to mend its crippled democracy and improve its dismal human rights record, but EU officials as well as domestic critics have considered them inadequate.
The need to improve the rights of the sizable Kurdish minority has proved particularly painful for Turkey, as many fear that such reforms could fan separatist sentiment among Kurds.
The government of Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit has failed to reach an agreement on a key EU norm - the abolition of the death penalty for all crimes - and has so far been reluctant to take steps to legalize broadcasts and education in Kurdish.
AFP