EU Enlargement Commissioner Mr Guenter Verheugen said today the European Union and Turkey had resolved a row over penal code reforms and signalled he would give Ankara the green light for entry talks next month.
The European Commission will publish a report on Turkey's progress on October 6th that will include a recommendation on whether the country is ready for long-delayed accession talks. EU leaders will make a final decision on the issue in December.
"The assurances I received today . . . will allow me to make a very clear recommendation [on the start of entry talks]," Mr Verheugen told a joint news conference with Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan.
He did not say what that recommendation would be but praised Turkey's reform efforts and said "no remaining outstanding obstacles remained on the table", making clear he believed Ankara had done almost all it had to do to win a date for talks.
Turkish Prime Minister Mr Erdogan said: "No item which is not already included in the draft of the Turkish criminal code will be included and I mean by that the issue of adultery," he told a news conference during a trip to Brussels.
Mr Erdogan added Turkey had "worked very hard" to fulfil criteria for starting entry talks as laid down by EU leaders at a summit in Copenhagen and was confident the 25-member bloc would decide in December that talks could start.
Mr Erdogan pledged to push the penal code reforms, which will increase penalties for torture and rape and also bolster women's rights, through parliament as swiftly as possible.
"We are implementing all our reforms very seriously . . . we are very resolute on this," Mr Erdogan said.
In Ankara, the Anatolian state news agency said parliament would reconvene to discuss the draft penal code on Sunday.
Mr Verheugen also said he was now confident after additional checks by Commission experts that there was no basis for accusing Turkey of "systematic torture", despite claims by two Turkish human rights organisations.