The EU enlargement chief has welcomed an announcement by Turkey's prime minister that he is ready to amend his country's penal code.
"The stated intention by Prime Minister (Tayyip) Erdogan to bring Turkish legislation on freedom of expression into line with European standards is a welcome initiative," European Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn said in a statement.
"It shows that the Turkish Prime Minister is personally committed to free speech and EU accession," Mr Rehn said.
Mr Erdogan announced the policy shift yesterday ahead of a European Commission progress report later this week that is expected to be strongly critical of Turkey.
The commission is particularly annoyed that Turkey has not changed article 301 of the penal code used to prosecute intellectuals such as Nobel literature prize winner Orhan Pamuk for expressing peaceful opinions - for example on the killing of Armenians in Ottoman Turkey.
In an apparent last-minute attempt to soften the commission report, also expected to criticise Turkey for failing to open its ports to shipping from Cyprus, Mr Erdogan signalled his ruling centre-right AK Party might be willing to amend the article.
But Mr Rehn sounded a note of caution, saying Brussels wanted to see practical action first.