European Commission President Mr Romano Prodi said today Turkey was moving with remarkable speed in approving reforms required to open entry talks with the European Union.
Mr Prodi, visiting Turkey, also said the Commission would decide later this year whether to recommend opening the talks solely on the basis of Ankara's political and human rights reforms.
Turkey's economic performance and the Cyprus problem would not influence that judgement, he said.
"I told the prime minister that not only the direction [of the reforms] is correct but the speed is remarkable," Mr Prodi told a news conference in Istanbul. "We added also that implementation is essential to meet the Copenhagen criteria [on human rights and political freedoms]."
The Commission, the EU's executive body, will publish its annual report on Turkey's candidacy in October along with a recommendation on whether it is ready to open talks.
EU leaders meeting in Brussels in December will have the final say. If they decide that Turkey's reforms go far enough, the largely Muslim country of 71 million people is expected to start the long-delayed entry talks in early 2005.
Mr Prodi reiterated that ending the decades-old division of Cyprus between Greek and Turkish Cypriots would not be a precondition for opening accession talks with Ankara, but he said a settlement would clearly boost Turkey's chances.