Malta favours early start to accession talks with Turkey
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Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi will this morning fly to Brussels for a crucial EU summit which will discuss the opening of accession talks with Turkey.
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At a summit this week, European Union leaders must decide when and how to begin membership talks with Turkey. That the summit will approve opening entry talks with Ankara is a forgone conclusion.
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Supporters found plenty of reasons to cheer the European Unionâs recommendation of yesterday for talks to begin on making Muslim-majority Turkey a member.
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BRUSSELS, Belgium - The European Union's head office opened a meeting Wednesday where it was likely to recommend that Turkey begin EU membership talks with one key proviso: that negotiations be halted if Ankara backtracks on sweeping democratic and human rights reforms.    If the European Commission's expected recommendation is formally approved by the 25 EU leaders at a December summit, entry talks could begin in early 2005, capping years of lobbying by Turkish officials who say their country could form a bridge between Muslim countries and Europe...
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BRUSSELS - The European Commission, in a watershed decision, recommended yesterday that the European Union (EU) open membership talks with Turkey.
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Turkey's prime minister expressed confidence that the European Union's executive will recommend opening talks for his Muslim-majority country's membership this week, saying Sunday that admitting Turkey to the union would contribute to "reconciliation between civilizations."
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Turkey's efforts to join the European Union took a modest but measurable step forward on Wednesday when negotiations started on two more of the 35 policy areas that a candidate country must complete to gain membership.
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Turkey expects to start EU entry talks within the first six months of next year, says Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan as hints of a compromise over Cyprus emerged.
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Commentators in Switzerland are divided about the effect of Turkey's possible entry into the European Union, following a recommendation to start talks with Ankara.
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BRUSSELS - Six months after the European Union expanded into eastern Europe, the bloc&#39;s leaders this week are set to fix a date for opening membership talks with Turkey, a strategically located NATO nation which has been knocking on EU doors for over 40
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As European leaders meet to set a date for accession talks with Turkey, the newest EU member states are giving out divergent signals
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The European Commission says Turkey can begin talks on joining the EU - but Ankara must meet stiff conditions.
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The European Commission&#39;s cautious recommendation that Turkey begin membership negotiations puts the country a step closer to realizing its dream of joining Europe -- but
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The European Commission is set to announce that Turkey is ready to begin negotiations on joining the EU.
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BRUSSELS - The 25-nation European Union has agreed to open groundbreaking accession talks with Turkey next year. But the bloc insisted that talks can only begin 3 October, 2005, if Turkey ends its long-standing
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AFTER 40 years of trying, Turkey was told yesterday it had passed the first hurdle in its campaign to join the EU after the European Commission recommended that entry talks begin.
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But Wednesday, the European Commission is expected to recommend that Turkey begin membership process.