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European Commission warns Turkey, By CONSTANT BRAND,

Associated Press Writer
Wed Nov 8, 8:58 PM ET

BRUSSELS, Belgium - In a tough progress report Wednesday, the European Commission threatened Turkey with possible suspension of EU membership talks unless Ankara does more to protect human rights and implements a customs pact with EU member Cyprus.

The organization decided against recommending the immediate suspension of year-old entry talks with Turkey, commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said. "We decided to give a chance for the diplomatic efforts to find a solution," he said.

But Ankara must forge ahead with political and economic reforms and open its ports and airports to Cypriot goods before EU leaders meet at a Dec. 14-15 summit in Brussels, he said in a statement.

"Failure to implement its obligations in full will affect the overall progress in the negotiations," Barroso said.

The Turkish government insisted in a statement that Cyprus was a political issue that should have no bearing on Turkey's entry negotiations.

Cyprus has been divided into a Greek-Cypriot south and internationally isolated Turkish-Cypriot north since 1974 when Turkish forces invaded the island in response to an attempted coup by officers supporting union with Greece.

Ankara, the only government to recognize the breakaway Turkish-Cypriot state, has refused to extend its customs union to include Cyprus and nine other EU member states that joined in 2004, saying it will only implement the deal when an international embargo on Turkish Cyprus ends.

"We have said: 'Don't ever expect us to open our ports and airports until the isolation of the Turkish Cypriot state is lifted,'" Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said. "Turkish Cypriots and Turkey have fulfilled their responsibility."

The commission's progress report also criticized Ankara's human rights record on torture and freedom of expression, as well as its pace on political reforms.

New anti-torture laws have gone into effect in the country, but cases of torture are "still being reported," said the report by EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn. It said the bloc was particularly concerned about reports of violations in southeastern Turkey, where the Kurdish minority has rioted in recent months.

The report also criticized the continued political role played by Turkey's military, and highlighted the "serious economic and social problems" facing the Kurdish minority.

In addition, it cited Turkey's resistance to amending part of its penal code which sets out punishments for insulting the Turkish republic, its officials or "Turkishness" — a law that has been used to bring charges against dozens of authors, journalists, publishers and scholars.

Turkish leaders acknowledged falling short of EU demands on expanding freedoms and political reform, but vowed to push ahead with reforms to continue toward the goal of joining the bloc.

"For us, the EU process maintains its importance," Erdogan told reporters in Ankara. "We have not yet achieved all of the (EU membership criteria). Our aim is to achieve the maximum possible. Our struggle will continue."

The European Commission report comes amid growing opposition across Europe to allowing the poor, predominantly Muslim nation of 71 million people to join the expanding EU.

Britain said Turkey must meet the EU demands by mid-December to keep its membership talks on track. "Turkey must implement its obligation to all (EU) member states. If it fails to do so, the EU must act," Britain's minister for Europe, Geoff Hoon, said Wednesday.

France's Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy said the EU should rethink its timetable for Turkey's entry bid if it refuses to recognize Cyprus.


Associated Press writers Suzan Fraser and Selcan Hacaoglu contributed to this report from Ankara, Turkey.