VIENNA - ''Turkey will be ready for EU membership within 10 or 15 years,'' European Commissioner for enlargement Olli Rehn said on Thursday.
Rehn, speaking to Austrian journalists assigned in Brussels, stated that ''Turkey's membership is still taken up as a hot potato in Austria'' and emphasized that, ''however, the EU needs a stable and democratic Turkey. Turkey was given an EU perspective in this respect.''
Indicating that Turkey was a port of communication between Europe and Islam, Rehn said, ''we have seen that Turkey assumed a positive and constructive role in cartoon crisis causing uneasiness in the Islam world.''