by Hugh Schofield
PARIS, June 20 (AFP) - Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday put his country's case for entry into the European Union during a working lunch with French President Jacques Chirac.
On the second day of an official visit to France, the Turkish leader was expected to press home his conviction that Turkey has undertaken sufficient economic and social reforms to merit the start of membership talks.
Chirac has himself said he supports Turkey's eventual admission to the club of 25, but many in his own Union for a Popular Movement (UMP) party are opposed, and in an interview Tuesday Foreign Minister Michel Barnier said the road ahead was a long one.
"We have to tell the truth. It is not tomorrow that Turkey will be entering the EU. The road ahead is still long. It has been on this road for some time preparing itself and making progress," he told Europe 1 radio.
On Monday Erdogan held talks with his French counterpart Jean-Pierre Raffarin, after which he said he was counting on French support in the crucial decision due in December by EU heads of government over whether to start admission talks with Turkey.
The prime minister will be also seeing the leaders of the UMP's coalition partner the Union for French Democracy (UDF) and the opposition Socialists before leaving Wednesday.
Erdogan held talks early Tuesday with French business leaders and urged them to use their weight to argue Turkey's case for entry. France's business elite sides with calls for Turkish admission, seeing the country as a major economic opportunity.
"I am convinced that French economic circles can make a contribution to the diplomatic process, and we await it," he said.
However the debate over Turkey's right to join the EU has been particularly robust in France, where there is strong opposition both from those who fear its implications for immigration and Europe's cultural heritage, and those who say it will mean the end of their vision for a politically integrated continent.
The nationalist leader Philippe de Villiers on Tuesday condemned Erdogan's visit and what he described as Chirac's "determination" to see Turkey join the EU. He said he would ensure Turkey's membership is at the "heart of the debate" ahead of next year's planned referendum on the EU constitution.