ANKARA, Sept 1 (AFP) - The EU's enlargement chief is set to meet with Turkish leaders and representatives of the country's Kurdish minority and civic groups next week before the EU executive pens a crucial report on Ankara's prospects of starting membership talks, officials said Wednesday.
The report, which will assess Turkey's progress towards meeting the European Union's political norms, will constitute the basis on which EU leaders will decide in December whether to invite Turkey to start negotiations on accession.
Enlargement commissioner Guenter Verheugen will have talks with President Ahmet Necdet Sezer, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul in Ankara Monday, Turkish foreign ministry spokesman Namik Tan told reporters.
The same day he will go to Diyarbakir, the main city of the country's predominantly Kurdish southeast, where he will meet with local officials and activists from non-governmental organizations and participate in several cultural functions, Tan said.
Verheugen will travel on to the western city of Izmir on Tuesday for meetings with civic groups and businesspeople.
He will wrap up his visit in Istanbul the following day.
The European Commission, the EU's executive arm, will release its report on Turkey's progress on October 6, in which it will say whether it recommends or not the opening of accession talks with the mainly Muslim nation.
Ankara says it has fulfilled the required conditions with a series of far-reaching democracy reforms and maintains that rejecting Turkey's bid will cast doubts on the EU's sincerity towrds the country.
Though EU leaders have praised Turkey's progress, many Europeans remain opposed to the country's ultimate accession because of its predominantly Muslim faith, sizeable population of some 70 million people and relatively poor economy.