BRUSSELS, Sept 23 (AFP) - Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is to hold potentially crunch talks with EU officials Thursday, as he seeks to allay concerns about Ankara's EU preparations two weeks ahead of a crucial report.
The European Commission, which is due to publish its assessment of Turkey's EU bid on October 6, wants clarification from Erdogan on his vast mostly Muslim country's reform plans, clouded by uncertainty over the fate of key proposals.
EU enlargement commissioner Guenter Verheugen, who will meet the Turkish leader in a Brussels hotel, has made it clear that Turkey's fate could depend on reform of its penal code.
"We would like to know what will happen now in Turkey ... at what speed the reform process .. will go forward," said Verheugen's spokesman Jean-Christophe Filori on the eve of the visit, adding it "will, I hope, allow us to clarify the situation."
Along with his report, Verheugen is to make recommendations next month about whether Turkey should start EU membership negotiations. The final word will then be taken by EU leaders at a summit in mid-December.
Turkey, an EU candidate since 1999, has been striving hard to win a positive appraisal from the commission by pushing through major reforms to its laws, judiciary and systems of government.
But Brussels has warned that the hard work risks being undone at the final hurdle if promised reforms to Turkey's penal code are not carried through.
Erdogan's Islamist-rooted government last week dramatically withdrew the penal code bill from parliament -- apparently under pressure from hardline Muslim groups to restore a clause to criminalise adultery.
Filori delivered a blunt warning this week that Turkey would be snubbed by the EU unless it passes the penal code reforms.
Temperatures have risen sharply in recent weeks over whether the EU should put out the welcome mat for Turkey, a populous, Muslim-majority country viewed with suspicion by some as insufficiently "European".
EU agriculture commissioner Franz Fischler, a known opponent of Turkey's accession, said Tuesday that its entry into the bloc would open up a swathe of problems for the bloc's farm policies.
Earlier this month it emerged that the Austrian official had warned, in a letter to his fellow EU commissioners, that "there remain doubts as to Turkey's long-term secular and democratic credentials".
Erdogan arrived in Brussels late Wednesday accompanied by his justice minister, Cenic Cicek, but did not make any comments to reporters waiting at his hotel.
He is due to meet Verheugen from 11:00 am (0900 GMT), according to officials. Later he will also meet European Parliament party leaders.