ANKARA, Oct 6 (AFP) - Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul sought Wednesday to downplay conditions set in a European Commission report recommending that EU leaders open accession talks with Turkey.
The Commission said the eventual start of negotiations, to be decided by European Union leaders on December 17, would not guarantee Turkey's membership.
It also warned it would recommend the suspension of the talks "in the case of a serious and persistent breach of the principles of liberty, democracy, respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms and the rule of law on which the Union is founded."
Gul conceded that the talks would take a long time but stressed that they could result in nothing short of membership.
"Let there be no misunderstanding... This does not mean we are headed for an unknown destination," he said. "It is obvious that we are headed for full membership."
Gul also stressed that any suspension of the negotiations could exist only "in theory" and in the case of "extraordinary situations".
He said similar conditions existed even for standing EU members, pointing at one example in 2000 when the EU threatened political sanctions against Austria to prevent far-right leader Joerg Haider from taking a government post.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said earlier in Strasbourg that the suspension of accession talks could be a measure applicable only in such extreme situations as a military coup in Turkey.