BRUSSELS, Dec 16 (AFP) - Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan welcomed Thursday the EU's "positive" approach to its bid to start membership talks, but said sticking points remain ahead of a crunch summit.
Key areas of concern remaining include the vexed question of Cyprus, which the European Union wants Ankara to recognize in return for a green light to begin EU entry talks next year.
"Generally they (EU leaders) seem to have a positive approach towards our sensitivites, but we have not resolved everything yet," he told Turkish reporters at his Brussels hotel, ahead of the EU summit start Thursday evening.
Asked which questions remain outstanding, he said: "You are well aware of the sensitivies that we have all explained, among them is Cyprus, permanent safeguards and the definition of the open-ended nature of the negotiations."
He was referring to EU proposals for permanent restrictions on movements of Turkish workers, and a warning that the talks will be open-ended -- meaning there is no guarantee that they will eventually lead to membership.
Erdogan said the Cyprus issue remains unclear. "We cannot say where we stand now. It's all rumours at the moment. We will feel more comfortable when we have the text" which EU leaders are due to finalize on Friday.
Erdogan added that he planned to meet a number of EU leaders bilaterally ahead of the summit, including Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende whose country currently holds the EU's rotating presidency.
He also planned to meet his Greek counterpart Costas Karamanlis as well as Britain's Tony Blair, who he described as "one of the leaders who best understands Turkey's sensitivites."
An official said Erdogan met Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi briefly Thursday morning.
A Turkish diplomat added that intensive telephone contacts with EU leaders had been going on ahead of the EU summit, including a call between Erdogan and Blair shortly before he left for Brussels.
The Turkish delegation was upbeat about comments by French President Jacques Chirac, who said in a television interview ahead of the summit that Ankara deserves EU membership, as long as it meets a series of conditions.
"There were pretty promising elements inside Chirac's statement," said the Turkish diplomat.
12/16/2004 11:43 GMT - AFP