Timeline of Turkey's relationship with the EU
• September 12th, 1963: Turkey seals an association agreement with the then European Economic Community (EEC).
• July 22nd, 1970: Turkey and the EEC sign an accord foreseeing Turkey's eventual full membership in the bloc.
• 1978-79: EEC suggests Turkey apply for membership along with rival Greece. Ankara declines. Greece joins in 1981.
• September 12th, 1980: The army topples the government and imposes military rule. Relations with the EEC are virtually frozen.
• November 6th, 1983: Turkey holds parliamentary elections, ending military rule. Relations with Europe begin to normalise.
• April 15th, 1987: Turkey applies for full EEC membership.
• December 18th, 1989: The executive European Commission endorses Turkey's eligibility for membership, but defers assessing its application indefinitely.
• January 1st, 1996: A customs union between the renamed European Union (EU) and Turkey enters into force.
• December 13th, 1997: EU leaders deny Turkey candidate status.
• December 10th, 1999: An EU summit in Helsinki recognises Turkey as an applicant country but says it has many reforms to carry out.
• August 3rd, 2002: The Turkish parliament passes sweeping human rights reforms, including abolition of the death penalty.
• November 3rd, 2002: The conservative Justice and Development Party, which has Islamist roots, wins general election.
• December 12th, 2002: The EU proposes a December 2004 review to decide on setting a date for starting accession talks.
• June 19th, 2003: Turkey's parliament gives the green light to Kurdish broadcasts and removes other curbs on the language.
• July 30th, 2003: The military-dominated National Security Council is stripped of executive powers in line with EU demands.
• January 16th, 2004: Romano Prodi, the first commission president to visit Turkey since 1963, praises Ankara's reform progress.
• May 7th, 2004: Parliament abolishes the state security courts used to try political crimes and bans sex discrimination.
• October 6th, 2004: The European Commission recommends the EU start entry talks with Turkey but says negotiations could be suspended if Ankara backtracks on human rights and EU states may seek permanent safeguards against an influx of Turkish workers.
• December 17th, 2004: The EU and Turkey agree a deal by which membership talks will start in October 2005.
• March 7th, 2005: A team of top EU officials visiting Ankara urge Turkey to implement all human rights reforms. Turkey denies suggestions it is dragging its feet in preparing for the EU.
• May 24th, 2005: Turkey names economy minister Ali Babacan to head its negotiating team in talks.
• June 29th, 2005: Commission adopts draft mandate for Turkey's talks, but it must still be approved by member states. The mandate says the talks cannot be concluded before 2014.
• July 29th, 2005: Turkey clears last obstacle to talks by extending its customs union with the EU to include new member states including Cyprus. Ankara also issues a declaration making clear it still does not recognise the Greek Cypriot government.
• August 2nd, 2005: French prime minister Dominique de Villepin says it is inconceivable that Turkey start entry talks without first recognising Cyprus.
• September 16th, 2005: EU member states fail again to agree on a response to Turkey's refusal to recognise Cyprus. They have still to agree text of roadmap for its accession talks. - (Reuters)