Turkey's prime minister said today his country would settle for nothing less than full membership of the European Union, repeating his opposition to suggestions it accept a partnership offer with the bloc.
"Turkey cannot accept any alternative which is going to rule out full membership of the EU," Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said, addressing the Swedish Institute of International Affairs.
Mr Erdogan, in Sweden for an official visit, also said his party was considering whether to push for a change in the Turkish constitution - a move that could effectively block legal attempts by opponents to have the ruling AK Party banned.
"On Monday, the highest decision-making body of our party will hold another meeting. After these evaluations we will decide whether such a constitutional amendment is necessary or not," Mr Erdogan said, speaking through an interpreter.
Turkey's Constitutional Court this week agreed to hear a case brought by a chief prosecutor against the AK Party for allegedly aiming to establish an Islamic state.
The case has crystalized a decades-long debate over the role of Islam in the Turkish state and has become a lightning rod for opponents of Turkey's bid to join the EU, who say the country is not committed enough to democracy to join the 27-nation bloc.
Turkey has been negotiating to join the EU since 2005 and the Constitutional Court's decision could further delay the process. Membership talks have already been held back by the continued division of Cyprus, slow progress in EU-mandated reforms and frosty attitudes in EU countries such as France.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel have suggested Turkey should accept a privileged partnership with the EU, a proposal Mr Erdogan has rejected. "An enlargement that is going to embrace Turkey is not going to undermine the EU, is not going to weaken the EU," Mr Erdogan said.
The prime minister also said the government would present to parliament an amendment of article 301 of the penal code which makes it a crime to insult Turkish identity, a law which the EU has said limits freedom of speech. "My friends are making the final studies and we are planning to present 301," Mr Erdogan said.