Turkey took a major step on its long march towards EU membership yesterday, formally presenting Brussels with its blueprint for sweeping democratic reforms.
"I consider this a turning point in our relations with the European Union," said the Turkish Foreign Minister, Mr Ismail Cem, after presenting the Turkish National Programme to the EU Enlargement Commissioner, Mr Gunter Verheugen.
The reform plan, adopted by Turkey's parliament a week earlier, "is the most assertive democratisation programme in our modern history," Mr Cem told reporters.
"It's through implementation that we will see its value," he added.
Turkey's attempt to join the European Union was confirmed at the December 1999 EU summit in Helsinki. But the EU will not open negotiations before it sees Ankara making real progress on bringing Turkey's political system and economy up to western European standards.
Mr Verheugen welcomed the Turkish programme, saying it "sets out for the first time the very large scale of reforms that Turkey is willing to address in all areas."
He promised that the European Commission, which handles the nuts and bolts of EU membership bids, would study it closely and give a detailed response to Ankara in due course.
But he stressed that the onus was on Turkey to turn plans into reality. "It is important that Turkey's legislative programme and the necessary reform of its institutions go ahead as soon as possible," he said.
"It is for Turkey to decide on the pace of the reform process."
The National Programme includes a number of steps for Turkey to haul itself up to European norms, such as improving freedom of expression, eliminating torture and improving prison conditions.
But observers say it fails to address key EU demands on granting cultural rights to Turkey's Kurdish minority, abolishing the death penalty and curbing the military's pivotal role in political life.
Referring to Turkey's economic woes, Mr Verheugen said political reforms "should provide an important element of stability which will reinforce the measures [taken by Ankara] to overcome the country's economic difficulties."
Last month Turkey abandoned a pegged exchange rate and floated the lira, in breach of a three-year IMF-backed anti-inflation plan in place since December 1999.