EU, Turkey reach agreement to start talks next year

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso (1st R), Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende (2nd R), Dutch Foreign Minister Bernard Bot (3rd R) and European Union's foreign policy chief Javier Solana Madariaga (4th R) attend a press conference in Brussels, Dec. 17, 2004. The European Union (EU) and Turkey reached an agreement on Friday to start talks next year on the country's membership of the bloc.