Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul said Turkey had fulfilled its responsibilities on the road to the European Union membership, expecting the EU to do the same and conclude Turkey's entry process positively.

Gul made the statements as Britain, which currently holds the six-month rotating EU presidency, has called an emergency meeting of EU foreign ministers in Luxembourg on Sunday in a bid to end the bickering over the guiding principles of Turkey's accession talks.

"I cannot say anything definite about whether negotiations will be opened in a few days. They may or may not be launched," Gul told reporters late Friday.

Turkey's entry talks are scheduled to start on Oct. 3. EU foreign ministers must agree on a negotiating mandate for Turkey to begin talks at the Sunday emergency meeting, less than 24 hours away from the scheduled negotiation date.

EU member state Austria insists that the ministerial talks aim for a "privileged partnership" with Turkey instead of full membership.

Ankara rejects any second-class treatment. Gul warned that the Turkish government did not think Turkey should join the EU in this case.

"A partnership between the EU and Turkey would not be established if the EU did not keep its promises, if leaders of the EU member states forgot they had signed several documents or neglected their signatures due to some reasons, and if they brought forward new conditions which could never be accepted by Turkey," said Gul.

"We want to start negotiations, and we are working for this but within the framework of the realities," Gul added.

The foreign minister also said Turkey had held meetings with leaders of several EU member states, including Britain.

"I hope that this honest attitude of Turkey will be responded in the similar way. And the entry process will go in the right track in the end," he concluded.

EU leaders agreed last December that Turkey had carried out necessary reforms on human rights, society and economy, which qualify Ankara for official EU membership talks.

But strains flared anew after Ankara reaffirmed in July its refusal to recognize the Greek Cypriot government, which joined the EU on behalf of the whole island. Ankara recognized the breakaway Turkish Cypriot in the north.

Turkey has also come under pressure to recognize what Armenians call a genocide against their people by the Ottoman Empire during and at the end of World War I -- an event that remains highly sensitive for Turks.

Source: Xinhua