The United States said on Tuesday that it welcomes the opening of EU accession talks with Turkey as the United States supports Turkey to be a part of the EU.

State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said at a briefing that US Secretary of State Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice held talks with EU ambassadors in Washington on Tuesday and voiced support for the opening of the historic talks.

"She reiterated our view that we believe that a Turkey firmly anchored in Europe will best serve the interests of the transatlantic family and will be an even more positive force for advancing peace, prosperity and democracy," McCormack said.

However, the spokesman said that whether Turkey can join the EU or not is up to the 25-member EU to decide.

"While expressing our support, both rhetorically and diplomatically, for Turkey's aspirations, we have been very careful to respect the fact that this is an EU process and to state very clearly that the United States doesn't have a vote in this process," McCormack said.

The EU decided late last year to start membership talks with Turkey in October this year. However, recent polls showed that about 52 percent of EU citizens oppose Turkey's accession to the wealthy western bloc.

Source: Xinhua