BRUSSELS (Reuters) -- The European Commission was to recommend on Wednesday a partial suspension of Turkey's negotiations to join the European Union after it failed to open its ports to EU member Cyprus, EU sources said.

One source said the recommendation had been brought forward by one week from Dec. 6 in an effort to avoid leaks after talks brokered by the EU's Finnish presidency on the Cyprus trade issue failed on Monday.

EU foreign ministers will take the decision at a Dec. 11 meeting.

Finnish Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen is due to visit Turkey on Friday but it seemed unlikely that the Commission move would persuade Ankara to soften its stance on Cyprus, diplomats said.

The sources said a special meeting of top Commission officials discussed a proposal to suspend between six and nine of the 35 "chapters", or policy areas, into which the negotiations are divided.

One source said they would probably call for a suspension of eight chapters. The sectors concerned involve the EU's internal market, such as the free movement of goods, as well as customs, transport and maritime affairs, the sources said.

Another source said the recommendation would make no mention of a full suspension of the talks nor set any new deadline for Turkey to comply on Cyprus.

A spokesman accompanying Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul at a NATO summit in Riga said Ankara was only aware of rumors so far and could not comment. "Let us see why they have hastily decided to push this thing forward," he said.

Turkey's lira currency and stock market firmed as stronger foreign markets offset the negative but widely anticipated news from Brussels.

"The suspension of chapters will slow down the reform process in Turkey. It's a big loss of incentive ... The government will have difficulty telling people why there is need to reform," analyst Huseyin Bagci of Middle East Technical University in Ankara said.

EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn hinted at an early decision on Turkey at a dinner on Tuesday at which he was named "Commissioner of the Year" by the weekly European Voice.

EU leaders have made clear they could not continue "business as usual" with Turkey if it failed to meet a treaty obligation to open its ports and airports to traffic from Cyprus this year.

Turkey has said it will only open its ports to shipping from Cyprus if the EU fulfils a pledge to end the economic isolation of Turkish Cypriot northern Cyprus.

Ankara says the Cyprus problem, the object of protracted United Nations mediation efforts, should not be linked to Turkey's EU accession bid.

On a visit to Ankara on Tuesday, Pope Benedict told Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan: "We are not political but we wish for Turkey to join the EU," according to the Turkish leader.