ISTANBUL -- Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit urged the European Union on Tuesday to "open its doors" to Turkey after Ankara fulfilled some political conditions to launch membership talks with the bloc.

Distant EU candidate Turkey is pressing Brussels to agree to begin accession negotiations after Ankara passed a set of sweeping human rights reforms, including abolishing the death penalty for peacetime offences and expanding language rights for its large Kurdish minority.

"We've come to the stage when the EU should open its doors to our full membership. No one should have any doubts," Ecevit said at a news conference.

"There are no obstacles in front of Turkey on the road to uniting with the EU... Turkey has done and will do what it has to on this issue. In this situation the EU's doors will be fully open, not just slightly ajar," he said.

The EU has applauded Turkey's reform effort but says it must see proof the new laws are being implemented before it will set a date for negotiations.

European diplomats have also said Turkey's chances of moving closer to joining the bloc would be improved if progress were made on reuniting Cyprus, divided along ethnic lines since a 1974 Turkish invasion in response to an Athens-backed coup.

Turkish and Greek Cypriot leaders have failed to make any tangible progress since beginning UN-backed peace talks in January, and Ankara has indicated it could annex the northern third of the island, where it keeps 30,000 troops, if the EU admits the Greek Cypriot side as a member as early as 2004.

"The Cyprus issue is a question between Turkish and Greek Cypriots. We cannot accept being dragged into the Cyprus issue. It's a separate issue between two groups," Ecevit said.

Foreign Minister Sukru Sina Gurel was in Strasbourg on Tuesday to lobby European officials to agree a date for the start of talks, reported Reuters.

Launching accession talks could attract desperately needed foreign investment to help Turkey emerge from its worst recession since 1945.