Turkey tries to revive EU drive

The Turkish government has pledged to re-focus on EU accession talks

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has begun a visit to Brussels for talks on his country's flagging bid to join the European Union.

He will meet the European Commission president and other senior officials.

It is his first Brussels visit since 2004, when the EU formally agreed to open Turkey's accession talks.

Correspondents say a flurry of democratic reforms to reach that goal has since floundered, and many see 2009 as decisive for Turkey's EU ambitions.

Last week, Mr Erdogan asked a close aide, Egemen Bagis, to be the country's first full-time negotiator for the accession talks.

Pipeline 'review'

At the start of his three-day visit to Brussels, Mr Erdogan insisted that EU accession remained a "top priority" for his country.

"I hope there will be a leap in 2009," he told a news conference.

We don't ask for privileges, what we ask for is equal and fair treatment Recep Tayyip ErdoganTurkish Prime Minister Q&A: Turkey's EU entry talks

Mr Erdogan said Turkey was working on many of the reforms demanded by the EU, which include changes to its constitution, safeguarding free speech, granting more rights to minorities, and curbing the power of the armed forces.

"We don't ask for privileges, what we ask for is equal and fair treatment," he said.

But he also warned that Turkey might reconsider its support for the Nabucco pipeline - which is intended to bring gas from the Caucasus to Europe, bypassing both Russia and Ukraine - if the so-called energy chapter of the negotiating framework remained blocked.

"If we are faced with a situation where the energy chapter is blocked, we would of course review our position," he said.

The BBC's Oana Lungescu in Brussels says Turkey's opposition could deal a serious blow to the $12bn (9bn euro;