ANKARA (AFP) - Turkey must keep up its reform drive in order to realize its dream of joining the European Union, the EU’s Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn said yesterday, amid fears that Ankara has cooled on reform since it obtained a date for membership talks.

“I must say that Turkey has done very bold and significant reforms to improve human rights. Now it is understandable that there be a short breathing space,” Rehn told reporters after talks with Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul.

“But at the same time, it is extremely important that Turkey keep up the momentum in legal, political and also increasingly economic reforms,” he added.

At an EU summit in December, Turkey won the green light to begin accession negotiations with the European bloc on October 3 this year.

But both the opposition and the pro-European lobby in Turkey fear that the government may have since lost some of its drive, out of its relief at being given a date for talks.

Political observers here say Ankara must make special efforts to fulfill a set of conditions demanded by the EU before it can begin negotiations. One of the demands is for Turkey to update an already-existing accord with the EU, taking into account the Union’s 10 new member states which joined last year — including Cyprus, an EU member with which Turkey has no diplomatic relations.

“I received assurances from Gul that this will be signed well before October 3, thus paving the way for start of negotiations,” Rehn said.

While Turkey insists that extending the customs accord to Cyprus does not amount to official recognition of the Mediterranean island state, the EU says it amounts to de facto recognition.

Rehn is in Turkey for a three-day visit, during which he will also meet with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and visit Istanbul for talks with non-governmental organizations and business leaders.

Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn of Luxembourg, which currently holds the rotating EU presidency, and Britain’s Europe Minister Denis MacShane, whose country will take over the presidency in June, will also take part in the talks in Ankara today.