ANKARA (AFP) - Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said yesterday he hoped the European Union would recognize steps taken by Turkey to meet its criteria on human rights and democracy in its bid for EU membership. “We are hoping for support from European leaders at a political level for progress made by Turkey,” Erdogan told reporters before flying to Brussels for a two-day EU summit. He said he was confident that Turkey’s candidacy would get “the support it deserves.” Among a swath of reforms adopted in recent years to meet EU norms, Parliament voted on Wednesday to lift a ban on publishing information related to the work and personnel of the country’s top advisory body, the military-dominated National Security Council.

BELGRADE (Reuters) - Parliamentary elections in Serbia this month may usher in years of political instability because of deep splits in the pro-democracy movement, a senior ruling politician said yesterday. Aleksander Vlahovic, privatization minister in the outgoing center-left government, said unrealistic campaign promises by rival parties would hamper efforts to cobble together a stable majority able to keep Serbia on track to join the European mainstream. “I think we are entering a cycle of frequent elections,” he told Reuters in an interview. “In my view no government will be able to stay in power for longer than a year.”

At least six Albanian soldiers have been arrested for rape and human trafficking involving a 16-year-old girl, army chief of staff Pellumb Qazimi said yesterday. The soldiers, based in the northwestern town of Durres, were arrested late Wednesday for allegedly raping the teenager several times over a period of two months and forcing her to have sex with other soldiers, he said. They eventually sold the girl to a hotel owner in Durres, but resold her later to Kosovo Albanian traffickers who forced her to work as a prostitute in the southern Kosovo town of Prizren. The girl was able to escape only with the help of international security forces deployed in Kosovo, who took her to a center for victims of human trafficking. (AFP)

Nearly 60 percent of Germans would support Turkey’s membership in the EU if the country fulfilled certain conditions, according to a study by a German-based institution. The poll by the Foundation for Turkish Studies, based in Essen, showed 58 percent in favor of its membership contingent on Ankara meeting certain requirements such as improving respect for human rights. Another 32 percent were opposed. (AFP)