Bush' opmerkingen over wenselijkheid EU-lidmaatschap Turkije vallen slecht in Parijs (en)

French president Jacques Chriac has strongly criticised George W Bush for interfering in the EU's relations with Turkey.

During a NATO summit in Istanbul, Mr Chirac rebuked the US President for his comments earlier this week, when he said that Turkey should start EU talks late this year.

"He has nothing to say on this subject. It is as if I were to tell the United States how it should conduct its relations with Mexico", Mr Chirac said.

"If President Bush really said that in the way that I read, then not only did he go too far, but he went into territory that isn't his", he continued.

The EU will decide later this year if Turkey has met the conditions for EU membership.

External Relations Commission Chris Patten earlier played down Mr Bush's comments acknowledging Washington's legitimate interest in seeing democracy in a Muslim state consolidated.

At the recent EU-US summit Mr Patten said he would be surprised if a US president whose next stop is Turkey did not make such comments.

But for France the issue is a sensitive one.

Aside from general mistrust between the France and the US, Paris holds some deep reservations about Turkish entry into the EU.

Turkey will be among the EU's largest members if it entered, shattering the current balance of power in the EU which sees France and Germany take a lead role.

And it is not the first time Washington has been judged to have overstepped the mark.

In autumn 2002, the US ruffled feathers by taking part in an aggressive campaign for Turkey to get potential member status, which they later received.

That campaign led to Turkey being heavily chastised by the EU and agreement between Brussels and Ankara that there would be no repeat of the campaigning seen in the run up to the Copenhagen summit in 2002.

This winter Turkey is widely expected to receive the go ahead to start accession talks.