Turkije reageert koel op overwinning Sarkozys (en)

Turkey has said it hopes that French president-elect Nicolas Sarkozy will not damage bilateral relations between Ankara and Paris after a political campaign in which the centre-right politician repeatedly stressed his opposition to Turkish EU membership.

Reacting to Mr Sarkozy's win, Turkish prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan struck a muted tone among the clear congratulatory messages coming from other quarters such as Washington, London, Berlin and the European Commission.

"Both in terms of the EU process and French-Turkish relations, our wish is that we will not see the statements made by Mr Sarkozy during the election campaign (having an effect) on bilateral ties," Mr Erdogan said according to Reuters news agency.

"We will now see how they [the French] will proceed," he continued.

Throughout the election campaign Mr Sarkozy made no secret of his opposition to the idea of Turkey becoming a member of the EU.

He said that Turkey does not belong in Europe and that limitless expansion of the EU will mean the end of it.

"I want an integrated Europe, in other words, a Europe that has borders ... Turkey is in Asia Minor."

Mr Sarkozy's election comes at a crucial time in Ankara's relations with Brussels which are currently in a state of flux over Turkey's approach to EU member Cyprus.

Meanwhile, the European Commission has been looking on nervously from the sidelines as Turkey undergoes domestic turmoil while trying to elect a new president.

Comments by the military that it wants to make sure secularism maintains its hold in the country in the face of a bid by foreign minister Abdullah Gul - with an Islamist past - to become president prompted strongly-worded statements from Brussels on the importance of democracy.

But Brussels gets political authority for its push for reform over Ankara and Turkey's population through the lure of eventual membership.

This authority is now likely to be undermined by the fact that the EU's two biggest member states - France and Germany - are governed by leaders who want only looser ties with Turkey rather than fully paid up integration into the bloc.

With speculation among Brussels officials rife about whether Mr Sarkozy will put his words about Turkey into policy practice - such as by trying to put a halt to the negotiations - European commission president Jose Manuel Barroso on Sunday evening made the case for Ankara.

"If one or several member states wanted to call that mandate into question or change it, they would have to take the initiative and take responsibility for the consequences," he said after Mr Sarkozy's win became clear.

"The Commission's position is that we should continue the negotiations and we recommend that member states only take a final decision on Turkey's membership or not at the end of those negotiations and only on the basis of the results of the negotiations," he added.