EU finally opens door for Turkey

The challenge of integrating a poor and populous country most of it in Asia and with a predominantly Muslim population will be formidable, and EU leaders warned the negotiations would not necessarily be successful.

Some said it would likely take another decade before Turkey will be fully ready for membership.

"Tonight the European Union has opened its door to Turkey," European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said late Thursday. "This is an offer that Turkey should be glad to accept."

The 25 EU leaders are keeping Ankara at arm's length by imposing a series of stringent conditions, none tougher than the insistence on de facto recognition by the Oct.