JACK STRAW, the Foreign Secretary, asked his European counterparts yesterday not to “betray” Turkey, as the Government faced last-minute defeat in its struggle to get membership talks to start on Monday.

As the debate over the Muslim state’s entry reached fever pitch, the European Parliament dealt a blow by first voting not to ratify a customs union with Turkey, and then insisting that the Turkish Government acknowledge that it committed genocide against its Armenian Christian minority in the last century.

At a meeting of EU ambassadors today, Austria is expected to block the opening of talks by insisting that Turkey be offered a “privileged partnership” instead of full membership. Ankara raised the stakes by threatening to walk away if the conditions were changed.

Britain, which has made securing the start of Turkey’s entry talks the top priority of its EU presidency, will then call an emergency meeting of EU foreign ministers on Sunday to try to stop the membership negotiations collapsing hours before they are due to start.

The brinkmanship on an issue critical to the future of Europe will leave Abdullah Gul, the Turkish Foreign Minister, waiting in Ankara, not knowing whether or not he should fly to Luxembourg to start entry talks. Turkey first applied for membership of the European Economic Community 40 years ago, and its current Government has undertaken a frenetic round of reforms to meet EU membership criteria.

An EU diplomat said: “We could end up with Gul sitting at Ankara airport waiting for word on the final language of the negotiating mandate. That would be very humiliating for the Turks and get the talks off to the worst possible start.”

The British Government believes that securing a large, democratic Muslim nation in the EU is essential to avert a clash between Islam and the West. Although European governments agreed in December to entry talks, doubts have swelled since Dutch and French voters threw the EU into crisis by rejecting a European constitution. In most EU countries, most voters are opposed, often fearing an influx of immigrants. Many EU leaders, including President Chirac of France, have expressed doubts about Turkey, and Angela Merkel, the likely next Chancellor of Germany, is staunchly opposed.

Mr Straw told the Labour Party conference: “It would now be a huge betrayal of the hopes and expectations of the Turkish people and of Prime Minister (Recep Tayyip) Erdogan’s reform programme if, at this crucial time, we turned our back on Turkey.”

Turkey has already been angered by other conditions that have been attached at the last minute. One is that it recognise Cyprus, an EU member where it has 35,000 troops occupying the north. Another is that it does not veto any other EU country’s membership of international organisations. This is a direct challenge to Turkey to stop using its veto at Nato to block Cyprus’s membership. In Ankara, the Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman said: “It is out of the question for us to accept any formula or proposal other than full membership.”

For and against

Last December, all 25 EU members agreed to open talks with Turkey in October. Since then, concerns have arisen in several countries. They must now unanimously agree a framework for negotiations.

Position of key countries:

Germany: Angela Merkel, the probable next Chancellor, fears that it will make the EU unmanageable and lead to an influx of immigrants.

Cyprus: insists that Turkey recognise it, and stop banning Cypriot traffic from Turkish ports and airports.

Austria: insists on “privileged partnership”, not full membership.

France: to placate public opposition to membership, it has promised a referendum before it votes for Turkish entry.

Britain, Italy: strong support, believing that membership would avert clash between Islam and the West.

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