"Turkey not ready to join EU"

"Turkey not ready to join EU"

"I simply could not imagine an EU where you have circumstances in one country which could be seen as the basis of an asylum request in another EU country," he added.

Gusenbauer, a Social Democrat sworn in January as head of the Austrian coalition government, welcomed recent reforms in Turkey and said negotiations should not slow down, but he was skeptical whether becoming a full member was the only option.

"We need to ask ourselves the question whether becoming a full member of the EU is the only way to have good cooperation with the bloc," he said.

"The EU should not fuel Ankara's hopes for a quick accession, given that the bloc was unable to absorb new members any time soon and its financial means were exhausted," he added.

"The basic premise of the EU is the universality of human rights without any restrictions, so, while I do welcome the reform process in Turkey, we also have to make it clear that some steps still have to be taken," he said.

"My opinion is Turkey is currently not ready for the EU and the EU is not ready for Turkey."

Turkey launched talks to join the bloc in 2005, but their bid has met resistance from some members, including vocal critic Austria.