BRUSSELS, Sept 23: The European Commission on Thursday gave its strongest endorsement yet of Turkey's readiness to start talks for membership of the European Union , saying it was now satisfied with Ankara's drive to meet the bloc's entry standards.

But controversy over allowing a Muslim nation - albeit a secular one - into the Union intensified, with the French prime minister warning against permitting the "rivers of Islam" to run through Europe.

Ending days of bad-tempered exchanges over Turkey's decision last week to delay penal code reform, EU enlargement chief Gunter Verheugen said Ankara was now on schedule on meeting EU's political demands.

"There are no further obstacles on the table," Mr Verheugen said after talks with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. "From my point of view there are no further conditions which Turkey must fulfil in order to allow the European Commission to make a recommendation," Mr Verheugen said, adding: "The assurances I received today ... will allow me to make a very clear recommendation."

The EU enlargement chief also said a commission inquiry had shown that accusations of the practice of systematic torture in Turkey were "not justified". The breakthrough came after Mr Erdogan told Mr Verheugen that the Turkish parliament would reconvene on Sunday to debate penal code reforms which the EU has warned are a "central element" in Ankara's reform effort.

In a further crucial concession, officials in Brussels said Mr Erdogan had promised that the justice reforms would not include earlier plans to criminalize adultery. The commission will unveil its opinion on Turkey's readiness to join the 25-nation bloc in a report due to be released on Oct 6.

Mr Verheugen has long hinted that he favours starting accession negotiations with Ankara. But Turkey's prospects for joining the bloc dimmed last week after the Turkish parliament suspended the penal code reform because of controversy over government proposals to criminalize adultery.

The commission said such a move was not in keeping with progressive European values but was later even more outraged over the decision to halt talks on reform of the overall penal code. But Mr Erdogan promised Mr Verheugen that the reform package was not being abandoned. Mr Verheugen's upbeat views on Turkish membership are not shared by all policymakers, however, with many EU politicians wary of allowing a large Muslim nation - albeit a secular one - into the bloc.

"Do we want the river of Islam to enter the riverbed of secularism?", French Prime Minister Jean Pierre Raffarin told the Wall Street Journal Europe in an interview on Thursday.

Several European commissioners have also voiced fears that Turkish entry will prompt an "Islamization of Europe" and also mean an additional financial burden for the chronically cash-strapped union.

Those in favour of Turkish entry insist, however, that it will boost democratic reform in other Muslim nations, forge stronger EU relations with Islamic nations and increase Europe's military, political and economic weight.

The debate is expected to grow fiercer in the weeks leading up to an EU summit in Brussels in December when the bloc's leaders will formally decide on whether to open membership negotiations with Ankara.