LUXEMBOURG, Oct. 3 (Xinhuanet) -- The European Union (EU) and Turkey are close to an agreement Monday on the start of membership talks after Austria backed off from its demand that Turkey be granted a form of partnership instead of full membership should the talks fail, officials said.

    A text on the negotiating framework, which sets the basic rules and procedures for the talks, is now being studied by Ankara, they said.

    Turkey is expected to accept the deal and Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul might fly to Luxembourg either later on Monday or on Tuesday to formally open the talks.

    Gul chose to wait for news from Luxembourg in Ankara. Turkey has insisted that talks must result in full membership.

    The internal dispute within the EU was settled after hours of negotiations of the foreign ministers. They failed to reach agreement at an emergency meeting on Sunday night and prospects once became gloomy on Monday morning when Jack Straw, the British foreign secretary, said the negotiations were in a difficult stage.

    Ankara first asked to join the EU in 1963. The EU said yes in 1999 and at a summit in December 2004, EU leaders decided to launch membership negotiations with Turkey this Monday.

    Under EU rules, Turkey's entry needs the nod from all the 25 EU member states. Austria's insistence on a "privileged partnership" therefore becomes the last hurdle.

    Besides the focal issue of Austria's insistence, there are also problems with the draft framework between Turkey and EU members.

    Turkey is reportedly opposed to a clause in the draft framework demanding that Ankara not block the accession of EU states to international organizations and treaties. Turkey was concerned the clause could lead to Cyprus' entry into NATO.

    Ankara refuses to recognize the Greek-Cypriot government in the south, which represents the whole Republic of Cyprus in the EU, and wants independence of the Turkish-Cypriot north.

    Turkey signed a protocol in July to extend its customs union agreement to the 10 new EU member states, including Cyprus, satisfying the conditions for the start of membership talks.

    However, Ankara said at the same time that the signing of the protocol did not mean any form of political recognition of Cyprus. The statement runs against EU rules that a new member state must recognize all its existing members.

    The EU governments issued a compromise counter statement last month, allowing Turkey to recognize Cyprus before it formally joins the EU, thus making the start of talks on Monday possible. Enditem