ANKARA, Oct. 3 (Xinhuanet) -- Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul said on Monday Turkey has embarked on a new era with the EU as Turkey and EU have reached an agreement for Turkey's entry talks.

   Gul made statement at Ankara Esenboga Airport before his departure for Luxembourg to attend an intergovernmental conference in which Turkey's EU membership talks will start.

   Turkey and the EU agreed to start talks on Ankara's eventual membership in the EU -- a historic step that will transform the bloc by taking in a predominantly Muslim nation and expanding the bloc's borders to the Middle East.

   "A historic point has been reached today and this is the start of our membership talks. Turkey has embarked on a new era," Gul said.

   The conference for Turkey's entry talks in Luxembourg is expected to be held at 2115 GMT, the private NTV reported late Monday.

   Gul added, "the text sets out very clearly the prospect of full membership. There is no alternative option (mentioned)."

   Earlier in the day, EU foreign ministers reached a tentative agreement to open full membership talks with Turkey after hours of difficult bargaining.

   On Monday, Turkey studied the last draft of the Negotiating Framework Document that was sent from Luxembourg.

   Diplomatic sources said that a document on which EU ministers agreed was sent to Ankara in the afternoon.

   The document was read and evaluated by Gul and chief negotiator Ali Babacan and was later sent to the Council of Ministers headed by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

   The sources said that Austria has withdrawn its insistence that the term "privileged partnership" for Turkey be used in the framework document.

   Erdogan and other Turkish officials spent about four and a half hours analyzing a framework document agreed upon by EU foreign ministers following two straight days of intense bickering in Luxembourg. That document had been sent for Ankara's review.

   The decision opened the way for Turkey to eventually become the EU's only Muslim-majority country.

   EU foreign ministers struggled on Sunday and Monday to break the deadlock over accession talks with Turkey amid a deepening crisis as Austria refused to drop its demand for granting Turkey an alternative to full membership.

   Turkey has made clear that it will not accept anything but full membership. Turkey has threatened to boycott Monday's opening ceremony, if there is such a ceremony at all.

   Ankara asked to join the EU in 1963. The EU nodded in 1999, and at a summit in December 2004, EU leaders decided to launch membership negotiations with Turkey on Oct. 3.

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