The European Union has formally adopted a plan setting out the reforms Turkey needs to adopt for eventual EU membership.

The plan which is called the Accession Partnership urges Turkey to reform its economy, outlaw torture, provide constitutional guarantees for free speech and protect the cultural rights of minorities like the Kurds.

It also includes aid worth one hundred and sixty four million dollars to ease Turkey's way towards membership.

Turkey became an official candidate for EU membership in 1999, but is yet to begin negotiations because of concerns over its human rights record. When the plan was first proposed in November last year, it received a cautious welcome from the Turkish government despite anger that the EU had linked Turkey's membership prospects with progress towards a solution to the division of Cyprus, and the granting of cultural rights to the Kurds.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service