A senior European Commission official said the continent was sending negative signals to Turkey that could dampen the country's will to reform, German media reported on Monday.

"Europe is sending Turkey almost exclusively negative signals," European Commission Vice President Guenter Verheugen told German radio Deutsche Welle.

"We are focusing on the weaknesses of the country, and not encouraging them to change ... feeding a reluctance to make the reforms we are asking for, which in turn leads Europe to the view that the Turks simply can't manage it," Verheugen added.

"This is a dangerous spiral that threatens to lead to a global political failure of the highest order," he said.

Although there were issues that needed to be settled before admitting Turkey to the union, the goal of talks needed to remain full membership, said the EU commissioner.

"We all have an interest in a Turkey that is closely bound to the Western world -- one which is democratic, respects human rights and protects the rights of minorities," he said.

"The reformers in Turkey stand for all this and they need Europe's support," he added.

The commissioner's remarks come only days after Angela Merkel returned from her first visit to Turkey as German chancellor.

Merkel has long been insisting on offering Ankara a "privileged partnership" rather than full membership, but the chancellor said she would respect the EU's decision on admitting Turkey to the bloc.

After Bulgaria and Romania joined the bloc next year, no other members ought to be accepted in the near future, said Merkel, whose country is taking over as rotating president of the EU in the first half of next year.

However, Merkel's grand coalition partners, the Social Democratic Party (SPD), have been supporting Turkey's membership.

"It would be a disastrous mistake to slam the EU's door shut in Turkey's face," SPD head Kurt Beck told the Frankfurter Allegemeinen Sonntagszeitung newspaper.

Turkey deserved a "fair chance" to prove it deserved full membership, he added.

(Xinhua News Agency October 10, 2006)