Turkey is currently negotiating with the European Commission about joining the European Union, having first made its application to accede on 14th April 1987. A report on the country's progress will be published on Wednesday.
Cecilia Malmstrom, the Swedish minister for European affairs, has told Chinaview that "I think it is too premature to [talk] about the outcome of these discussions"
The country must satisfy the European Commission on on each of the 35 chapters of European Union law (acquis communautaire).
Currently, a number of areas, including transport policy, judiciary and fundamental rights and Justice, Freedom & Security, are rated as "Considerable efforts needed."
Perhaps Turkey would go some way to solving the latter two if it did not try and censor the internet.
Pinknews.co.uk reports that gay websites HadiGAYRi and GayBiLe are blocked for Turkish visitors.
Between May 23, 2007 and 4th March 2009, Turkey's Telecommunications Directorate (TİB) blocked 1,631 sites, according to the CyberLaw blog, including Youtube and the Facebook game Farmville.
The TIB are able to shut down websites without a court order if it believes they violate the law. They claim that the two blocked gays sites encouraged prostitution, which is denied by both sites' owners.
Ismael Alacaoglu, project coordinator at KAOS-GL, an Ankara-based gay group, told The Nation: "We are concerned about [these sites] being blocked.
"It's a kind of violence against freedom of expression. There are very few places in Turkey where gay people can gather and meet each other, and these two websites are among them
I doubt tommorow's report on Turkey's progress in complying with European Union standards will be positive.
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