Barroso visits Turkey

ANKARA, Turkey, April 12 (UPI) -- Jose Manuel Barroso, head of the European Commission, said the European Union hopes Turkey will become a member.

Barroso held a news conference Thursday with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, The New Anatolian reported.

He refused to make any direct comment on a court challenge to the ruling AK Party. The chief prosecutor asked a court last month to ban the party on the grounds that it is trying to reverse Turkey's status as a secular state.

"I hope the decision of the Constitutional Court would be a decision compatible with the rule of law, European standards, with jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights," Barroso said.