A Lukewarm Invitation

More than 40 years after Ankara and the European Union first discussed Turkish membership, E.U. leaders meet this week in Brussels to vote on whether to open accession talks next year. Roadblocks remain: France and Austria insist the summit statement should spell out a "privileged partnership" or lesser union if Turkey fails to make adequate progress in legal and economic reforms. Tiny Cyprus threatened to veto the talks if Ankara failed to give de facto recognition to the Greek part of the island state.

Turkey complains that the invitation is "discriminatory" because it makes demands not made of...