Berlin - The future German government is likely to be neutral about whether Turkey should join the European Union, sources in the coalition parties said Thursday, after inter-party talks which lasted into the small hours of the morning.

The previous day, EU enlargement commissioner Olli Rehn had noted some progress in Turkey's membership bid, though it remains stymied by Turkey's refusal to let in Greek Cypriot ships and planes.

Admitting Turkey to the EU is controversial. French and German leaders have said Ankara should get "privileged partnership" instead.

So far, Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democratic Union (CDU), the Bavaria-only Christian Social Union (CSU) and the Free Democratic Party (FDP) have yet to announce the stance of their planned coalition towards Turkey.

The compromise that emerged from the late Wednesday talks would bind Merkel for the next four years.

Party sources told the German Press Agency dpa an agreed draft policy would say that Berlin should be "open to whatever comes out" of EU-Turkey accession talks. That uncommitted stance resembles the official view of Merkel's last coalition, with the Social Democrats.

The draft, drawn up by negotiators reporting back to the party leaders, would say that Berlin should be open to the accession process ending with agreement or disagreement. If the EU refused Turkey, Berlin would favour the privileged partnership instead.

The FDP has been opposed to rebuffing Turkey, whereas the CSU had pressed for a flat rejection of Turkey's EU ambitions.

The privileged partnership, as advocated by Merkel, would be a semi-membership, without Turkey gaining a voice in EU policy.

Ruprecht Polenz, a CDU foreign affairs spokesman, told a newspaper, the Frankfurter Rundschau, that he did not believe anything would be lost through a neutral stance over the next four years, because the accession process would last years beyond that. (dpa)