José Manuel Barroso, president of the European Commission, on Thursday called on Turkey to hasten domestic reform to show it was serious about joining the European Union.

Speaking at the start of a three-day visit to Turkey to assess the state of an increasingly fractious bilateral relationship, Mr Barroso said he had “very friendly and constructive” talks with Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey’s prime minister, whose enthusiasm for EU entry has waned in recent months. Entry negotiations are bogged down in disputes over Cyprus and the pace of domestic political and social reforms.