(WASHINGTON) - Turkey's prime minister Monday accused the European Union of throwing up unfair obstacles, ahead of the EU's latest evaluation of the Muslim-majority nation's troubled accession bid.

But Recep Tayyip Erdogan, speaking after talks with President George W. Bush, said his government also remained determined to achieve Turkey's decades-old dream of joining the European club.

Addressing the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Erdogan said Turkey was a vital bulwark against a "clash of civilizations" given its location straddling Europe and Asia and its cultural mix of peoples.

"Unfortunately there are certain political barriers... and we are very sad to see these barriers put up," the Turkish prime minister said. "We're sad to see them introducing new rules after the game has started."

On Tuesday, the European Commission was expected to strike a softer tone on Turkey while still stressing that major reforms are needed to get the country of 71 million people in shape for EU membership.

Owing to a standoff over Cyprus, the EU's executive arm issued a highly critical report last year, leading to eight of the 35 policy chapters Turkey must negotiate prior to joining the EU being frozen.

Turkey does not recognize the Greek Cypriot government in Nicosia and refuses to fully open its ports and airports to the island EU member, which is split between Greek and Turkish zones.

Although Turkey continues to forbid vessels and aircraft from Cyprus to enter its ports and airfields, the commission is expected to make less a fuss this time when it issues its evaluation on Tuesday.

The report will instead highlight "deficiencies and progress" already often cited by the European Commission, according to EU officials.

On the positive side, the commission is likely to welcome Turkey's handling of a political crisis over the election of Abdullah Gul, who like Erdogan has Islamist roots, as president in the face of opposition from the army.

But the report is also expected to call for more effort to put the army under civilian control, greater protection of women, children and unions.

However, the report is not expected to comment on Turkey's threats to lead an incursion against Kurdish rebels into northern Iraq, according to an EU official.

At the White House talks, Erdogan won a pledge from Bush for more US military and intelligence cooperation against the rebels of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).

Bush was Tuesday set to welcome the recently elected president of France, Nicolas Sarkozy, who has struck a much milder tone about Turkey's EU aspirations than his predecessor Jacques Chirac.

The Bush administration has given steadfast support to the EU ambitions of Turkey, which joined the NATO military alliance in 1952 and which signed an association agreement with the EU's forerunner back in 1963.

"Turkey is a strategic partner and strong ally of America. I value our friendship at the state level, at the personal level," Bush told reporters, sitting next to Erdogan in the Oval Office.

"And I thank you for your leadership and the strong example your country has set," Bush added in reference to Turkey's help to the US "war on terror."

The prime minister said a westward-looking, economically stable Turkey was in US and European interests, even if the EU at times "falls short of our expectations."

"We are also aware it is a long process, membership of the EU, but we are determined and will continue in our quest for membership," he said earlier at Washington's National Press Club.

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