Brussels, 13/01/2004 (Agence Europe) - European Commission President Romano Prodi and Enlargement Commissioner Günter Verheugen will be on an official visit to Turkey on 15 and 16 January. The day before his departure, Mr Prodi once more insisted on the fact that the EU is waiting for Turkey to implement the reforms adopted. The rate of adoption of these reforms is "satisfying. In this sense, it was a surprise (…) but reforms should not only be written down, they must also be implemented", he said on the television channel, CNN Turkey. He rejected the idea that Turkey would be excluded on religious grounds, preferring to stress that Turkey is undergoing considerable difficulties because of its large size. "Some have claimed that Turkey will not be taken into the EU because it is not a Christian country. That is not true. The problem with Turkey is that it is very big", Prodi said. (See remarks by Günter Verheugen on this subject in yesterday's EUROPE, p.6).