Turkey has the opportunities of accession to the European Union no earlier than in 2015, chairman of the EU independent commission on Turkey, Finland's ex-President Marti Ahtisaari stated. In his words, the matter by no means lies in the fact that the country is for most part inhabited by Muslims. At present it is premature to speak of the discussion of the issue on a concrete plane as Ankara does not meet many criteria of the EU membership, M. Artisaari said.