Rehn seeks to keep Turkish train on rails

The first anniversary of the launch of Turkey’s negotiations for EU membership prompts plenty of stories about whether the Union will ever expand into the Middle East.

A commentator in the respected US paper the Christian Science Monitor says the EU needs to move forward with Turkey’s accession. "It’s time for policymakers of the 25 [EU] nations, as well as leaders of 70 million Turks, to take a deep breath, step back, and carefully consider whether it’s wise to halt or impede Turkey’s effort to join the EU," he writes.

The paper also refers to an article in the Süddeutsche Zeitung by former German foreign minister Joschka Fischer, who "eloquently...reminds us that Turkey, as a modernising Muslim EU member, would be a bridge between Islam and Europe; would extend benefits of the economic eurozone; and would help to curb the spread of Islamist extremism and violence".

Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn travelled to Ankara to mark the anniversary of the start of accession talks and made lots of news while there.

Deutsche Welle zeroes in on the money quote: "I want to make sure that the first anniversary [of the accession talks] is not the last one," it reports Rehn as saying. "I want to work for avoiding a train crash in Turkey-EU relations."

Turkey’s New Anatolian newspaper highlights some comparatively reassuring comments from Rehn: "Europe needs Turkey as a key player, as a bridge and as a proactive moderator. Turkish accession should set a powerful counter-example to the alleged ‘clash of civilizations’."

But the paper also notes that Rehn mentioned that there are still "misunderstandings" between EU officials and leaders of Turkey’s powerful military. According to the New Anatolian, "Rehn recalled a recent football match between players from EU and NATO institutions in Brussels as the only time he had met with a Turkish military officer so far".

The Netherlands’s Algemeen Dagblad looks at Jacques Chirac’s visit to Armenia, where the French president called on Ankara to recognise Turkey’s "attempted genocide" of the Armenians between 1915 and 1923.

According to the paper, Chirac asked a journalist: "Should Turkey recognise the genocide in order to become a member of the EU? Honestly, I think it should. Every country grows by admitting to its past dramas and mistakes."

Athens daily Kathimerini also editorialises on the future of EU enlargement - or lack thereof. "European leaders appear to be realising - albeit after some delay - that their policy of shallow enlargement threatens to transform the Union into a flaccid and cumbersome entity as progress toward ‘deepening’ the Union has virtually come to a halt," it writes.

• Craig Winneker is a Brussels-based freelance writer.

The first anniversary of the launch of Turkey’s negotiations for EU membership prompts plenty of stories about whether the Union will ever expand into the Middle East.