EU: There were mixed reactions yesterday among commentators in Turkey and Germany, home to some two million Turks, to the European Commission recommendation to open EU entry negotiations with Turkey.
The front page headline of Hürriyet, Turkey's best-selling newspaper was clear: "Dankeschön Verheugen" it said in gratitude to the EU enlargement commissioner, Mr Günter Verheugen.
The page was all-blue, surrounded by EU and Turkish flags.
Summoning the founder of modern secular Turkey, a front page editorial said \ "Ataturk should have seen this day".
But inside, columnist Emin Colasin had mixed feelings.
"We shouldn't try to please the EU too much. There is no country that has done this until now," he said, choosing to focus on the Commission's "but".
"The outcome of the discussions is not clear and there are no guarantees. There are lots of places with shadows.
"Some politicians in Brussels were still talking about Cyprus and the Armenian genocide. Such things were never said to any country on this path. This is only the beginning.
"They are caressing our cheeks and giving us a finger of honey so we don't run away and cause a scandal."
Germany's conservative Frankfurter Allgemeine, called it a "fateful day" for the EU, adding that Turkey's accession could "destroy the European house as we know it".
"One should say honestly to the European people: this is not about an 'enlargement' of the EU but a 'transformation'."
Austria's Die Presse agreed, calling the Turkey debate "absurd".
Germany's Die Tageszeitung praised the Commission's "good and right" recommendation, adding it would have preferred a "slightly smaller 'but'."
