World Talks about ‘European Turkey’

Turkey’s agreement with the EU and its implications for the world were discussed in the newspapers. The European press, whose attitude was largely negative prior to the summit, dwelled on how Europe will develop with Turkey’s membership. The US media congratulated the Turkish Government, and Arabic press wrote about the benefits of Turkey’s EU membership to the region as a bridge between European culture and the Islamic World.

Most criticism of the results came from the Russian, Greek and South Cyprus media. Gazeta Newspaper, which used the headline ‘Bye bye Turkey’ prior to the summit, led with the headline ’15 Years for Turkey’, but the most striking headline of South Greek media was the headline of Simerini newspaper. The newspaper likened Prime Minister Erdogan to Fatih Sultan Mehmet, the conqueror of Istanbul, and added that the EU had bowed to Ankara’s conditions. China state TV CCTV commented that the negotiation date marks a success for Turkey.