"hello europe"

....says the headline of a major Turkish newspaper yesterday. I've been swamped with work, but want to register my great relief that Austria's brinksmanship failed that that the EU and Turkey have officially started negotiations. Regardless of whether or not this leads to membership in the long run (and it is the long run we're talking about--Turkey still has to acheive a great deal more in the way of reforms and progess, and the xenophobia of many European citizens must give way to truly democratic acceptance) a refusal to start negotiations would have been a disaster for progessive forces in this country, and a boon to nationalists, reactionaries, and neo-fascists in Turkey and elsewhere. I never thought I'd say it, but hurrah for Jack Straw. And now, the long, hard task of building the groundwork for Turkey's accession begins.

Some good related articles:

Elif Şafak, author of the novels the Flea Palace and The Saint of Incipient Insanities, writes a personal reflection in the Washington Post on the importance of the recent Armenian genocide conference, telling the story of her own process of coming to terms with Turkey's history: In Istanbul, a Crack in the Wall of Denial.

A Jason Burke piece from the Observer on Sunday, about Turkey's hesitation on the brink.