Perhaps our most important ally, left hanging in Iraq, and increasingly abandoned by a myopic Europe:
Mutual hostility between Turks and some countries in the European Union has risen in recent years. According to a recent poll conducted by the German Marshall Fund of the United States and the Compagnia di San Paolo, an Italian foundation, 49 percent of people in France, and 43 percent of people in Germany, where there is widespread hostility toward the country's large number of immigrant Turks, regard the prospect of Turkish membership as a "bad thing," while a mere 40 percent of Turks support membership in the uniona big drop from the 73-percent figure for 2004.
Turks' enthusiasm for the union seems to have fallen in proportion to their declining confidence that they will be admitted. According to the same survey, barely a quarter of Turks expect the union to let them in. Since coming to power, Nicolas Sarkozy has said that he may not carry out his campaign pledge to block accession negotiations on further "chapters," but he continues to favor a "privileged partnership" for Turkey, not full membership.