Europe embraces Turkey

On this I think that I do agree with Tony Blair; "Tony Blair, who set the membership talks as one of the main aims of Britain's EU presidency, believes Turkey's presence would also help relations with millions of Muslims in today's EU"
That said there is a psychological block in that Turkey looks like an Asian country on the map, one with a toe hold in Europe. However a longer historical view reveals that Turkey has been involved in Europe since the late middle ages and deeply embedded in European affairs. It is interesting to call it a Muslim country though. Since 1923 it has been a secular state with a culturally Muslim majority population. So how far Turkey's eventual accession to the EU will impress Muslims remains to be seen. However it may add to the pressure for reform in Islam; for constructive Muslim engagement with the best of the secular ideals on a theological and fiqh [jurisprudence] level.

I take secular ideals at their best to be about making sure that religious claims are handled at state level even handedly and so are non-religious claims. This grew up, of course, in culturally Christian Europe because of the evils that religious intolerance at state level threw up.

I belong to a state church but I hope and indeed pray that it will become simply a church and in the meantime continues to hold the ring for tolerance.
Guardian Unlimited | Special reports | Europe embraces Turkey as diplomatic deadlock is broken: