A big step for Turkey and Europe

It's a good step, I think. It'll take time for both Western Europe and Turkey to adjust, especially economically, and it could even be quite messy. Overall, however, it's a step in the direction of a real future Europe and an acknowledgement of who/what Europe is in the 21st Century.

Turkey's 40-year dream of joining the EU took a momentous step forward last night when both sides finally agreed to open membership talks after a marathon round of negotiations.

At the end of a dramatic day, in which the EU finally buried its differences, the Turkish foreign minister, Abdullah Gul, flew into Luxembourg after accepting a deal on talks which could last up to 15 years. The Turkish delegation arrived in the early hours for a ceremony marking the formal start of the membership talks. Earlier Mr Gul said: "We have reached agreement. Turkey will be the only Muslim country in EU."