Merkel whirling the dervish

Merkel is now in Turkey for a two day visit. This is a quite important meeting for Germany and Europe in general. For Germany it matters given the large population of Turkish people that live here and for Europe it is important because of Turkey's request to join the EU.

At the moment there is tremendous tension between Turkey and Europe. The Turks are upset and angry about the Pope's recent insensitive comments, which referred to Islam as being spread by the sword. They are also concerned about the growing reticence of several European countries towards Turkey becoming a EU member. France, in particular, has been very vocally opposed to Turkey joining the European club. Merkel and her CDU party are also against this. With Turkish/European relations in such a flux how Merkel handles the situation could have a lasting impact.