Poland's Turkish delight

The tense start to Turkey's EU membership talks this week highlighted Europeans' skepticism about the wisdom of bringing Turkey into the European fold. A recent European Commission (EC) poll found that 52 percent of Europeans are against Turkey joining the EU, while only 35 percent favor it.

Poland, however, breaks with the general European trend. More than half - around 54 percent - of Poles have been found to support Turkish membership. A lot has changed since King Jan III Sobieski led the charge against the Turkish invasion of Europe in Vienna 322 years ago. Many Poles say they sympathize with Turkey, which has undergone important reforms in order to secure membership talks. Poles know what it feels like to be knocking outside of Europe's door - and what it means to finally be allowed in.

The same trend can be seen across the 10 newest member states of the EU, who are, on average, 48 percent in favor of Turkish membership. In Hungary, for example, around half of the population supports Turkish membership, despite 150 years of Ottoman occupation.

That's in sharp contrast to older EU members, where only 35 percent approve of Turkey's joining. Among the strongest against are Austria (80 percent opposed), Germany (74 percent), Luxembourg (72 percent) and France (70 percent).

Interestingly, in Greece, the tide against Turkish membership could be turning. Though the EC poll found that 70 percent of all Greeks are opposed to Turkey's accession, a poll conducted at the end of last month by the Kapa Research agency found that nearly 62 percent of Greek journalists, politicians and businessmen support bringing Turkey into the bloc.