Turkey is feeling the chilling breeze emanating from the European elections last weekend, which has prompted alarm bells ringing in the country. Media, and the political establishment are caught in the hype alike, with  prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan urging the EU to honour its initial commitments on the country's EU accession bid, following the "shocking" victories by conservative parties across Europe, media reports said.

The European Elections from June 4 to 7 2009  revealed an apparent triumph for centre-right parties at European level and in most individual countries. In Britain, the far-right British National Party won two seats in the European Parliament, whereas in Germany and France, the conservative parties of Angela Merkel and Nicolas Sarkozy, respectively, who have systematically voiced their concern and opposition  to Turkey's full membership during the electoral campaign, were clear winners, obtaining respectively about 38 and 28 per cent.

In Bulgaria meanwhile, the ultra nationalist, anti-Turkish right wing Ataka party has also won two seats in the European Parliament, the same number as the UK's BNP.

"The European Parliament must keep all its promises on Turkey's entering the European Union," Erdogan  said, as quoted by EUobserver.com

"We are witnessing a picture after the European elections that everyone interprets as negative in terms of Turkey's EU membership,"  Erdogan was quoted as saying on June 9. 

"The tendency in Europe towards the extreme right is worrisome," Murat Mercan, the chairman of the foreign relations committee in the Turkish parliament, was quoted as saying by CNN on June 8.

In 2005, the country launched membership negotiations to become the first Muslim country to join and receive full accession status within the EU. In relation to the current developments following the elections, however,  Mercan has described the developments as "very difficult, very complicated, very troubled".

Concurrently with the media hype nearing hysteria in the country, Turkey's foreign ministry denounced this election campaign rhetoric last week, claiming it was "a distorted and particularly xenophobia-inducing environment for the European electorate," CNN said.

Turkish newspapers meanwhile screamed "All We Needed was More Racists," "Europe forms a blockade," and "European dreams shattered."

Abdullah Gul however revealed a more calm and sobering statement, as he refused to be caught in the middle of the whirlwind. 

"The important thing is to abide by the rules and legal precedents set in the course of relations between Turkey and the EU," he said, according to Zaman.

"People who voiced opposition to Turkey today might change their position later… What matters is the opinion of the Turkish and European public," he added.