This was to underline his closeness to the US neoconservatives. CNN commentators, however, highlighted the main issue that Sarkozy drifted apart from US President Bush was the former's strong opposition to Turkey's EU membership, arguing that most of Turkey's territory is in Asia.Similarly, EU leaders voiced concern that his strong opposition to Turkey joining the union could divide the 27-member bloc.
Sarkozy shares German Chancellor Angelina Merkel's view that Turkey should be offered a privileged partnership instead of full EU membership. But she has never blocked accession negotiations.
So the fear now is whether Sarkozy could halt the opening of further negotiating chapters with Turkey.
But a senior European diplomat came to Turkey's rescue.
EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn on May 8 played down concerns that Sarkozy would stop Turkey's membership bid, adding that new talks with Ankara could begin within weeks.
Nevertheless, whoever says what on the future process of Turkey's EU membership talk, there is one thing clear: The difficult times that are already ahead for Ankara's efforts to get closer to the EU have become more difficult with Sarkozy's election as French president.
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, in fact, acceded that the job that Turkey has been doing (reforms to bring Turkish laws into EU standards) has not been an easy one, urging in his message released on the occasion of Europe Day on Wednesday for the EU to support Turkey's bid to join the union.
Added to the Sarkozy factor that has already made Turkey's task difficult has been the anti-EU winds also blowing in Turkey as the majority of the Turks have appeared to have lost enthusiasm for EU membership.
The ruling AK Party government's failure in pushing ahead for democratic reforms as it did in 2003 and 2004 has also been playing an important role in people's loss of appetite in getting closer to the European club, in addition to the already existing anti-Turkey trend not only among some European leaders but also among Europeans.
The main question that should be posed now is how Turkey -- which itself has been going through serious political turmoil fuelled by the strongly worded statement of the Turkish military on April 27 and described as a memorandum by many, issued as a warning against the government -- can break the current internal and external impasse.
Can Turkey turn internal and external challenges into opportunities?
An answer to that question is extremely hard to find at the moment since we need the dust to settle, if it can, both in Europe and in Turkey as Turkish politicians have called for early elections to be held on July 22.
We do not know yet whether the AK Party will come back to the Parliament as a majority, in the form of a coalition or whether any other party or parties other than the ruling AK party will receive a mandate from the people to form the next government.
Will the would-be winner of the early elections continue the EU process as vigorously as the AK Party did in 2003-2004 or will Turkey prefer to be an inward-looking country that will have wide repercussions on the already fragile life standards of the majority of the people?
These are all questions difficult to answer at this stage as the current political instability leaves an open question mark on the future course of Turkey.
Damage has already been done on Turkey's democracy with the military's fifth coups or memorandums issued in the 84-year-old Republic's history. We will see whether this damage will be repaired by a strong political leadership.
So there is a huge task awaiting the country's politicians to restore democracy in the country that could also prevent playing into the hands of the European politicians such as Sarkozy as well as the Turkish establishment.
We should also bear in mind that despite the ideological differences between secularism and Islamism that are unfortunately dividing the country sharply, what matters at the end of the day for people is whether they have jobs to feed themselves and their families.
The current political impasse, if not broken, might signal massive protests in the streets by the silent masses whose patience has already worn thin. And such protests will not be in the least bit similar to the recent rallies that furthered the ideological divisions in the country: Those masses failed to use mass gathering opportunities to highlight the economic grievances of the people.
