Wariness over Turkey's EU Bid ; but Wednesday, the European Commission Is Expected to Recommend That Turkey Begin Membership Process

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As the European Union approaches a contentious decision - whether to let Turkey join the club - the Continent's rulers seem to have left their citizens behind.

The European Commission is expected to recommend Wednesday that Turkey be invited to negotiate its membership in the union, 42 years after Ankara first applied.

But almost everywhere across Europe, the public is opposed to EU membership for Turkey. There is a widespread feeling that Turkey is too big, too poor, too distant - and, perhaps most salient, too Muslim to make a proper member of the European Union.

Proponents of the idea say that voters will catch up to their leaders by the time Turkey has …