European press review

Europe's press asks why Turkey was the target of Saturday's twin bombings.

A Hungarian daily takes issue with a court ruling on the amount of compensation received by two Romanies.

And an Austrian paper welcomes the compromise which ended a three-day rail strike.

Twin attacks in Turkey

Austria's Die Presse says terrorism has struck dangerously close to home after Saturday's bomb attacks on two Istanbul synagogues.

There is no haven of peace left any more Die Presse

"Those who have nurtured a false sense of security after attacks in exotic holiday paradise locations ... must have woken up from their dreams after the twin attacks in Istanbul," the paper says.

"There is no haven of peace left any more."

It concludes that disagreements over the war in Iraq should be set aside quickly in an effort to create unity in the fight against terrorism.

Germany's Sueddeutsche Zeitung believes Turkey was a natural target.

The paper notes that the country felt safe from large-scale terror attacks after disagreements with the US over the war in Iraq.

"All of a sudden it has become clear that in fact, for Islamist extremists, Turkey is the perfect idea of an enemy," it says.

According to the paper, this is because Arab neighbours continue to regard it as rather close to the US and because Turkey is the only country in the region, where Islam is a dominant influence, with close ties with Israel.

Switzerland's Le Temps agrees.

"Whoever may be behind this horror, the aim is to destroy the Turkish 'bridge' between Islam, the West and modernity; between religions; between the new US world order, however problematic it may be, and a scarred region," it says.

Role of anti-Semitism

France's Liberation describes the attacks as the radicalisation of what it calls "anti-Semitic terrorism" of a kind which dates back to the 1970s.

It rejects any suggestion that the bombings can by explained by the Palestinian context as factually and morally wrong.

According to the paper, the motives behind a suspected arson attack on a Jewish school in France are probably similar to those behind the attacks in Istanbul.

"The state's response must therefore be completely implacable," it concludes.

Spain's El Pais agrees that it is wrong to blame Israeli policies for the attacks.

It is not Europe which has given Ariel Sharon the reputation which he has; he did it himself Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung

"This is an unacceptable stance, although one shared by many people; not only in countries with a Muslim culture," the paper warns in its Sunday edition.

Germany's Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, however, rejects the suggestion by Israeli Foreign Affairs Minister Silvan Shalom that the attacks should be seen in the light of anti-Israeli and anti-Semitic remarks made in Europe.

"It is not Europe which has given Ariel Sharon the reputation which he has; he did it himself," the paper says.

But Austria's Der Standard does see a link between the attacks and what it describes as "the parallel increase in clearly anti-Semitic incidents in Europe".

Compensation ruling

In a sarcastic commentary on recent controversial court rulings, Hungary's Magyar Hirlap suggests some "improvements" to the judiciary.

One of the rulings was reduced compensation granted by a court to two Romany victims on the grounds that the harm they suffered was less severe because of the "primitive" nature of their personalities.

The paper suggests that on this basis it would be logical to pass sentences according to the defendant's financial status or, as the paper puts it, "the poor should automatically be punished more severely than the rich for the same offence".

It adds that another option would be to regard poor people as being born with suspended sentences.

"The legal practice already follows this principle, only its inclusion in the law has been delayed for some reason," it says.

"Europe would be amazed at how much more advanced we are," the paper concludes.

End of train strike

Austria's Die Presse hails the end of a three-day strike by railway workers as a "victory for reason".

"In reality all that was at issue in the final phase of the strike was an exit strategy, the search for a way in which those concerned could get out of a deadlocked situation without losing face," the paper says.

It sees the government as the main winner because the new structure of the national railway company, OeBB, will be introduced in parliament as planned.

But it adds that the trade union achieved at least a "symbolic success" after the government agreed not to legislate to regulate workers' conditions of service.

The paper suggests that this is a sensible compromise because conditions of service are traditionally a core issue for trade unions while the structure of a company is mainly a matter for the owner.

The European press review is compiled by BBC Monitoring from internet editions of the main European newspapers and some early printed editions.