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Turkish membership in the European Union – The role of religion

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Figure 1
Figure 2

Notes

  1. The body of literature on this topic grows at an exceptional pace and we shall not discuss it here. For some highlights of the debate, see Aleskerov et al (2002); Jones and van der Bijl (2004); Leggewie (2004); Del Valle and Razavi (2005); McLaren (2007); Redmond (2007); De Vreese et al (2008); Jung and Raudvere (2008); Kentmen (2008); Müftüler-Baç (2008); Schoen (2008).

  2. Nonetheless, Bolkestein voted for accession negotiations with Turkey in the Commission.

  3. Defining these borders within Turkey is as tricky as defining the borders of Europe. One could argue that the ‘Asian’ part of Istanbul is more European than the ‘European’ part because migrants from Eastern Turkey settle in the ‘European’ part whereas the Europhile elites live on the ‘Asian’ side of the Bosphorus.

  4. The fertility rate in EU 25 was 1.7 children per woman and in Turkey the same figure is 3–4.6 children per woman (Del Valle and Razavi, 2005). In 2011 birth rates were higher than in any other current EU member state and population growth was only higher in Cyprus (CIA Factbook Turkey).

  5. The summary in Table 1 is based on country-specific analyses of principal stakeholders in the public debate on Turkish EU membership and include ‘political parties, state institutions, the business community, the media, civil society actors and interest groups, academics, key personalities in the arts and entertainment, as well as “public opinion” at large’ (Tocci, 2008, p. 6).

  6. The question reads very similarly over the years, corresponding to: ‘For each of the following countries, would you be in favour or against it becoming a member of the European Union?’, with Turkey being one of the countries that were asked about. The answer options were either favorable or opposed (don’t know options not shown, but included in computation of the values). Only the first value for 1991 should be interpreted with care due to a somewhat different question wording, asking about Turkish membership within the next 5–10 years.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Social and Cultural Sciences, European University Viadrina, PO Box 1786, Frankfurt (Oder), D-15207, Germany

    Michael Minkenberg

  2. Amsterdam School of Communciation Research, University of Amsterdam, Kloveniersburgwal 48, Amsterdam, 1012 CX, The Netherlands

    Hajo G Boomgaarden & Claes H de Vreese (with)

  3. Instituto Universitário de Lisboa (ISCTE-IUL), Avenida das Forças Armadas, Edifício ISCTE, Lisboa, 1649–026, Portugal

    André Freire

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  1. Michael Minkenberg
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Minkenberg, M., Boomgaarden, H., de Vreese, C. et al. Turkish membership in the European Union – The role of religion. Comp Eur Polit 10, 133–148 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1057/cep.2011.23

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