Politics, cultural heterogeneity and support for European Union membership in Turkey
Author
Wuthrich, F. M.
Ardağ, M. M.
Uğur, D.
Date
2012Source Title
Journal of Southeast European and Black Sea
Print ISSN
1468-3857
Electronic ISSN
1743-9639
Publisher
Routledge
Volume
12
Issue
1
Pages
45 - 62
Language
English
Type
ArticleItem Usage Stats
131
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views
106
downloads
downloads
Abstract
This study analyses factors related to attitudes toward European Union (EU) accession, taking into account political affiliation, religious and ethnic identity, fear of foreign threat, utilitarian considerations, along with a number of other variables through a survey conducted among Turkish citizens in general and also among various Alevi communities. The results show that Alevi identity, in contrast to Kurdish background, was strongly indicative of positive attitudes toward the EU. Furthermore, in conjunction with existing literature on EU integration, political party affiliation, utilitarian concerns and fear of foreigners were associated with attitudes toward membership among all groups, while religiosity was not a significant determinant of attitudes toward the EU.