Religion and party positions towards Turkish EU accession

The potential accession of Turkey to the European Union (EU) is a controversial issue. This article considers how national political parties in the EU view Turkish membership, with a focus on the role of religion in party politics, in particular the positions of Christian Democratic (CD) parties. Whereas this party family is traditionally considered to be outspokenly pro-European, it is argued that Turkish accession poses a challenge to Europhile CD parties. On the basis of the party manifesto coding from the 2009 European Election Study project, our results confirm a significantly more hesitant position of CD parties vis-à-vis Turkey accession compared to other parties. The study suggests that CD parties’ positions, although overall supportive of the EU, may turn into opposition when it comes to specific policies touching on religious questions.