The European Union, Turkey and Islam
Title
The European Union, Turkey and Islam
Price
€ 41,95 excl. VAT
ISBN
9789053567128
Format
Paperback
Number of pages
176
Language
English
Publication date
Dimensions
15.6 x 23.4 cm
Series
WRR
Table of Contents
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Table of Contents - 5 Summary - 7 Preface - 15 1 Introduction - 17 1.1 Background and motivation - 17 1.2 Aims, core question and limitations - 19 1.3 Research approach and structure of the report - 20 2 The European Union and religion - 27 2.1 Introduction - 27 2.2 The values of the Union - 27 2.3 Religion in the European member states - 31 2.4 Conclusion - 40 3 Turkish Islam and the European Union - 47 3.1 Introduction - 47 3.2 The secular state: historical foundations - 47 3.3 Secular state and political Islam - 51 3.4 State-Islam and freedom of religion - 54 3.5 Democracy and political Islam - 57 3.6 Constitutional state and political Islam - 60 3.7 Violence and political Islam - 64 3.8 Conclusion - 66 4 Conclusions - 69 Epilogue - 75 Literature - 79 Searching for the Fault-Line. Survey by E.J. Zürcher and H. van der Linden - 85 1 Introduction: Turkey – fault-line, frontline or test case? - 89 2 Turkey’s current Islamic landscape - 95 3 Turkish Islam and the eu: A clash of civilisations? - 149 4 Conclusion: Turkish Islam and European civilisation - 171 Literature - 173 Websites - 176

Wetenschappelijke Raad voor het Regeringsbeleid

The European Union, Turkey and Islam

Does the fact that the majority of Turkey’s population is Muslim form a hindrance to its EU membership? According to a recent policy advice by the Netherlands Scientific Council for Government Policy (WRR), the answer is an adamant ‘no’.


Why is this issue of Turkish Islam relevant? After all, Turkey should not be judged by standards other than the Copenhagen criteria. The answer is that the public debate outside ‘Brussels’ will not be limited to these official criteria. Many people in Europe are worried about Turkey’s ‘Islam factor’. They believe that Muslims are (potentially violent) fundamentalists who want to establish a theocracy. By explicitly examining the role of Turkish Islam and Muslims in Turkey, the WRR wants to contribute to a well-informed European public debate on Turkey’s accession.