July 6, 2009 - 13:24 AMT
Turkey's half "to back EU membership" in any referendum
Every second person in Turkey "supports European Union (EU) membership", a survey indicated on Sunday. The Turkish Board of Statistics (TUIK) conducted a survey on 6,465 people and showed that 51.9 percent of Turkish people would vote for EU membership if a referendum was held.
According to the survey, only 29.5 percent will vote against EU membership. 18.6 percent has no idea on the issue. Мen, young people and people with respectively high income are supporting EU membership in Turkey.
The survey indicated that 58.5 percent of men and 45.6 percent of women would back EU membership in a possible referendum. However, the rate of men opposing membership was 31.4 and the percentage of women opposing it was 27.7 percent.

57.1 percent of people between 18 and 24 are supporting the membership. The rate of supporters is decreasing in older age groups.

Education and income are the other factors affecting the support for EU membership.
The rate of secondary and high school and university graduates backing membership is 59 percent, the Anatolian Agency reported.