Why France and Germany oppose Turkey European union membership
At first glance, one could think the reason behind the fierce opposition of France and Germany to Turkey's bid to join the European Union is based on cultural differences.
Even though the E.U is a union of 27 member states that each have a different culture than the others, but all the 27 member state share the same ideological background, in other words all the 27 state have a christian background while Turkey have an islamic background.
The European Union is composed of 27 sovereign member states: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom 
But the ideological or religious cultural factor is in fact the way and not the reason of Turkey's European Union accession failure, indeed the cultural and religious factor is being used directly or indirectly by the leaders of the European union and especially France and Germany to mobilize the public against Turkey E.U membership bid.
The main reason is a lot simpler, it's about power, because in the European Union institutions, the number of votes allocated to each EU country roughly reflects the size of its population.
Germany, France, Italy and the United Kingdom are the most populous countries in the E.U due to this they have the most influence on the E.U politics, budget ..
For example in The European Parliament and in the European Council Germany, France, Italy and the United Kingdom have the biggest number of seats.
The Council of the European Union and the European CouncilThe Council of the European Union (also known as the Council of Ministers) is the EU’s main decision-making body.
The number of seats reflects the size of population of each country:
Number of votes for each country in the Council29 for Germany, France, Italy and the United Kingdom
27 for Spain and Poland
14 for Romania
13 for Netherlands
12 for Belgium, Czech Republic, Greece, Hungary and Portugal
10 for Austria, Bulgaria and Sweden
7 for Denmark, Ireland, Lithuania, Slovakia and Finland
4 for Estonia, Cyprus, Latvia, Luxembourg and Slovenia
3 for Malta
345 Total
A minimum of 255 votes out of 345 (73.9 %) is required to reach a qualified majority. In addition:
- a majority of member states (in some cases two thirds) must approve the decision, and
- any member state may ask for confirmation that the votes cast in favour represent at least 62 % of the EU’s total population
The European ParliamentThe European Parliament is the elected body that represents the EU’s citizens. It exercises political supervision over the EU’s activities and takes part in the legislative process.
The number of seats allocated to each EU country also roughly reflects the size of its population.
Number of seats in the European Parliament per country 2007–09Austria 18
Belgium 24
Bulgaria 18
Cyprus 6
Czech Republic 24
Denmark 14
Estonia 6
Finland 14
France 78
Germany 99
Greece 24
Hungary 24
Ireland 13
Italy 78
Latvia 9
Lithuani 13
Luxembourg 6
Malta 5
Netherlands 27
Poland 54
Portugal 24
Romania 35
Slovakia 14
Slovenia 7
Spain 54
Sweden 19
United Kingdom 78
Total 785
So if you notice correctly you'll find out that most of the power of the E.U is held by the big 4 or the 4 biggest European economies Germany, France, Italy and the United Kingdom.
Even in the E.U, the big economies need to protect their interests and usually the interests of the big economies come on the expenses of small ones.
For example it would be in the interest of all 4 big economies to have the markets of member states open unconditionally to E.U members but at the same time it's not in the interest of smaller economies that do not have big multinational companies to invade the markets of the big 4.
Turkey entrance to the E.U will change the game Giving more power to smaller economies and making it more difficult to the big 4 to maintain their dominance on the E.U and eventually leading to a more fair European Union.
Turkey's Demographic effect on the E.U Turkey's population 2009 estimate is 74,816,000 with a growth rate of 1.31%
France's population 2009 estimate is 65,073,482 with a growth rate of 0.6%
Germany's population 2008 estimate is 82,060,000 with a growth rate of -0.12%
Italy's population 2009 estimate is 60,114,021 with a growth rate of -0.047%
If Turkey joins the E.U, it will have the same number of seats as the big 4, and it will be the second most populous country in the E.U, furthermore, with it's population growth rate which is higher than Germany's, in few years Turkey will be the most populous country in the E.U.
But Turkey is not one of the big economies, and Turkey's interests would be more similar to the interests of Spain or Poland or Portugal or Romania... than similar to the interests of the big 4. With such a high number of seats the smaller economies can ally with Turkey and change the game for the big 4.
And this is what France and Germany do not want, they do not want a European Union that weakens them, after all they have came with the idea to get stronger not weaker.
While the U.K and Italy might have less ambitions to dominate the E.U and have less infiltrated the member states markets than France and Germany.
