No Love for Israel Among Turks, Poll Shows

November 9, 2014

2 min read

According to a Pew Research Poll, the results of which were published last week, Israel is the most disliked country in Turkish public opinion. The poll also showed that overall, Turks have an unfavorable opinion of foreign countries, but share a similar distaste for terror organizations.

Participants were asked whether they had a favorable or unfavorable opinion towards several Turkish allies and other countries, including Israel, the US, China, Saudi Arabia, Iran and the EU. Saudi Arabia received the most favorable review, with 26 percent of respondents positively inclined, but 53 percent still expressed their dislike.

Israel fared worst in the poll, garnering negative responses from 86 percent of those polled.  Only 2 percent had anything good to say about the Jewish homeland. The US is disliked by 73 percent of respondents.

About the only country Turkish respondents overwhelmingly liked was Turkey itself.  In 2012, 78 percent said they viewed their homeland favorably.

It’s not just foreign countries that Turks dislike; they are equally unimpressed with various terror organizations which exercise excessive control over some of their neighbors. 85 percent of participants denigrated al-Qaeda and Hezbollah, while 80 percent derided Hamas.

Turkish antipathy towards Israel is not surprising. A political rift which opened during Operation Cast Lead in 2008-9 widened in 2010 when a flotilla from Turkey to Gaza was intercepted by Israeli naval commandos enforcing a legal blockade on the Strip. Violent clashes broke out aboard one ship, the Mavi Marmara, and ten people were killed.

In October of last year, Turkey betrayed the identities of ten spies for Israel operating in Iran. This September, the country also ended its cooperation with Israel on valuable energy projects until “the human tragedy in Gaza” is stopped.

Information presented in the Pew report was gathered from its Spring 2014 Global Attitudes Survey, with data on Israel and Saudi Arabia coming from 2013.

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