US Viewed as Turkey’s ‘Greatest Threat’
September 8, 2007 7:04 am TurkeyUS Viewed as Turkey’s ‘Greatest Threat’ - by Jonathan Bell, IPS, September 8, 2007
Nearly two-thirds of the Turkish public named the United States as their country’s greatest future threat, a recent Pew Global Attitudes Project survey has revealed – the highest percentage of any Middle Eastern or Islamic country polled.
The survey, which was also conducted in Palestine, Egypt, Lebanon, Kuwait, Jordan, Morocco and Israel, asked an open-ended question: “What country or groups pose the greatest threat to (survey country) in the future?” Turkey was the only country in which a majority of respondents pointed to the US.
Turkey, a US NATO ally and recipient of US and NATO security guarantees, also harbors the second-most negative attitudes towards the US, with 83 percent holding an “unfavorable” opinion of it – up 29 percent since 2002, the biggest drop in public opinion of the US in recent years.