Turkey OK with economy drive, worried by terror

ISTANBUL

This file photo shows shoppers in front of a store house in Istanbul. Despite the economic downturn in the EU, most of Turkish public approves government’s policies.

Seven out of 10 people in Turkey approve of the government’s struggle against the economic crisis, as terror remains the main concern of the country’s population, according to a recent Eurobarometer report, which covers a broadened European area. 

Some 69 percent of respondents in Turkey said the Turkish government had acted “effectively” to combat the economic crisis until “Spring 2012,” the report said. 

Only 19 percent of Turkish respondents said the government had acted “not effectively.” Of the survey’s respondents, 58 percent in the European Union said governments had acted effectively in combating the economic crisis, versus 37 percent that claimed the opposite.

Economic situation

However, 52 percent of respondents said they judged the Turkish economy’s current situation as bad, while 45 percent said the current economic situation was good.

In the European Union, where governments are currently struggling to fend off a growing economic crisis, 27 percent of respondents labeled the current economic situation as good. 

Fifty percent of Turkish respondents said the Turkish economy was better off compared to the average economic outlook of EU countries, 23 points above the findings of a previous Eurobarometer survey released six months ago. Forty-three percent of Turkish respondents said the Turkish economy faired worse.

Turkey is among the European countries where confidence in governments is high. Of the Turkish respondents, 57 percent “tend to trust” the government, 8 points higher than seen in the previous survey, while 37 percent “tend not to trust.” Other countries with a high rate of government trust are Luxembourg with 68 percent and Sweden with 58 percent. The European average is 28 percent.
Turks are also among the European nations with a high rate of trust in the Parliament at 54 percent, according to the survey.

Terrorism was the “most important issues facing the country at the moment” for 62 percent of Turks, while employment was cited as the most important issue on average for EU countries at 46 percent. Terrorism was followed by unemployment at 52 percent and the economic situation at 26 percent. Other major issues for EU citizens were the economic situation at 35 percent, inflation with 24 percent and high government debts at 19 percent. Only 2 percent of the EU citizens said terrorism was the biggest issue in the region. The economic situation in the EU seems to eat away Turkish citizens’ faith in the region, a significant piece of data as Turkey is currently in accession talks with the European Union. Seventy-two percent of Turkish respondents said they felt “not attached” to the EU, versus 20 percent who said they “feelt attached”.

EU flag recognition 

Another striking finding in the survey was the EU flag’s rate of recognition. The rate of Turkish respondents replying affirmatively to the question: “Have you ever seen this symbol?” was 64 percent, 11 points down from the previous survey. 

The Standard Eurobarometer 77 was carried out between May 12 and 27 and based on interviews with 32,728 people. Of the respondents 1,000 were from Turkey.

The survey covers 34 countries or territories, including the 27 EU member states, the six candidate countries (Croatia, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Turkey, Iceland, Montenegro and Serbia) and the Turkish Cyprus.