Turks do not favor US, like themselves the most

ISTANBUL

Pew Research's survey appears to bear out the popular motto that "the Turk has no friend but the Turk." DAILY NEWS Photo

Only 19 percent of Turks are in favor of the U.S., while 73 percent dislike the country, a survey conducted by the PEW Research Center has revealed. The survey, which was conducted in 2013 and announced recently, also showed that of all countries, Turks like their own the most.

Along with the U.S. the Turks also expressed dislike toward a number of other foreign countries, apparently bearing out the popular motto that "the Turk has no friend but the Turk."

Israel was the country that people in Turkey dislike the most among the countries surveyed, with 86 of Turks saying they disliked Israel and only 2 percent saying they liked it. Israel was followed by Iran at 75 percent, while U.S. and Russia, the two former arch enemies of the Cold War era, followed in third place, with both on 73 percent.

The most favorable for Turks emerged as Saudi Arabia, though only 26 percent expressed positive feelings toward the country, which was also disliked by slightly more than half of all respondents.

“In fact, it is hard to find any country or organization the Turkish people really like, except, of course, Turkey itself. According to our spring 2012 poll, 78 percent of Turks said they had a favorable view of their country,” read statements issued by Pew to accompany the report.

Turks also expressed negative sentiments to a host of international institutions in the survey. While 70 percent of Turks dislike NATO, 66 percent do not like the EU. Even though two thirds of the Turkish population dislikes the EU, around 53 percent want Turkey to join it.

Meanwhile, the survey results also show that Turks reject a host of extremist groups.

“Although we do not have measurements of the Turkish opinion of the Islamic State, 85 percent in Turkey have a negative opinion of its forebearer al-Qaeda, with similarly poor views of other extremist groups like Hamas [80 percent] and Hezbollah [85 percent]. Additionally, a majority of Turkish Muslims, who comprise 98 percent of the population, say suicide bombing and other forms of violence against civilian targets are never justified [58 percent],” read the statement accompanying the survey results.