More than a third of Turkiye’s nationals believe that Ankara should prioritize contacts with Russia and China in the development of foreign relations, a poll conducted by the MetroPOLL center for strategic and social studies showed on Friday.
Some 46.9% of the polled residents said Ankara should prioritize relations with the United States and the European Union, compared to a little over 39% in March 2022. At the same time, 35.5% of Turks believe ties with Russia and China should be a priority for the Turkish authorities, compared to 29.5% in March 2022 and 39% in January 2022.
Over 17% of Turks declined to answer or were undecided, the poll showed.
Supporters of the ruling coalition in Turkiye said the priority should be given to Russia and China – more than 53% of those who voted for the Nationalist Movement Party in May and 41.5% of those who voted for the ruling Justice and Development Party.
Quite the opposite, those supporting the opposition believe Ankara should focus on the development of ties with the US and the EU – more than 74% of supporters of the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democracy Party and 53% of supporters of the Republican People’s Party were in favor of this.
The poll was held across 28 directorates of Turkey from July 15-19 and polled 1,746 people, with the margin of error not exceeding 2.3%.
