Survey: Turks warm up to US leadership, desire nonintervention in Syria

According to the Transatlantic Trends 2012 public opinion survey released on Wednesday by the German Marshall Fund of the United States (GMF), Turkish public opinion favored the leadership of the United States in the world more than in previous years -- although it is still lowest in Europe -- and most of the Turkish people do not want outside intervention in the affairs of Syria, where there is a bloody internal conflict in which thousands have lost their lives. When respondents in Turkey were asked “How desirable is it that the United States exerts strong leadership in world affairs?" 26 percent (nine points higher than last year's 17 percent) said it is desirable, while 59 percent said it is not. Among its key findings, the survey report noted that Turkish feelings for the EU and United States continued to warm somewhat over the past year, but a majority of Turks still view the EU and the United States unfavorably, and as in 2011, a plurality of Turks (46 percent) thought that working with Asia was more important to national interests than working with the United States. In the specific case of Syria, Turkish people who responded to the survey said by 57 percent that Turkey should completely stay out of the Syria conflict, showing similar views as Europeans and Americans. Only one in three Turks (32 percent) felt their country ought to intervene in Syria.