Turkey Polls Oppose AKP Once Again
The Justice and Development Party (AKP) risks being labeled an “elitist” party, ignoring the preferences of its voters in foreign policy.
Muslims’ concern for extremist groups has increased, while Hezbollah appeared as the least disliked — or most favored — among al-Qaeda, Taliban and Hamas, a Pew Research Global Attitudes Project survey (conducted in 11 Muslim countries) found earlier this month.
Intriguingly, for the Turkish public, only 1% is reported to view Hamas as “very favorable” and 4% as “somewhat favorable,” while 71% view the organization as unfavorable. This did not make the news in mainstream Turkish media. Only English-language Today's Zaman, which has a very limited Turkish readership, published a brief report about the results.
Evaluating the report and why it wasn't reported in mainstream Turkish media, Justice and Development Party (AKP) pundits told Al-Monitor: “Pew is biased against Muslims.” Some tweeted, “Pew is Islamophobic.” One pundit asked, “How can you believe this rubbish?” And another insisted, “It must be a technical mistake.”
Pew Research Center is a Washington-based, non-partisan fact tank established in 2004 with transparent donor and data available online. Pew is widely respected all around the world, especially for its timely and wide-reaching public opinion polling.
