More than a third of Turkish citizens believe that Ankara should emphasize contacts with Russia and China in developing foreign relations.
More than a third of Turkish citizens feel that Ankara should prioritize interactions with Russia and China in the development of foreign relations, according to a poll conducted by the MetroPOLL Center for Strategic and social studies on Friday.
Ankara should prioritize relations with the United States and the European Union, according to 46.9% of those polled, up from a little more than 39% in March 2022. At the same time, 35.5% of Turks feel that Turkish authorities should prioritize relations with Russia and China, up from 29.5% in March 2022 and 39% in January 2022.
The poll showed that over 17% of Turks declined to answer or were undecided.
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 in Turkey thought Russia and China should be prioritized.
On the contrary, supporters of the opposition believe Ankara should focus on strengthening connections with the US and the EU – more than 74% of followers of the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democracy Party and 53% of supporters of the Republican People’s Party agreed.
The poll was conducted in 28 Turkish directorates from July 15 to July 19, polling 1,746 respondents with a margin of error of no more than 2.3%.
Recent Turkish-Russian agreement
Earlier on August 3, a source within Erdogan’s office informed Sputnik that there is a possibility of signing cooperation agreements, including one on energy, between Turkey and Russia during Russian President Vladimir Putin’s upcoming visit to Turkey.
The president’s office had confirmed that the visit was agreed upon during a phone conversation between the two leaders, though no specific date was mentioned.
The source stated that the likelihood of signing agreements during Putin’s visit is quite high. Moreover, the partnership between Russia and Turkey is multifaceted, with fruitful collaboration occurring across various domains.
“It will become clear before the visit in what areas we could expand and enhance our cooperation. They [agreements] are possible in many areas, from energy to cooperation on extinguishing wildfires, the effectiveness of which we have seen recently,” the source also said.
It is worth noting that the Kremlin affirmed, on Thursday, that Putin informed Erdogan, during a phone conversation on Wednesday, that the Black Sea Grain Initiative had lost its significance due to the lack of progress in implementing the part of the agreement concerning Russia.
Source: Almayadeen
