Epress.am News from Armenia
A recent survey by the German Marshall Fund of the United States supports the opinion that Turkey is shifting away from West to East in its recent foreign policy and also that Turks are more tolerant of Iran’s nuclear weapons policies. Turkish experts believe the findings of the survey show that Turks do not perceive Iran’s nuclear weapons program as a threat.
Turkish respondents also expressed less interest in joining the EU and more pessimism about the prospects of Turkey’s membership in the bloc. A total of 63 percent said Turkey is unlikely to join. Perceptions that Turkey’s membership would be a good thing are also on a steep decline, dropping from 73 percent in 2003 to 48 percent in 2009 and to 38 percent in 2010.
Among people in the 11 European countries surveyed, on average 33 percent said Turkey’s membership in the EU would be a negative thing and 23 percent saw it in a positive light, 39 percent are neutral and 5 percent had no answer.
On the issue of relations with Armenia, 27% of Turkish respondents said they they would like to see the Armenia-Turkey Protocols be ratified, while 55% were against the idea and 17% abstained from the question.