Some 71.9 percent of respondents who took part in a new opinion poll in Turkey revealed they had a marked anti-US sentiment while 22.7 percent of respondents described themselves as adherents of a moderate anti-US sentiment.
Hilmi Dasdemir, head of the polling company Optimar that conducted the survey, told Sputnik Turkiye that these results did not come as any surprise to him.
"Since 2011 when clashes in Syria began, we have been conducting surveys in order to gauge how the people regard the foreign policy conducted by our government. This year we asked the respondents’ opinion about anti-American sentiment and on the way they think Turkey should conduct its foreign policy. All in all, we can say that the anti-American sentiment in Turkish society grows day by day," he said.
According to Hilmi Dasdemir, this situation is a result of the assistance and weapon shipments provided by the US to Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) in Syria.
"Such a negative opinion of the US in Turkish society came about due to the support provided by the US to YPG and FETO – another terrorist group that was behind the July 15 coup attempt," he explained, adding that the public opinion of the US has hit an all-time low.
At the same time, Dasdemir pointed out that the public opinion of Russia and of Turkey cooperating with Russia has drastically improved in recent years.
"Two years ago, right after the crisis that followed the incident with a Russian plane we conducted a survey and 80 percent of respondents had an anti-Russian stance. However, the ways the two countries have joined together over Syria and Russia’s support of the Turkish leadership after the July 15 coup attempt played a tremendous role in improving the Russian-Turkish relations," Dasdemir remarked.
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Another opinion poll conducted by Turkish firm AGS Global among the country’s entrepreneurs revealed that 66 percent of the country’s businessmen oppose cooperation with the United States.
"There are many reasons behind this negative opinion of the US within Turkish business circles, but the situation as a whole can be summed up in one word – mistrust. In particular, the businessmen don’t regard the US as a reliable partner because of the support the US provides to YPG and the anti-Turkish policy it conducts. We’re talking about a serious crisis of trust here," AGS Global chief Ahmet Guler said.
He pointed out however that the current anti-US sentiment in Turkey is a product of a lengthy process that began over a decade ago and was merely exacerbated by Washington providing support to YPG.
"Even though this support came to the forefront recently, the anti-US sentiment in Turkish society is a product of relations between two countries that experienced its ups and downs starting in 2003 with the occupation of Iraq. Therefore, the crisis in relations began back in 2003, and today’s negative opinion was formed as a result of a 15-year long process," he said.
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Guler also claimed that "the current crisis in the Western countries and in the US" was caused by a lack of a "true leader" there, adding that the relations between Turkey and Russia improved in no small part due to the leadership qualities exhibited by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Relations between Turkey and the US took a hit after the failed July 2016 Turkish coup attempt which President Erdogan blamed on Fethullah Gulen, a preacher currently residing in the US. Washington's refusal to extradite Gulen has fueled Ankara's suspicions that the US was in on the plot.
The situation was further exacerbated in 2017 after the US announced its intent to create a 30,000-strong security force on Syria's border with Turkey, comprised of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) dominated by the People's Protection Units (YPG) militia, which Turkey considers to be a terrorist group affiliated with its own illegal Kurdish organization, the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).
As a result, on January 20 Ankara launched a military operation against the Kurdish forces entrenched in Syria’s Afrin.
The views and opinions expressed by Hilmi Dasdemir and Ahmet Guler are those of the speakers and do not necessarily reflect those of Sputnik.
