Almost 73% of Turks favor good relations with Russia: Poll
Gezici conducts a poll that found the majority of Turkish residents prefer good relations with Russia and consider it a friendly country.
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Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan with Russian President Vladimir Putin (Sputnik)
A poll conducted by Gezici found that almost 73% of Turkish residents want good relations with Russia, with some 63% saying it is a friendly country.
"The results of the survey showed that Turkish residents trust Russia more than the West," Murat Gezici, head of the polling company, told the Aydinlik weekly.
As many as 62.6% of the Turkish respondents believe Russia is a friendly country, 68.5% see that Russia supports the Turkish economy, and 72.8% favor good relations with Russia.
The share of Turks who see the United States as an enemy has risen to 90% in recent year, Gezici said.
Read: Turkey's unwillingness to join sanctions on Russia worries Borrell
This rise came after the attempted 2016 coup behind which was the US, the respondents said.
The survey was conducted among 2,500 people on December 30 and December 31.
It is worth noting that US officials addressed compliance with financial sanctions imposed on Russia regarding the war in Ukraine during talks with their Turkish counterparts in October. This came as another move from the West to pressure Turkey into taking a tougher stance towards Russia.
Elizabeth Rosenberg, the assistant secretary for terrorist financing and financial crimes at the US Treasury, was leading a delegation to meet the Turkish governor of the central bank, along with business groups in both Istanbul and Ankara.
The visit came a week after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Russian President Vladimir Putin held discussions in Astana, Kazakhstan. The meeting led the two leaders to agree to boost energy ties and to set up an international gas hub in Turkey, allowing Turkey to become a key route for Russian energy flows into Europe, particularly after the West blew up Nord Streams 1 and 2.
Read: Putin, Erdogan discuss Zaporozhye, grain deal & bilateral cooperation
Turkey, after the war, has been deepening its economic and trade ties with Russia, prompting Western worries. In June, Deputy US Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo visited Turkey to warn Ankara against doing business with Russia.
