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Anti-Americanism hits new record in Turkey
29.06.2007
Today's Zaman ?stanbul
The Turkish public dislikes the United States more than any other
nation in the world, while leading global actors such as the European
Union, Russia, Iran, China and Israel are also falling from favor with
a majority of Turks, according to a global survey released on
Wednesday.
The 47-country survey found that only 9 percent of the Turkish people
have a favorable opinion of the US, while 83 percent responded
negatively. The Pew Global Attitudes Project documented that only 2
percent of those surveyed in Turkey had a favorable opinion about US
President George W. Bush's foreign policy, while 88 percent responded
in the negative. The project has documented wide anti-American
sentiment since it was launched in 2002 but found those attitudes
deepening this year. In 2002, 52 percent of Turks supported the US
compared to this year's 9 percent.
Pew Research Center President Andrew Kohut, speaking to the United
States' PBS television station on the results of the survey, said
respondents in Turkey holding a favorable opinion of the US amounted
to 12 percent, a figure they did not expect would go down.
The Pew survey found that 81 percent of Turkish respondents were
critical of ` American Ideas about Democracy,' while 83 percent had a
negative view of ` American Ways of Doing Business.' A full 22 percent
expressed positive views of US movies and music.
The survey also showed that support for the European Union was
steadily decreasing among Turks. The Pew survey found that only 27
percent of respondents in Turkey were positive about the European
Union, compared to 58 percent in 2004. Russia's image has also been
slipping in Turkey, with a majority stating a negative opinion of
Russia. Only 10 percent expressed support for President Vladimir
Putin's policies. Turkish support for China was extremely low, and the
favorable view of Iran slipped to 28 percent this year after totaling
53 percent in 2006. Only 4 percent of those surveyed in Turkey
expressed a positive view of Israel. When it came to terrorist Osama
bin Laden, only one place -- the Palestinian territories -- viewed him
favorably, with 57 percent saying they had confidence in him. In
Turkey that number was 5 percent. A total of 931 individuals from
Turkey participated in the survey conducted in April and May. Is the
average Turkish individual in today's world more readily influenced by
nationalist and neo-nationalist movements? The answer is `yes=80=9D
according to Ã-mer Laçiner, editor in chief of the socialist monthly
Birikim, which has put considerable effort into understanding
nationalism since the 1970s. But this affirmation applies not only to
Turkey, but to all countries of the world. Indeed, the summary of
findings for the complete survey report presented by Pew found that
the United States' image is plummeting in many corners of the globe,
but China and other large powers are falling from favor as well.
'Turkey is going through a strange period,' Laçiner told Today's
Zaman in a telephone interview. `The process of globalization, or
whatever onemight choose to call it, being in the global arena in
competition, leads people to question the values they have taken as
authentic characteristics of their own nation.' For example, a person
who believes their nation is =80=9Cthe most' hospitable in the world
might, in the global world, find herself in a society so open to
guests and strangers to an extent not even acceptable in her own
society.`You are not =80=98the most' something of the world
anymore,'Laçiner explains. `This is the most important reason for the
rise in nationalism along with the increased speed of
globalization. Now people have points of reference.=80=9D More
exposure to realities of an increasingly global world blurs the line
dividing black and white, friend and foe. `Say, you say maintain
Germans are hostile to us, but then you find groups that are extremely
friendly to Turkey.' The realization that the home nation, like other
nations of the world, is not asolid unit in itself creates a need to
keep our usual and old perceptions of the worldas we once knew it;
thus people turn to nationalism to cling onto. In this sense, this
rise of nationalism across the globe could be its last. Laçiner also
emphasized that nationalist groups in all countries played into each
other's hands, as deeds of nationalists damaging to another nation are
usually usedby nationalists of a given country as proof of how the
`enemy'nation really is.
But how can such a notion diffuse through to the individual? The
answer is survival. `Circumstances defining how a person gets by, once
subject only to domestic dynamics, are now influenced by international
dynamics. Something that might happen abroad, such as a new invention
or the downsizing of a global company, could simply ruin the
livelihood of an individual. People are grappling with insecurity.' In
such an environment, nationalism, both in Turkey and elsewhere, is the
resonance of such fears.'
He underlines that these fears are irrational almost all the
time. Currently, they are crystallized in the person of the United
States, Laçiner says, asserting that this could be another country at
a different time. One example is a recent survey simultaneously
conducted in Greece and Turkey which found that for 2.9 percent of
Turks, the 3-million-strong Armenia is a threat for Turkey with a
population of 70 million.
Once the world finds more constructive and humanistic ways to deal
with such insecurities and cope with the realities of the neo-liberal
globe, nationalism could become an ancient notion, Laçiner suggested.
Etyen Mahçupyan, editor in chief of the bilingual weekly Agos,
agreed.`There has to be a reason to love a given country. It is a
chaotic, complica ted world in which there is little concern for moral
values. It is a psychological need,' he said. According to Mahçupyan,
the decreasing approval of foreign countries in the hearts of the
Turkish people and others is not entirely ungrounded. `These [survey]
results do not reflect a human aversion, rather sensitivity about
foreign policies.'
`We are talking about nation-states after their interests, not
individuals.
If a state is represented by its foreign policy, then dislike is
understandable.
' Mahçupyan, similar to Laçiner, says the many states of the
international system cannot respond to the complexities of the world
today. `It is not the rise of xenophobia, but an alienation from the
system of states.'
Ferhat Kentel, an instructor in the sociology department of ?stanbul
Bilgi University, agreed that clinging on to nationalism is a reaction
to increasing doubt, insecurity and a lack of confidence about the
future of the world. He said this finding was confirmed by a recent
study his university conducted on nationalism. The research found an
overwhelming feeling of insecurity towards the future in its
subjects. Kentel maintained that in a world where everything was
increasingly being perceived as a risk by the individual, nationalism
functioned to accommodate the perception of being threatened.
`The hegemonic powers of a society profiting from a web of
interestrelations in this chaotic world employ the language of
nationalism, something that serves as a tool to perpetuate the current
structure,' Kentel explained. `We, the ordinary people, repeat their
language, but I doubt we mean the same thing.' Global warming
increasingly perceived as major threat The survey also found global
warming and other environmental problems are seen as the top threat in
many places, ahead of nuclear proliferation, AIDSand other
dangers. The United States' favorable ratings declined in 26 of the 33
countries for which a comparison was available, with negative views
particularly strong in the Middle East. Overall, majorities in 25 of
the 47 countries reported favorable images of the United States. A
majority of those surveyed expressed unease with China's growing
military and economic influence; however, public opinion in China was
positive in South Asia and Africa.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
29.06.2007
Today's Zaman ?stanbul
The Turkish public dislikes the United States more than any other
nation in the world, while leading global actors such as the European
Union, Russia, Iran, China and Israel are also falling from favor with
a majority of Turks, according to a global survey released on
Wednesday.
The 47-country survey found that only 9 percent of the Turkish people
have a favorable opinion of the US, while 83 percent responded
negatively. The Pew Global Attitudes Project documented that only 2
percent of those surveyed in Turkey had a favorable opinion about US
President George W. Bush's foreign policy, while 88 percent responded
in the negative. The project has documented wide anti-American
sentiment since it was launched in 2002 but found those attitudes
deepening this year. In 2002, 52 percent of Turks supported the US
compared to this year's 9 percent.
Pew Research Center President Andrew Kohut, speaking to the United
States' PBS television station on the results of the survey, said
respondents in Turkey holding a favorable opinion of the US amounted
to 12 percent, a figure they did not expect would go down.
The Pew survey found that 81 percent of Turkish respondents were
critical of ` American Ideas about Democracy,' while 83 percent had a
negative view of ` American Ways of Doing Business.' A full 22 percent
expressed positive views of US movies and music.
The survey also showed that support for the European Union was
steadily decreasing among Turks. The Pew survey found that only 27
percent of respondents in Turkey were positive about the European
Union, compared to 58 percent in 2004. Russia's image has also been
slipping in Turkey, with a majority stating a negative opinion of
Russia. Only 10 percent expressed support for President Vladimir
Putin's policies. Turkish support for China was extremely low, and the
favorable view of Iran slipped to 28 percent this year after totaling
53 percent in 2006. Only 4 percent of those surveyed in Turkey
expressed a positive view of Israel. When it came to terrorist Osama
bin Laden, only one place -- the Palestinian territories -- viewed him
favorably, with 57 percent saying they had confidence in him. In
Turkey that number was 5 percent. A total of 931 individuals from
Turkey participated in the survey conducted in April and May. Is the
average Turkish individual in today's world more readily influenced by
nationalist and neo-nationalist movements? The answer is `yes=80=9D
according to Ã-mer Laçiner, editor in chief of the socialist monthly
Birikim, which has put considerable effort into understanding
nationalism since the 1970s. But this affirmation applies not only to
Turkey, but to all countries of the world. Indeed, the summary of
findings for the complete survey report presented by Pew found that
the United States' image is plummeting in many corners of the globe,
but China and other large powers are falling from favor as well.
'Turkey is going through a strange period,' Laçiner told Today's
Zaman in a telephone interview. `The process of globalization, or
whatever onemight choose to call it, being in the global arena in
competition, leads people to question the values they have taken as
authentic characteristics of their own nation.' For example, a person
who believes their nation is =80=9Cthe most' hospitable in the world
might, in the global world, find herself in a society so open to
guests and strangers to an extent not even acceptable in her own
society.`You are not =80=98the most' something of the world
anymore,'Laçiner explains. `This is the most important reason for the
rise in nationalism along with the increased speed of
globalization. Now people have points of reference.=80=9D More
exposure to realities of an increasingly global world blurs the line
dividing black and white, friend and foe. `Say, you say maintain
Germans are hostile to us, but then you find groups that are extremely
friendly to Turkey.' The realization that the home nation, like other
nations of the world, is not asolid unit in itself creates a need to
keep our usual and old perceptions of the worldas we once knew it;
thus people turn to nationalism to cling onto. In this sense, this
rise of nationalism across the globe could be its last. Laçiner also
emphasized that nationalist groups in all countries played into each
other's hands, as deeds of nationalists damaging to another nation are
usually usedby nationalists of a given country as proof of how the
`enemy'nation really is.
But how can such a notion diffuse through to the individual? The
answer is survival. `Circumstances defining how a person gets by, once
subject only to domestic dynamics, are now influenced by international
dynamics. Something that might happen abroad, such as a new invention
or the downsizing of a global company, could simply ruin the
livelihood of an individual. People are grappling with insecurity.' In
such an environment, nationalism, both in Turkey and elsewhere, is the
resonance of such fears.'
He underlines that these fears are irrational almost all the
time. Currently, they are crystallized in the person of the United
States, Laçiner says, asserting that this could be another country at
a different time. One example is a recent survey simultaneously
conducted in Greece and Turkey which found that for 2.9 percent of
Turks, the 3-million-strong Armenia is a threat for Turkey with a
population of 70 million.
Once the world finds more constructive and humanistic ways to deal
with such insecurities and cope with the realities of the neo-liberal
globe, nationalism could become an ancient notion, Laçiner suggested.
Etyen Mahçupyan, editor in chief of the bilingual weekly Agos,
agreed.`There has to be a reason to love a given country. It is a
chaotic, complica ted world in which there is little concern for moral
values. It is a psychological need,' he said. According to Mahçupyan,
the decreasing approval of foreign countries in the hearts of the
Turkish people and others is not entirely ungrounded. `These [survey]
results do not reflect a human aversion, rather sensitivity about
foreign policies.'
`We are talking about nation-states after their interests, not
individuals.
If a state is represented by its foreign policy, then dislike is
understandable.
' Mahçupyan, similar to Laçiner, says the many states of the
international system cannot respond to the complexities of the world
today. `It is not the rise of xenophobia, but an alienation from the
system of states.'
Ferhat Kentel, an instructor in the sociology department of ?stanbul
Bilgi University, agreed that clinging on to nationalism is a reaction
to increasing doubt, insecurity and a lack of confidence about the
future of the world. He said this finding was confirmed by a recent
study his university conducted on nationalism. The research found an
overwhelming feeling of insecurity towards the future in its
subjects. Kentel maintained that in a world where everything was
increasingly being perceived as a risk by the individual, nationalism
functioned to accommodate the perception of being threatened.
`The hegemonic powers of a society profiting from a web of
interestrelations in this chaotic world employ the language of
nationalism, something that serves as a tool to perpetuate the current
structure,' Kentel explained. `We, the ordinary people, repeat their
language, but I doubt we mean the same thing.' Global warming
increasingly perceived as major threat The survey also found global
warming and other environmental problems are seen as the top threat in
many places, ahead of nuclear proliferation, AIDSand other
dangers. The United States' favorable ratings declined in 26 of the 33
countries for which a comparison was available, with negative views
particularly strong in the Middle East. Overall, majorities in 25 of
the 47 countries reported favorable images of the United States. A
majority of those surveyed expressed unease with China's growing
military and economic influence; however, public opinion in China was
positive in South Asia and Africa.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress