Turks favour Trump over Biden in a new poll

A new poll in Turkey reveals a cautiously optimistic attitude among Turkish citizens regarding the potential return of Donald Trump to the White House, while a majority express strong dissatisfaction with the performance of former President Joe Biden. The online survey, conducted by research consultancy Stracom from January 15th to 18th, 2025, included 1,336 participants across Turkey.

The survey results indicate that over a third of respondents (35.7%) hold a positive view of Trump, while 43.49% are neutral. In contrast, over two-thirds of participants (67.21%) expressed negative sentiments towards Biden's presidency. Despite some fluctuations in US-Turkish relations during Trump's first term, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan maintained a long-standing positive relationship with Trump, who even provided Erdoğan with his personal phone number at the time.

Although Ankara did not officially endorse any candidate during the US presidential race, Erdoğan publicly called Trump in July to express condolences for the former president's attempted assassination. Erdoğan also canceled a planned visit to Washington in May to avoid meeting with Biden, who faced criticism from American Muslims for his stance on the war in Gaza. In November, Erdoğan publicly expressed his desire to meet with Trump as soon as possible and resume intensive telephone diplomacy.

Erdoğan stated his intention to discuss key issues with the US president, including the purchase of F-35 fighter jets, the Syrian crisis, and resolving the issue of Ankara's purchase of Russian-made S-400 air defense systems. Despite the relatively favorable view of Trump, respondents have limited expectations for a significant improvement in US-Turkish relations under his leadership. Just over 30% of respondents anticipate positive changes under Trump, while the largest group (46.33%) believes relations will remain largely the same. Approximately one-fifth of respondents (22.83%) expect relations to worsen further.

The survey also highlighted the most pressing issues that Turkish citizens perceive between the two countries. The vast majority of respondents (64.45%) identified US support for the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and its Syrian affiliate, the YPG, as a primary concern. The PKK is designated as a terrorist organization by both Turkey and the US; however, Washington supports the Syrian Democratic Forces, which are led by the YPG, in Syria. Meanwhile, 30.76% of respondents cited the followers of the late Turkish cleric Fethullah Gülen in the US as a significant issue. Turkey's exclusion from the fifth-generation F-35 fighter jet program followed closely behind, with 22.98% of participants considering it a key concern.