Italians Believe Turkey Poses Major Threat to Entire World – Survey

According to a survey conducted by research centers, Italians believe that Turkey is one of the most dangerous countries posing a threat to the entire world, the BBC Turkish reports.

ISPI and Ipsos research organizations asked respondents in Italy ‘Which country poses the greatest threat to the world?’

27% of Italians said it is China, 15% said Iran, while 14% said Turkey. This is the first time in 5 years that respondents in Italy are mentioning Turkey when asked this question.

According to ISPI Director Paolo Magri, Turkey’s highly aggressive foreign policy, escalation with Greece and Cyprus in the Eastern Mediterranean, military interventions in Syria, Libya, and Nagorno Karabakh contributed to this perception among Italians.

Italians believe that Turkey is one of the most dangerous countries posing a threat to the entire world, according to a recent poll shared by

Participants in the survey, conducted by the Italian research center the Institute for International Political Studies (ISPI), and French multinational market research and consulting firm, Ipsos, were asked, “Which country poses the greatest threat to the world?’’

A total of 1,000 people participated in the online the survey

The survey was conducted in days between Dec. 9-11. Turkey ranked third place with 14 percent, after China at 27 percent and Iran at 15.

This is the first time in five years of the survey that respondents in Italy listed Turkey as a major global threat.

In 2019, Italians who saw Turkey as a threat in the same survey remained 8 percent, while this figure was 3 percent in 2018.

There is a rampant negative judgment regarding aspiring EU member Turkey, BBC Turkish cited ISPI director Paolo Magri as telling Italian state-run Rai television, noting that views about Turkey in Italy was similar to that of Iran.

Countries in the eastern region of the Mediterranean Sea complain that Turkey pursues aggressive policies against the neighboring nation especially when the Turkish ships explore reserves of oil or natural gas in the region.