Istanbul, 03/01/2001 (Agence Europe) - According to a poll published last Saturday first by the Radikal newspaper and then by AFP in Istanbul, Turks opposing their country joining the EU "given the preconditions set" outnumber those in favour for the first time. Some 43.6% of those questioned felt that Turkey should not join the EU in these conditions (with 8.4% feeling that it should not join "even without any conditions"), while 25.2% feel that it should and 20.6% have not decided. The poll by the AoG Institute shows that Turks under the age of 27 are those most in favour of Turkey joining the European Union.
Moreover, according to the same poll, more of the population (94.1%) trust the Turkish President, Mr Sezer, than trust the army (91.1%).