Turkey is not only a strategically important nation, but has long been a NATO ally of America. However, Turkey has been very critical of the U.S. in recent years. Only 14% of Turks express a positive view of the U.S. currently, little changed from the low ratings the U.S. has received from Turkey since the Iraq war. In fact, America’s image in Turkey is the lowest among the 25 nations surveyed in 2009. Despite this there now appears to be some signs of a potential improvement. One-third of Turks have confidence that President Obama will do the right thing in world affairs. Not very high, but up substantially from 2008 when just 2% had confidence in then-President Bush. Also, while an overwhelming number of Turks (79%) opposed U.S.-led efforts to combat terrorism in 2008, just 55% stated their opposition this year. Far fewer Turks view the U.S. as an enemy of their country in 2009 as well. Read More

Russell Heimlich  is a former web developer at Pew Research Center.