"Somebody Loves Me, I Wonder Who?"
The recent findings on Turkey in the German Marshall Fund's annual Transatlantic Trends survey suggest that the attitudes of Turks deviate significantly from those of citizens of the United States and European Union. Such figures have led to a flurry of commentary debating whether Turkey is drifting away from the West. While there is no question that current public opinion has been shifting away from the United States and European Union, it is useful to put such figures into some kind of context before making hasty inferences about where Turkey may be headed. Most importantly, it is important to recognize that Turkish attitudes toward the EU are largely responsive, and that the government appears more capable of shaping or bypassing public opinion than is often appreciated. It is also important to note that the sense in Turkey of an Atlantic community is gradually eroding.