Poll shows majority of Germans want Turkey out of NATO
Survey revealed 61% want sanctions against Erdoğan
By BENJAMIN WEINTHALSlovak Army soldier stands guard near a NATO's symbol during a ceremony in Slovakia's capital Bratislava to mark the country's entrance to NATO, April 2, 2004.(photo credit: REUTERS/PETR JOSEK)
A new media attitude survey taken after Turkey’s invasion of Syria revealed that a dramatic 58% of Germans want to evict Turkey from the NATO military alliance. In sharp contrast to German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas’s support for preserving NATO membership for Turkey, a new poll showed that a clear majority want the country expelled from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and want economic sanctions and export bans imposed on Istanbul.According to the Deutsche Welle news outlet, the dpa news agency commissioned a YouGov survey in which more than 2,000 people were interviewed between October 25 and 28. A mere 18% of those polled were against expelling Turkey from NATO. The survey found that 61% of those surveyed want Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government to take a more assertive posture, including imposing economic sanctions against Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Erdogan has introduced a political Islamic movement into the country that has undermined its traditional secular foundation.The survey showed that 69% of Germans support a total ban on arms exports to Turkey. An expulsion of Turkey from the NATO agreement would require changes by European and North American member states.The NATO agreement, which was passed in 1949, did not anticipate expulsions. Die Welt reported that the German Left Party wants Turkey banned from NATO.The head of the Social Democratic Party in the Bundestag, Rolf Mützenich, also put a question mark over Turkey’s continued membership NATO. German’s foreign minister said on Saturday during his visit to Turkey that “Turkey is and remains an important NATO ally for Germany.”Erdogan has faced massive criticism for his country’s incursion into Syria and alleged human rights abuses carried out against Syrian Kurds.
