Results of two public survey conducted in Germany have showed that majority of the Germans do not prefer to go to Turkey for a holiday due to the current political situation in the country.
One of the surveys, conducted among 5,092 Germans by the Der Spiegel news website, showed that 92 percent of the respondents of the survey do not think of travelling to Turkey for a holiday due to the current political circumstances in the country.
Another survey conducted by the polling company YouGov reached similar results to those of Der Spiegel. The survey by YouGov revealed that 89 percent of Germans don’t want to go to Turkey for a holiday while only five percent of Germans want to travel to the country to spend their vacation.
As the crisis escalated between Germany and Turkey over the arrest of human rights activists including a German national, Peter Steudtner, German officials warned German citizens against the risks of travelling to Turkey.
The recent surveys revealed that the rift between two NATO allies influenced the travel choices of German citizens.
The YouGov’s survey also asked Germans their opinions about democracy in Turkey. Every eight German out of 10 said Turkey is not a democracy and Berlin’s attitude towards Ankara should be harsher.
Regarding Turkey’s European Union (EU) membership, 84 percent of the Germans said they are against it and 82 percent said Turkish politicians should be banned from organizing events in Germany.
Tensions are running high between Turkey and Germany since Turkey’s crackdown on opposition groups, including journalists and human rights defenders, after a botched coup attempt on July 15, 2016. More than 150,000 people have been sacked or suspended from jobs in Turkey’s civil service, military and private sector and more than 50,000 have been jailed on coup charges.
While Germany’s refusal to allow Turkish ministers and government officials to campaign there for an April 16 constitutional referendum in Turkey, a possible rally to be held by Turkey’s autocratic President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan during the G-20 summit and entry into Germany of members of Erdoğan’s security detail who attacked protesters in Washington in May further strained relations, Turkey is accusing Germany of hosting “terrorists” who allegedly took part in the coup attempt and denying a visit by German lawmakers to the military bases in Turkey due to tense relations. (turkishminute.com) July 27, 2017
