Erdoğan most popular leader in the region: Pew poll

A poll conducted by American polling firm Pew Research Center found Turkey to be the country with the most increase in influence among the Middle East’s population.

According to poll results, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is the leader viewed most favorably in the region.

Besides Turkey, the U.S. and Russia are the countries which saw the most increase in influence in the Middle East, according to the poll’s findings.

Generally, all political leaders were viewed negatively by poll respondents, with the exception of President Erdoğan who received favorable ratings.

According to a report by BBC Turkish, Erdoğan was viewed most favorably in Lebanon (66 percent), followed by Tunisia (59 percent).

Erdoğan was viewed most unfavorably in Israel with only 15 percent of respondents saying they have a positive opinion of the Turkish president.

According to Pew, favorable opinions of Erdoğan increased by 10 percent in Tunisia since the research firm last polled Tunisians in 2014, and a 7 percent increase in favorable views in Jordan since the latest poll conducted by Pew in the country in 2015.

According to poll results, Turkey saw a 63 percent increase in influence in the Middle East, the highest among all countries surveyed, compared with polling data from ten years ago.

Turkey’s influence saw the biggest shift in Jordan, with a 76 percent increase, compared to previous polling data.

People across the Middle East view Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu more unfavorably than any other Middle Eastern leader, including Syrian President Bashar Assad.

According to poll results, 79 percent of Turks view Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu unfavorably, with only 7 percent of respondents saying they have favorable opinions of him.

An overwhelming majority of Lebanese and Jordanian respondents had unfavorable opinions of the Israeli prime minister, with 99 percent and 96 percent of those polled saying that they view Netanyahu negatively.