Turks mostly identify as nationalistic and conservative: Survey

A recent survey conducted by the Turkish research company GENAR revealed that the majority of Turkish people identify themselves as nationalist and conservative. According to the research, 24.5 percent of the people identify themselves through national identity, 20.1 percent define themselves as conservative, 20 percent as Kemalist and 18.3 percent as pious.

Touching on polarization, a subject of heated discussion in Turkish politics, the survey indicated 65.2 percent of the participants expressed that they did not believe that social polarization was becoming worse by the day, while 24.7 percent said it was becoming so when asked whether Turkey was being divided on the basis of ethnic identities, 42 percent of the participants disagreed with the statement, while 35 percent agreed.

Participants were also asked whether they believed Turkey was in regression in terms of personal rights and freedoms. Sixty-nine percent of the participants responded to the question by stating that it wasn't regressing. Regarding social pressure, more than half of the interviewees said they haven't experienced any social pressure, while only 27.7 percent expressed that they were experiencing social pressure on certain issues. Similarly, only 17.3 percent of the interviewees were not able to express their own opinions, while the remaining 82.7 percent said they were able to voice them. On the other hand, when asked about whether they were able to dress as they want without the fear of social pressure, more than 75 percent of the participants expressed that they were able to do so, while only 13.6 percent said they were not able to dress as they want, as they feared social pressure.