A revealing survey

The results of a survey by daily Habertürk and the Andy-Ar Center for Social Research recently made reveals where Turks stand on the EU. 

Contrary to expectations, given the current, less-than-friendly atmosphere between Turkey and Europe, 47.4 percent of those surveyed said they opposed ending membership talks with the EU.  

Some 44.3 percent said they supported ending talks while 7.7 percent said they had no idea about the matter. The remainder was negligible.

Responding to another question, 75.3 percent believe that Turkey is moving away from the EU, while 19.9 percent believe it is not and 4.6 percent have no idea.

Looked at superficially, one is tempted to say there is good news in this survey since a majority still supports the idea of maintaining Turkey's membership talks. A more detailed look tells us a more varied story. 

It is significant, for example, that 75.3 percent believe Turkey is drifting away from the EU. This means that those who want to maintain membership talks are expressing a desire that is likely to remain unfulfilled. 
As an aside, it must be said that Ankara is not the only side to blame for the weakening of ties between Turkey and the EU, even though the government's backpedaling with regards to democracy and human rights plays an undeniably important role in this.

The mood in Europe is also apparent and it is doubtful that Turkey's EU perspective would produce the expected results even if Ankara were to work with great determination to see this mature and bear fruit.
The swing to the right in Europe, and the negative message embedded in this for a predominantly Muslim country like Turkey can't be denied either. In other words, most Turks are aware that there is no EU membership...