Turkey and the Middle East have become two popular destinations where change has been taking place and debate is widespread. This paper contributes to these debates with sharing the perception from the Middle East region on Turkey. Turkey has been much more active in the last ten years than it used to be as far its foreign policy towards the region is concerned. No doubt, this is a result of a transformation in Turkey, but also in the region, namely the demand side. The main argument is Turkey is accepted as a legitimate player by the public opinion of the region who were surveyed for the last three years (2009-2011). This perception of the public gives Turkey more responsibility and necessitates for all, the inside and outside actors, to look into societies demands and perceptions much more closely.
Turkey, Middle East, Arabs, public opinion, perception, change.