Laden was killed early May by US commandos in a raid on his hideout in Abbottabad, Pakistan, and his body was dumped at sea, reportedly in the North Arabian Sea. The killing of bin Laden is believed to be in revenge for al-Qaeda´s attacks on New York and Washington on Sept. 11, 2011 that killed nearly 3,000 people. Following the attacks, al-Qaeda argued it was carried out on behalf of all Muslims worldwide, but a majority of the Turkish population is not of the opinion that the terrorist group and its slain leader represent Muslims.
The MetroPOLL survey found that 78 percent of all respondents do not believe that bin Laden represented the Muslim world. Only 11 percent said the contrary, and another 11 percent declined to comment. According to 71.1 percent of respondents, the killing of bin Laden will boost acts of terrorism in the entire world. Only 10.8 percent said his killing will decrease such acts. Only a few days after the US killed the terrorist leader, al-Qaeda warned of retaliation, saying the Americans´ “happiness will turn to sadness.”
In response to a question on what they think about the US forces killing an unarmed bin Laden, 61.7 percent said they did not find it right. More than 24 percent, on the other hand, said they found it right. According to an overwhelming 78.3 percent, bin Laden should have been tried instead of being killed.
In a separate question, 49.5 percent of respondents said the Sept. 11 attacks were a “US conspiracy” and not carried out by bin Laden of his own free will. Slightly more than 25 percent, however, said the attacks were carried out by al-Qaeda upon an order coming from bin Laden.
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