Opinions range in Istanbul on President-elect Donald Trump

World Today

As international reaction to the U.S. election results has been pouring in, Muslims have been expressing their opinions on a Donald Trump presidency and it may not be what you expected.

During the election campaign, Trump said he planned “a total and complete shutdown of Muslims” entering the US, and has made several divisive and Islamophobic comments.

So it would be no surprise if the 1.6 billion Muslims around the world were feeling heightened anxiety.

Yet that’s not exactly what CCTV’s Natalie Carney discovered as she took to the streets of Istanbul, Turkey, a country with a majority Muslim population.

Follow Natalie Carney on Twitter @NatalieCarney77

According to some accounts, more than 90 percent of Turks identify themselves as Muslim.

Yet Turkey’s constitution has long separated religion and state, which differentiates it from many other Middle Eastern or majority Muslim populated countries.

However, Donald Trump’s anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant comments touched a nerve on conservatives and seculars alike.

Trump’s foreign policy intentions have been mixed. Throughout his election campaign he swung between an “America First” isolationism and calls for bold action against terrorism.

Now it might not be so surprising why leaders of many Muslim countries were some of the first to congratulate President elect Trump.

What might prove more concerning for Muslims outside the U.S. is whether the billions of U.S. dollars spent on humanitarian and military aid to their countries will continue, particularly as Trump has promise to stop frittering away taxpayers’ money abroad.