A poll said that the popularity of Turkey has dropped sharply over the past two years, reflecting Ankara’s controversial foreign policy strategy.

A poll said that the popularity of Turkey has dropped sharply over the past two years, reflecting Ankara's controversial foreign policy strategy.

Overall, the number of people surveyed in 16 countries who had a positive view of Turkey slid to 59 percent this year from 78 percent in 2011, the Turkey Economic and Social Studies Foundation said on Wednesday.

The biggest decline was registered in Egypt and war-ravaged Syria, where Turkey is strongly opposed to those in power, according to the poll by an Istanbul-based think-tank.

Turkey had adopted a "zero problems" policy towards its neighbors but has found itself losing influence in the wake of the Syrian conflict and the Arab Spring uprisings.

In Syria, 88 percent of those surveyed believe that Turkey is "not friendly" towards their country, which has been in the grip of a brutal conflict since March 2011.

The government of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan supports the armed groups fighting the Syrian government and hosts about 600,000 refugees from the war.

In Egypt, the ratio of those with a favorable view of Turkey dropped by more than half to 38 percent over three years, the poll found.

Relations with the Arab heavyweight Egypt are in tatters after Erdogan's outspoken criticism of the military "coup" that ousted president Mohammad Mursi in July, prompting Cairo to kick out Turkey's ambassador last month.