A BBC-commissioned public opinion poll conducted by ORB International, a leading corporate and issue-led market research company, showed that 70 percent of people living in Syria's Raqqa, an ISIS-controlled city, believe that the so-called Islamic State is a positive influence.

"Why is this his reaction? Because, as the data verifies, many of those living in Raqqa now are happier since IS took over," Johnny Herald, managing director of ORB International, told BBC. The managing director linked this to the security that the terrorist organization had provided.

The group was able to conduct surveys in areas such as Raqqa by seeking permission from the head of each town.

The BBC has described this poll as " the world's most dangerous survey" for having been able to hold interviews in territories that fell to ISIS' control.

Despite this, 84 percent of Iraqis interviewed and 48 percent of Syrians think that ISIS is a "strongly negative" influence. More than four-fifths in Iraq (81 percent) and Syria (85 percent) think that ISIS is the product of foreign countries.

At the same time, 49 percent of Syrians and 56 percent of Iraqis oppose the U.S.-led coalition's airstrikes.

Syrian President Bashar Assad fared poorly in the survey, with a 47 percent net positive image across the whole country. However, he is seen as having a positive influence in three of his strongholds, with 89 percent in Tartous, 81 percent in Damascus and 69 percent in his home province Latakia viewing him as completely or somewhat positive.

The research company interviewed 1,234 Iraqi adults across nine governorates, including ISIS-held Ninevah, Anbar, and Salah-al-Din and 1,365 adults across all of Syria's 14 governorates.

This means that it is nationally representative in Syria, but not in Iraq because ORB International failed to cover three Kurdish governorates and six Shiite areas in southern Iraq.

Of those polled, 66 percent in Iraq and 57 percent in Syria said thought that their country was going in the wrong direction, but 74 percent and 70 percent, respectively, dismissed dividing their countries into autonomous regions as a solution.

With an escalating refugee crisis that has Europe's leaders scrambling for solutions, the wars in Syria and Iraq have caused mass exodus, destruction, and trauma.

The opinion poll was conducted between June and July of this year.