Three Out Of Every Four People Against Dismissal of HDP Mayors, Says Survey

Click to read the article in Turkish

A survey conducted in the three cities with 1,536 people found that three out of every four people are against the dismissal of mayors.

The Ministry of Interior dismissed the mayors of the Kurdish-majority cities of Diyarbakır, Mardin and Van, appointing trustees to the municipalities.

All the three mayors are from the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) and they have been dismissed on the ground of terrorism-related investigations against them.

While the move caused a backlash from the opposition, sit-in protests have been continuing in the three cities for 17 days.

Here are some findings of the research by Rawesta firm:

* As urbanization and income levels increase, the proportion of AKP (Justice and Development Party) voters who find it wrong to appoint a trustee also increases.

* The ratio of Arabic voters in Mardin and Turkish voters in Van who approve the trustee decision is higher than the Kurds who voted for the AKP in these cities. This shows that even if the parties they voted for are the same, the emotional and political reflexes of the Turkish, Arabic and Kurdish voters in the region differ on the developments related to the Kurdish problem.

* The opinion of people who voted for other parties than the AKP, the HDP and the MHP tends to be closer to the opinion of the HDP voters. (HA/VK)