‘Rate of those who say “I will never vote for Erdoğan” on the increase’

* Photo: Anadolu Agency (AA)

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Avrasya Research Company has shared the findings of its public opinion survey that was conducted from March 26 to 31, 2021.

2,460 respondents from 26 provinces of Turkey took the face-to-face surveys. The first question that they answered was "If Turkey had general elections today, which party would you vote for?"

While 29 percent of them opted for the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, 23.4 percent preferred the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP).

12 percent said that they would vote for the İYİ Party, which is in the Nation's Alliance with the CHP. While 8.5 percent opted for the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), which is currently facing a closure case, 6 percent said that they would vote for the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) of Devlet Bahçeli, which is in the People's Alliance with the AKP.

12.8 percent said that they were "undecided."

When the swing or "undecided" voters were distributed among the parties, the AKP's rate of votes increased to 33.2 percent, that of the CHP to 26.8 percent, İYİ Party to 13.8 percent, HDP to 9.7 percent, MHP to 6.9 percent, Future Party of Ahmet Davutoğlu to 3.1 percent, DEVA Party of Ali Babacan to 2.9 percent and Felicity Party (SP) to 1.3 percent.

Almost half say 'I never vote for Erdoğan'

The respondents were also asked a question about the Presidential elections. 30.1 percent of them said "Yes" in response to the question "Would you vote for Erdoğan if he ran in the election again?"

48.2 percent said that "they would definitely not vote for him". When the respondents were asked "Would you vote for Recep Tayyip Erdoğan if he ran in the election again?", the rate of those who answered with "No" was 44.6 percent in January, 44.4 in February and 45 on March 15.

Answering this question in late March 2021, 11.9 percent of the respondents said that "it would be depending on other candidates" or "they were undecided." 9.8 percent did not want to give an answer.

Erdoğan or metropolitan mayors?

The participants of the survey were also asked for whom they would vote if the opposition's İstanbul Metropolitan Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu and President and ruling AKP Chair Erdoğan ran in the Presidential elections. While 47.6 percent opted for İmamoğlu, 33.6 percent said Erdoğan.

The same question was also asked for the opposition's Ankara Metropolitan Mayor Mansur Yavaş. While 47.7 percent prefered Mansur Yavaş, 33.8 percent said that they would vote for Erdoğan.

Who do you think will win?

"If Ekrem İmamoğlu and Recep Tayyip Erdoğan ran in the elections, which one do you think will win," the respondents were also asked. While 29.5 percent said that "Erdoğan would win", 37.8 percent said that "İmamoğlu would win." 21 percent said that "it would be in between."

Answering the same question with Mansur Yavaş, 29 percent of the respondents said that "Erdoğan would win", 41 percent said that "Yavaş would win" and 16.8 percent said that "it would be in between."

Is Turkey in an economic crisis?

The participants were also asked "whether they think there is an economic crisis in Turkey." While 83.2 percent answered in the affirmative, 15.6 percent said that "there is no economic crisis" in the country.

The survey also asked people whether they would agree with the sentence "I trust the government and the President; when the pandemic ends, the economic crisis will end." 28 percent agreed with the statement while 57.9 percent answered in the negative.

Whom do you feel closer to?

The respondents were also asked, "Whom do you feel closer to?" While 37.9 percent said "Recep Tayyip Erdoğan", 48.1 percent said "Mansur Yavaş." When the same question was asked with Ekrem İmamoğlu, 39.6 percent said "Recep Tayyip Erdoğan", 52 percent said "İmamoğlu."

When this question was with İYİ Party's Meral Akşener and the CHP's Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu respectively, those who opted for Erdoğan were 39.5 percent and 38.5 percent. This rate was 44.1 percent for Meral Akşener and 48.3 percent for Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu. (RT/SD)