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The Diyarbakır-based Socio-Political Field Research Center has shared the results of its recent field survey on voter tendencies.
As part of the survey, face-to-face interviews were conducted with 1,507 participants from the eastern provinces of Diyarbakır, Urfa, Mardin, Van, Batman, Muş, Bitlis, Kars, Ağrı and Bingöl and their 15 districts.
The respondents of the survey were first asked, "What do you think is the biggest problem facing Turkey?" While 61.4 percent said, "Economic crisis/ unemployment", 16.9 percent answered that it was the "Kurdish question." The "environment of conflict and violence" with 4.9 percent, the "government" with 2.5 percent and "lack of opposition" with 2.4 percent were the other biggest problems of Turkey, according to respondents.
When the research center asked questions to find out how the participants were affected by certain problems and policies in the country, 94.1 percent said that they were negatively affected by "economic crisis/ inflation/ unemployment". This rate was 90.4 percent for the "pandemic", 75.6 percent for "the current situation of the legal system", 75.4 percent for the "system of education", 69.7 percent for the "policies on women and children", 68.3 percent for the "Presidential System" and 63.4 percent for the "policies of tension/ securitization" in the country.
12.6 percent said 'no party could solve problems'
When the participants were asked, "Which political party do you think is closest to solve the problems," 31.8 percent answered that it was the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP). While 18.8 percent opted for the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), 16.4 percent said that they were "undecided" and 12.6 percent said that "none of the parties" could do so.
While 71.8 percent of the respondents found the recent debates on party closures negative, 9.5 percent found them positive.
18.6 percent were again "undecided."
The voters of the ruling AKP and its ally Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) were among the ones who found party closure a positive development.
AKP lost votes, CHP on the increase
When they were asked, "For which party did you vote in the general elections on June 24, 2018," 40.4 percent said that they voted for the HDP, 25.9 percent said the AKP, 16.2 percent did not vote, 8.8 percent did not give an answer and 3.6 percent said that they voted for the CHP.
The respondents were also asked which party they felt closest to, apart from the ones that they had voted for. 70.1 percent said, "None of them" while 12.4 percent opted for the CHP, 6 percent for the MHP, 2.9 percent for the DEVA Party and 2.5 percent for the HDP.
"If we had elections this Sunday, which party would you vote for," the respondents were asked. 40.3 percent said that they would vote for the HDP. This rate was 18 percent for the AKP while 10.2 percent said that they would not vote at all. 8.7 percent were undecided and 5.8 percent opted for the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP).
According to these answers, the biggest drop in votes was seen in the AKP with a margin of 7.9 percent. While the HDP's votes did not show a significant change, the votes of CHP increased by 2.2 points. (RT/SD)
