Turkish opposition leader leads over president Erdogan: survey
ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Turkish opposition leader, Kemal Kilicdaroglu, could possibly beat President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the upcoming May presidential elections, according to a new survey by the private pollster, ORC Research.
Türkiye, ORC poll:
— Europe Elects (@EuropeElects) March 7, 2023
Presidential election
Kılıçdaroğlu (CHP-S&D): 57% (+7)
Erdoğan (AKP~NI): 43% (-7)
+/- vs. 2-5 January 2023
Fieldwork: 4-6 March 2023
Sample size: 1,850
➤ https://t.co/0NuW7xTmmj#anket pic.twitter.com/lV2NKiF6rz
The survey conducted by the ORC research company between March 4-6, asked "which of these two candidates would you vote for if Erdogan and Kilicdaroglu compete in the Presidential election to be held on May 14, 2023?"
The results showed that Recep Tayyip Erdogan from the Justice and Development Party (AKP) could receive 43.2 percent of the vote, while Kemal Kılıçdaroglu could get 56.8 percent of the vote.
According to the results of the survey, Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader, Kemal Kilicdaroglu, could win the first round of the elections with a margin of 13.6 points.
Read More: Kilicdaroglu: Turkey's 'quiet force' taking on Erdogan
However, an earlier poll by ORC in January suggested that Kilicdaroglu could have difficulty beating Erdogan, compared to other Turkish opposition leaders.
It added that Erdogan could win by a small margin over Kilicdaroglu: 42.5 percent for Erdogan, and 41.8 percent for Kilicdaroglu:
On Monday, Kilicdaroglu was chosen by the six-party alliance, named the ‘Table of Six’, as their leading candidate to challenge Erdogan.
The table of six also known as the Nation Alliance includes the CHP, the centre-right İYİ (Good) Party, Islamist Felicity (Saadet) Party, Democrat Party (DP), DEVA (Democracy and Progress) Party and Future (Gelecek) Party.
The pro-Kurdish People’s Democratic Party (HDP) is excluded from the alliance, but indicated they might support the alliance candidate against Erdogan, as they did in the 2019 municipal elections in Ankara and Istanbul, resulting in a win for the opposition.
The Table of Six is challenging the nationalist alliance between the ruling AKP and the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), established in 2018.
The popularity of Turkish President Erdogan has been damaged by the worsening economic situation in Turkey, due to inflation and the slow handling of the earthquake crisis that killed thousands of people.