Ankara – Recent polls indicate that the opposition candidate in Turkey’s presidential race is in the lead, and that the opposition bloc, Nation Alliance, will likely hold a majority in parliament following the upcoming election.
A new poll by Aksoy Research shows that opposition presidential candidate Kemal Kilicdaroglu is more popular than President Recep Tayyip Erdogan by more than 10 percentage points in Turkey ahead of the May 14 elections.
According to the results, Kilicdaroglu would win the election with 55.6% of the vote, easily surpassing Erdogan’s 41%.
The same poll showed that the opposition bloc was ahead of the ruling coalition by at least six points, with 44.1% of the vote, while the pro-Kurdish People’s Democratic Party, which is not part of either bloc, has maintained a vote share of over 10%, the minimum needed to enter parliament.
According to Piar Research, Kilicdaroglu received 57.1% of the vote compared to 42.9% for Erdogan, with the main opposition bloc receiving 46.4% of the vote to the ruling bloc’s 37.8%.
Kilicdaroglu received 55.1% of the vote in an Alf Research poll, while Erdogan received 44.9%.
In the same poll, the HDP received 11.3% of the vote while the main opposition bloc received 43.5%. These numbers are consistent with recent research from ORC, which put Kilicdaroglu at 58% and Erdogan at 42%. (43.2 percent).
Mishandling of the February earthquakes and rising inflation have hurt the ruling government and Erdogan’s chances.
With its 10% of the vote, the HDP’s support is crucial in the election, and Kilicdaroglu has announced he will meet with the party soon.
Selahattin Demirtas, the party’s former co-leader, has publicly invited the opposition candidate to meet with the pro-Kurdish group.
I look forward to meeting the HDP’s invaluable co-chairs. Kilicdaroglu said, “My friends are planning the visit” in an interview published on T24 on Monday.
However, the HDP’s future is uncertain because a recent court ruling could lead to the party’s closure due to its alleged ties to the banned Kurdistan Workers’ Party.
Expert on Turkish affairs Dr. Kaya Genc told Arab News, “[Kemal Kilicdaroglu] is no romantic rebel. He is a skilled politician who has managed to persuade Turkiye’s religious conservatives that he is their candidate and the champion of the country’s poor and powerless.
So far, his efforts have been fruitful. His coalition partner, Meral Aksener, along with right-leaning mayors, will persuade voters who value a strong central government to back Kilicdaroglu as well.
I see the opposition alliance’s polling lead expanding exponentially over the next few weeks as they ride the wave of public opinion.
However, Erkan Bas, the leader of the Turkish Workers’ Party, said on Sunday that Kilicdaroglu’s chances of winning would increase dramatically if his party’s supporters voted for him in the first round.
Kilicdaroglu returned to the earthquake zone last week, sleeping in a tent to demonstrate his solidarity with the victims.
