Three figures beat Erdoğan in election, survey shows

Duvar English

Mayors from the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), Ekrem İmamoğlu and Mansur Yavaş, are leading against President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the most recent survey by private pollster ORC Research revealed.

Opposition right-wing Good (İYİ) Party leader Meral Akşener also beat Erdoğan for his office, whereas CHP leader Kılıçdaroğlu fell shortly behind Erdoğan.

Ankara Mayor Mansur Yavaş received 49.4 percent of votes in a question where he was competing with the president for his office, and Erdoğan received merely 39.8 percent. 10.8 percent said they are undecided.

Meanwhile, Istanbul Mayor İmamoğlu received 47.0 percent of votes in a question where he ran against the president, who received merely 41.9 percent of votes. 11.1 percent said they are undecided.

President Erdoğan has been at direct odds with both mayors in multiple situations since the local elections of 2019.

On the other hand, Meral Akşener received 46.3 percent of votes in a question where she ran against Erdoğan, who received 41.7 percent of votes. 12 percent said they are undecided.

Lastly, CHP leader Kılıçdaroğlu received 41.8 percent of votes, whereas his rival Erdoğan received 42.5 percent of votes. This time, 15.7 percent said they are undecided.

While there are rumors that Good (İYİ) Party leader Meral Akşener favors CHP’s Istanbul Mayor İmamoğlu instead of Kılıçdaroğlu, some senior CHP figures claimed that Kılıçdaroğlu will be their candidate against Erdoğan.

Kılıçdaroğlu said that it is the Table of Six that will choose the presidential candidate and that he will accept to run for presidency if six leaders agree upon him.

“Table of Six” is the name of alliance of the six opposition parties that are united to change Turkey’s presidential regime to “strengthened parliamentary system”, consisting the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), centre-right İYİ (Good) Party, Islamist Felicity (Saadet) Party, Democrat Party (DP), DEVA (Democracy and Progress) Party and Future (Gelecek) Party.

Some experts say that CHP’s Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu or Ankara Mayor Mansur Yavaş should run for presidency because Kılıçdaroğlu may not attract enough conservative voters from the ruling alliance. They also say Erdoğan's election campaign may prevail against Kılıçdaroğlu because of the former's rhetoric.

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