'Erdoğan trying to win back voters who left AKP for economic reasons'

Duvar English 

The head of prominent research company MetroPoll has said that President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is trying to win back the voters who abandoned support for the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) over economic reasons. 

Speaking to Medyascope, Özer Sencar said that the AKP's support decreased by 11 percent compared to the 2018 elections. 

According to Sencar, nine percent of the said eleven percent consist of voters who abandoned the AKP but remain undecided. 

"These people don't support other parties. Only two percent have started supporting others," Sencar said on Dec. 21, as he commented on the measures announced by Erdoğan to encourage Turkish lira savings.

Noting that the voters who previously supported the AKP don't suddenly start to support the opposition, mainly the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) and the right-wing Good (İYİ) Party, Sencar said that he expects these voters to continue backing the AKP if the economic downfall is stopped.

"I have no doubt that some of these voters will continue supporting the AKP if Erdoğan gives them economic relief. Erdoğan knows this very well too," Sencar said. 

"Erdoğan will implement economic policies aimed at garnering support in the elections. He will try to win people back. We don't know what the extent of these policies will be," he added. 

Saying that the government keeps mentioning salary increases, Sencar noted that the people who no longer want to vote for the AKP didn't abandon the party over the steep decline in freedoms and democracy. 

"These people abandoned the AKP because it couldn't manage the economy well," he said.