Latest polls show Erdoğan’s approval rating up amidst Russia-Ukraine crisis

Duvar English

Research firm MetroPOLL has found that 43.3% of people in Turkey approve of the way President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is comporting himself in office, up 2.2% from his approval rating in February. This is despite the continued economic crisis in the country and the Turkish lira steadily creeping towards 15.0 to the dollar. 

In the past month, President Erdoğan has positioned himself as a mediator for the Russia-Ukraine crisis, with a steady flow of international leaders coming to Turkey to meet with the president. The foreign ministers of Russia and Ukraine even met in Antalya - to no avail - in early March.

In December, when the Turkish lira reached its highest-ever rate against the dollar and euro, the Turkish leader’s approval rating fell to a low of 38.6%. This was up to 40.7% in January and 41.1% in February. 

Approval ratings were heavily split among party affiliations. 93.3% of Justice and Development Party (AKP) voters approved of Erdoğan’s performance in March, along with 87.9% of National Movement Party (MHP) voters. However, 89% of opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) voters did not approve of the president, nor did 86.7% of İYİ (Good) Party voters and 81.9% of People’s Democratic Party (HDP) voters.

Approval among AKP voters was up 3 percentage points from 90.1% in February and up nearly 20% from 67.5% among MHP voters.

The lowest-ever recorded approval rating for President Erdoğan was on June 7, 2015, the date of that year’s election, at 37.5%.