Support for main opposition CHP quadrupled in Kurdish-majority provinces: Pollster
The support level for the main opposition CHP has quadrupled in Kurdish-majority provinces since the 2018 general elections, breaking the HDP and AKP domination, said Roj Girasun, the general manager of the pollster Rawest Research.
Duvar English
The main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP)’s Kurdish vote has quadrupled since the 2018 general elections, according to the latest polls, said Roj Girasun, the general manager of the pollster Rawest Research.
Girasun made the comments while answering journalist Didem Mercan’s questions on Gazete Duvar’s YouTube channel on April 11.
He said that Kurdish voters have started to break away from the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and this can be seen both in eastern Turkey as well as throughout the country. “The breakaway of the Kurds residing in metropolises such as Istanbul, Ankara, Mersin, Adana, Antalya and İzmir and who have voted for the AKP in the previous elections, is more (substantial) compared to Kurds who have voted for the AKP in the (eastern) region,” he said.
“The second important issue is that the first address of these breakaways from the AKP is the CHP, and that is a surprising result because since the 2002 elections, Kurdish voters had two addresses: first the AKP and the second HDP…Today we see the CHP standing amongst these other two political organizations, despite not being at the same level (in terms of votes), and showing itself.”
He said that the CHP has a very high chance of winning parliamentary seats in Diyarbakır, Van and Şanlıurfa in the May 14 elections. “And Mardin is not also far away from this threshold. Although we observe that the CHP is not close to garnering sufficient votes for deputyship in other provinces of the region such as Batman, Bitlis, Muş, Hakkari and Ağrı, we observe that there is a serious increase of votes of the party in these provinces.”
“The polls we conducted in the region show that the CHP’s votes have increased by approximately four times. One in every three voters who supported the AKP in the previous elections has broken away (from the party). The HDP has also partially lost its support,” he said.
Girasun also said that Kurdish voters will support the opposition Nation Alliance’s presidential candidate and CHP leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, according to the polls. “It is not difficult to say that Kurdish voters have gravitated towards Kılıçdaroğlu to a large extent. He will garner a vote level greater than that of the HDP in the (eastern) region.”