Half of Turkish voters identify as religious, conservative, nationalistic, poll shows

A recent poll by private polling agency Metropoll revealed that 49.5 percent of Turkish voters identify as religious, conservative and nationalistic. Meanwhile, some 24.9 percent identify as Kemalists, supporters of the secular nationalistic ideals put forward by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk.

Tuesday December 22 2020 04:10 pm

Duvar English

Some 49.5 percent of Turkish society identify as "religious, conservative, and nationalistic," according to a November survey by private polling agency Metropoll.

The second largest group of respondents were those who identified as "Kemalists," meaning someone who supports the secular nationalistic ideals put forward by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the country's founding father.

Next, some 7.2 percent identified as social democrats, 4.3 percent as communists or socialists, and 2.6 percent as liberal democrats.

In a breakdown of the respondents' ethnic backgrounds, the largest fraction of Kurdish participants said that they would vote for the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) if there was an election tomorrow.

The second largest majority among Kurdish voters said that they would vote for the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), while 16.5 percent said that they were undecided.

While 29.7 percent of participants who identified as "Turkish" said they would vote for the AKP, 19.2 percent said the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) and 10.6 percent said Good Party (İYİ).

Surprisingly, 19.5 percent of participants who identified as Arab said that they would vote for the ruling alliance member Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) while 39 percent said AKP.