Turkish Political Opinion in the Wake of 2011

As the year 2011 was drawing to an end, MetroPOLL, a renowned research institution, published the results of a public opinion survey on vital issues. Here are some of the findings:

• 71 percent of respondents endorse the official foreign policy, while only 25 percent find it unsuccessful. When these figures are compared with those of two years ago, the approval level has risen by 17 percent.

• Sixty-nine percent of respondents expressed their endorsement of the way the government handled the economy in 2011. Only 27 percent found it to be unsuccessful.

• 51 percent of Turks still desire to be a part of the EU, while 41 percent are opposed.

• As regards the leadership to navigate Turkey through the global economic crisis and mounting tensions in the Middle East, 55.5 percent of the people trust Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Trust in Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu is 9.8 percent, while 5.3 percent trust Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahçeli.

• When asked who is the most popular (liked) living politician or statesmen, 33 percent of respondents answered Erdoğan He was followed by President Abdullah Gül with 10 percent, Kılıçdaroğlu at 3.8 percent, Süleyman Demirel (ex-president) at 2.9 percent and Bahçeli at 2.1 percent; 16.5 percent of respondents made it obvious that they have no taste for any of the living politicians and statesmen.

• When asked who they would vote for if there were general elections this week, 51.8 percent of the respondents said AKP, 21 percent the CHP and 11.4 percent said the MHP.

  Today’s Zaman, Turkey

Click here for the full report