Erdogan still popular despite graft probe
The graft probe seems to have had no impact on people’s support of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
A government worn out by corruption and bribery allegations is usually expected to lose votes and even the chance of a re-election. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, however, beats this chain. While it may be too early to call the result of the upcoming local administrative elections in March, and the scheduled general election next year, it may be only fair to speculate that if there were to be an election today, Erdogan would easily come to power in a single-party government for a fourth consecutive term.
Al-Monitor took to the streets of Ankara, visiting various districts such as Aktepe, Sincan, Eryaman, Etlik and Kecioren, where the Justice and Development Party (AKP) constituency is strong, and talked mainly to more than a dozen bakkal. A bakkal is a small neighborhood grocer; his store is where you find almost everything for your daily needs. The bakkals are considered the mirror reflection of their neighborhoods and have a knack for knowing the fabric of their immediate society.
The questions were quite basic, inquiring about people’s perception of the graft probe that became public on Dec.17 as well as the so-called war between the Sunni religious leader Fethullah Gulen and Erdogan, and whether the opposition has a chance to score better in the upcoming elections. Surprisingly, more or less the same answers kept being repeated.
In sum, people strongly believe that there is an international plot aiming to bring down Erdogan. They seem to have bought the prime minister’s line of attacking this corruption and bribery investigation, linking it to the Gezi Park protests — just as he argued back then — and that there is a foreign hand attempting to cut short the country’s economic success. Moreover, there is almost no one questioning the truth behind corruption allegations.
