Erdogan's divisive politics will give him first-round victory
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's fervent ethnic and religious discrimination will enable him to win in the first round of Turkey's presidential election.
According to poll results released on Aug. 7 by KONDA, a leading polling company, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan will win the presidential election in the first round on Aug. 10, with 57% of the votes.
Konda carried out the poll on Aug. 2 and 3 in 30 Turkish provinces, via face-to-face interviews with 2,720 respondents. The poll has a plus-minus 2% margin of error. Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, the joint candidate of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) and the Nationalist Action Party (MHP), is slated to obtain 34% of the vote, far below expectations.
The poll also predicted that Selahattin Demirtas, candidate of the People's Democracy Party (HPD) who represents the Kurdish movement and some leftist circles, will get 9% of the vote, which will be seen as a success for him.
Findings from other polling companies predicted more or less the same outcomes.
