CHP's Kilicdaroglu may get over 66% of votes in 3 Kurdish provinces

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
8 May 16:16
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76.3% of people show readiness to vote for Kilicdaroglu in Diyarbakir during the first round, while the percentage in Van is 73.8% and 66% in Mardin. If a runoff occurs, 69.4% to 78.5% will vote for Kilicdaroglu.

Turkish presidential candidate and opposition leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu at a rally in the city of Nigde on May 4, 2023. (Courtesy of CHP)

A poll conducted by Rawest on Sunday shows that the opposition alliance's candidate, Kemal Kilicdaroglu, may receive more than 66% of votes in three mainly Kurdish provinces.

Performed between April 21-29 in the provinces of Diyarbakir, Mardin, Urfa and Van with 5,979 people participating, the poll found a margin error of around 2.65%, and the undecided votes were shared evenly among four candidates.

76.3% of people show readiness to vote for Kilicdaroglu in Diyarbakir during the first round, while the percentage in Van is 73.8% and 66% in Mardin.

Urfa, on the other hand, recorded 57% willing to vote for the opposition candidate in the first round, and 58.9% in the second.

In an interview with Al Mayadeen English, Turkish affairs expert Mahmoud Allouch clarified that Kilicdaroglu is relying on the Kurdish vote to secure his victory in the presidential elections during the first round, but “it is a challenging task to achieve a decisive outcome in the presidential elections during the initial round.”

Pre-election poll results are constantly varying and a clear winner has not been revealed yet in the elections due May 14. In case a runoff happens, the second round will take place on May 28 if no candidate gains 50% of votes.

Even according to a poll conducted by the Optimar research center and cited by Turkish newspaper Hurriyet on May 2, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan took 51.4% of the votes, while Kilicdaroglu got 48.6%.

Yesterday, Erdogan held a mass rally in Istanbul with at least 1.7 million people attending less than a week before the Turkish presidential and parliamentary elections, the state-run Anadolu Agency reported.

The same day, opposition Istanbul mayor Ekrem Imamoglu was confronted by a crowd during his election rally speech for the CHP in the city of Erzurum - a city known for its strong ruling party AKP affiliation - when a crowd of around 100 people who began throwing rocks at his campaign bus.