Undecided Voters To Determine Outcome Of Presidential Election In Turkey - Pollster

MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 01st April, 2023) The outcome of the 2023 Turkish presidential election will be determined by the votes of those who have not yet chosen their candidate, as well as by the supporters of the third candidate, Muharrem Ince, Director of the MetroPOLL public opinion research center Ozer Sencar said.

MetroPOLL conducted a survey across 2,046 people in 28 provinces between January 13 and March 14, asking which presidential candidate they would support. A margin error amounted to around 2%.

"No need to say much, everything is very clear. According to these data, the fate of the election will be determined by Muharrem İnce and the undecideds," Sencar tweeted on Friday.

The survey shows that 44.6% of respondents would vote for opposition candidate Kemal Kilicdaroglu, while incumbent Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan would receive 42% of the votes. At the same time, over 5% said that they had not decided on their preferences yet, 2.4% did not give an answer, and another 5.9% said that they were leaning towards "protest vote."

In January, the center's poll favored Erdogan, projecting 46% of the votes for him, a three-percent advantage over Kilicdaroglu.

Presidential and parliamentary elections are scheduled to be held in Turkey on May 14. Kilicdaroglu, put forward by the opposition six parties alliance, is considered Erdogan's main opponent. The list of presidential candidates also includes Muharrem Ince from the Homeland Party and Sinan Ogan, supported by the ATA Alliance.