A survey among Kurdish voters revealed that support for ruling AKP (Justice and Development Party) dropped significantly due to its policies on the Kurdish question after the elections in 2015.
According to the study prepared by Spectrum House titled “Kurdish voter tendency” AKP lost half of its votes while the HDP (Peoples’ Democratic Party) and CHP (Republican People’s Party) increased theirs.
The data was obtained by face-to-face interviews with 1934 people living in 14 provinces heavily inhabited by Kurdish voters.
Asked about their political preferences in 2018 elections, 67.4% of the participants said they voted for HDP, 18.5 % for AKP and 3.8% for CHP voters. 9.3% said they had never voted before.
Asked for whom they would vote if there were elections this Sunday, 73% responded HDP, 9% AKP, 6.5% CHP, 4.4% undecided. 4.1% said they would abstain from voting.
When compared with 2018 results, the data showed that AKP lost 9% of its votes among Kurdish voters, HDP increased by 5.6% and CHP increased by 2.7%.
The study said that the policies followed by the AKP after 2015 created a fracture among the Kurds whose demands involving “identity, mother tongue and social right” were not met. Kurdish voters also did not approve of oppression against the HDP and the closure case against the pro-Kurdish party, as well as the appointment of trustees to HDP municipalities, the report said.
According to the report, 74 percent of HDP voters supported the idea that the HDP should nominate its own candidate in the first round of the presidential elections due in June 2023, instead of supporting the People’s or the Nation’s Alliance candidate.
The parties that will enter the elections for the first time, especially DEVA, Future Party and Victory Party, have not yet found any significant support from the Kurdish voters.
Source:gerceknews
