Justice and Development Party (AKP) spokesperson Mahir Ünal has said public support for President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s presidential candidacy is at around 55 percent, according to a survey.
President Erdoğan on Wednesday announced that Turkey would hold snap presidential and general elections on June 24. Erdoğan’s announcement came after a meeting with Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahçeli.
Turkey would normally hold these elections in November 2019.
Speaking at a news conference at AKP headquarters in Ankara on Thursday, Ünal said, “Our president currently has 55.6 percent of the vote according to the latest survey.”
Last year, Erdoğan narrowly won a referendum to amend the constitution and create an executive presidency, which will come into effect with the next presidential election. A total of 51.4 percent of the nation voted in favor of the reform.
Ünal also said the campaign for the elections would begin around May 15 and that big election rallies were planned.
In the meantime, another government official, Deputy Prime Minister Bekir Bozdağ, told the Anatolia news agency on Thursday that his party was confident that Erdoğan would win the presidency in the first round of the polls by securing at least 50 percent plus one vote.
“Early polls will positively affect the economy. There will be no need for run-off elections. The result of the [presidential] election is now certain after the reaction of the markets,” Bozdağ said, adding that Erdoğan is the presidential candidate of the AKP and the MHP.