A recent opinion poll has shown that 52.6 percent of Turks believe the allegations of organized crime boss Sedat Peker involving political figures.
Peker, once a staunch supporter of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, has since early May been setting the country’s political agenda through videos he posts on YouTube, the latest of which has been watched by nearly 15 million people since Sunday.
Having fled to Dubai, the mobster has been making shocking revelations about state-mafia relations, drug trafficking and murders implicating state officials.
The survey was conducted by the Yöneylem Social Research Center on 3,140 people in Turkey.
While 52.6 of respondents said they believe Peker’s allegations, 24.9 percent said they are not informed enough to assess the claims. People who believe Peker is making false accusations for his own gain comprised 22.5 percent of respondents.
According to the poll, 68.9 of respondents agree that relations between the mafia and politics are continuing as they were. While 8 percent said they partially agree with the statement, 23.1 percent said they disagree.
Among voters of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), 30.3 percent said they agree with the statement, while 51.9 of voters of AKP ally the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) gave the same response.
Among supporters of the opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) and İYİ (Good) Party the percentages were 83.6, 86.3 and 84.6, respectively.