, a former minister, is leading the polls by over one point against İstanbul’s incumbent opposition mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, according to the results of a recent survey.){kind=link}
The mayoral candidate of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), a former minister, is leading the polls by over one point against İstanbul’s incumbent opposition mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, according to the results of a recent survey.
The survey showing AKP candidate for mayor Murat Kurum ahead of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP)’s İmamoğlu was conducted by the HBS research company. The company, which interviewed 2,925 people, shared the results of the survey on its X account.
İSTANBUL ARAŞTIRMASI
(2.925 seçmen
%48 Kadın-%52 Erkek
Yüz yüze görüşme metodu) pic.twitter.com/hxWkSFZs2o— Mustafa Öztürk Hbs Araştırma Şirketi (@Hbs_arastirma) February 15, 2024
Less than two months remain before Turkey’s local elections, scheduled for March 31.
When asked whom they would vote for in the upcoming mayoral election, 38.3 percent of respondents said they would vote for Kurum, who was followed by İmamoğlu, who received 36.9 percent support.
The survey showed 9.3 percent of voters in the city are still undecided as to which candidate they will vote for.
İmamoğlu was followed by the candidates of the nationalist opposition İYİ (Good) Party (5.2 percent), the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) (4.8 percent), the far-right, anti-refugee Victory Party (ZP) (2 percent) and the New Welfare Party (YRP) (1.9 percent).
HBS’s survey doesn’t reflect the public reaction to a landslide at a gold mine near the İliç district of Erzincan earlier this week that placed Kurum at the center of criticism.
The incident left nine workers trapped under 10 million cubic meters of mud and raised fears of a cyanide crisis due to the use of the chemical in gold extraction.
Environmental advocates and local officials sought to shut down the open pit mine after a cyanide leak caused by a burst pipe during Kurum’s term as environment minister in 2022.
The plant closed for a few months but then re-opened after its operator paid a fine, prompting an outcry from Turkey’s opposition parties.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on January 7 announced the nomination of Kurum, a former environment minister and current AKP lawmaker, as his party’s mayoral candidate to win back İstanbul from İmamoğlu.
İmamoğlu ended the years-long AKP rule in İstanbul when he defeated the party’s candidate in a repeat election in 2019. The election was held a second time due to the AKP’s claims about irregularities in the vote, as a result of which İmamoğlu won by an even greater margin.
İmamoğlu, who is viewed as Erdoğan’s most powerful political rival, faces a political ban and a jail sentence, if upheld by the top appeals court, on insult charges due to his remarks about election authority officials in 2019 as a result of a politically charged trial.