A public opinion survey released on Wednesday by İstanbul Economics Research has revealed that more than half of Turks who voted for the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) in the June 24 general election have a negative opinion on the outlook of the Turkish economy.
According to the poll, 35.2 percent of AKP voters chose the option “very bad” to the question of “What do you think about the current state of the economy?” whereas the share of AKP voters who gave the same response was only 11.6 percent in August.
People who responded to the same question with “bad” were at 21.3 percent, compared to 20.1 percent in August.
A total of 56.5 percent of AKP supporters expressed a negative view of the economy, a considerable increase from the 31.7 percent in August.
A similar trend was visible among voters for the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), which had formed an alliance with the AKP during the 2018 elections. MHP supporters who think the economy is in bad shape rose from 59.3 percent in August to 85.7 percent in December.
Republican People’s Party (CHP), Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) and Good (İYİ) Party voters remained much more pessimistic overall.
When asked to compare their economic status with what it was a year ago, 52.3 percent of AKP voters stated that it is now “worse” or “much worse,” while the figure was only 22.5 percent in August.
The participants were also queried as to who they think is most suited to address Turkey’s economic problems. Those who answered current President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan dropped from 46.8 percent in August to 33.7 percent, while respondents who chose the options “no answer” or “none of the leaders, we need someone new” rose to 41.8 percent from 28.3 percent in August.
Turkey’s economy was shaken by a currency crisis in 2018. While the decline in value of the Turkish lira has stopped and its volatility decreased, interest rates and inflation have continued to rise as 2018 comes to an end.
