Erdogan ahead of Kilicdaroglu in possible election competition: Poll

The current Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan is likely to lead by a small margin against the main opposition leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu if the two compete in the second round of the presidential elections in 2023, according to a recent poll by Turkish polling company MetroPOLL.

The results of the poll, conducted between 17-20 September with the participation of 2,119 people in Turkey's 28 provinces, suggest that Erdogan will receive 44.9% of the popular vote, and Kilicdaroglu 43.9%, while 2.8% of the participants said they were undecided, 6.2% said they plan to boycott the election, and 2.2% said they did not have an opinion, or they did not wish to reply.

Kilicdaroglu, the leader of the Republican People's Party (CHP) may receive 80 percent of the supporters of the Good Party, the partner of CHP in the opposition bloc, and only 37% of the supporters of DEVA Party, also a part of the opposition bloc, the poll says.

While over 9% of Good Party supporters said they will vote for Erdogan, almost 30% of DEVA supporters will likely vote in favor of the current Turkish president.

76% of the supporters of the pro-Kurdish opposition Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) said they will vote for Kilicdaroglu if he runs against Erdogan.

17.5% of HDP supporters, 8.5% of Good Party supporters and 7.4% of DEVA supporters may boycott the presidential election if Erdogan and Kilicdaroglu compete in the second round, according to the results of the poll.