Poll: Nearly 60 pct of Turks support constitutional change


According to Turkish media reports, recent polls have found nearly 58 percent of the people are likely to vote "yes" in the April 16 referendum, once the undecided voters are accounted for.The polls revealed another critical detail, finding that 60 percent of the people in Turkey's east and southeast regions, where the majority in past elections voted for the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), will likely say "yes" to the constitutional amendment package and disregard the HDP's "no" campaign. According to the latest poll results, presented to the ruling Justice and Development Party's (AK Party) Central Decision and Executive Board (MKYK) over the weekend, before the distribution of the undecided voters, 47 percent of the participants indicated that they would vote "yes," compared to the 35 percent expected to say "no" to the constitutional amendment package in the referendum.Taking into account the number of undecided votes, the percentage of "yes" votes reaches a minimum of 53 percent, while the highest rate is estimated to be 58 percent.Rallies held by Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım to inform the public about the content of the amendment package seem to have had a positive effect on the campaign, increasing the number of "yes" voters. The increase is largely attributed to the 18-to-20 percent of undecided voters, who have recently shifted their voting preferences.Meanwhile, the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) supporters are found likely to vote "yes," while changes in the number of "no" votes were not observed.When the regional distribution of voter tendencies across the nation are analyzed, the highest number of "yes" votes is expected to come from Central Anatolian, with nearly 70 percent of people in favor of the constitution amendment package, while 60 percent of voters in the eastern and southeastern regions of Anatolia as well as the Black Sea region are likely to vote "yes" in the referendum.In the Aegean region, however, there was no notable difference between the number of "yes" and "no" voters. The number of referendum supporters and naysayers in the Marmara and Mediterranean regions were also evenly balanced.