A recent survey by the Objective Research Center (ORC) found that four Justice and Development Party (AK Party) mayors are among the five most popular mayors in the country.
According to the survey, four AK Party metropolitan mayors are among the country's top five most popular mayors. Interviewing 26,800 people in 30 cities between July 12 and 26, the survey found that Sakarya Mayor Zeki Toçoğlu is the most popular with a 59.7 percent approval rating.
Ankara Mayor Melih Gökçek came second with 59.4 percent approval and 58 percent of Ordu Mayor Enver Yılmaz with a 58 percent approval rating. Konya Mayor Tahir Akyürek came fourth with 57.2 percent and Eskişehir Mayor Yılmaz Büyükerşen from the Republican People's Party (CHP) was fifth with a 55.9 percent approval rating. Among the top 5, only Eskşehir Mayor Büyükerşen is not an AK Party mayor.
Istanbul Mayor Kadir Topbaş from the AK Party came 19th out of 30 metropolitan mayors with a 43.4 percent approval rating and İzmir Mayor Aziz Kocaoğlu from the CHP came 21st with 40.5 percent approval. Least popular metropolitan mayor is Tekirdağ Mayor Kadir Albayrak from the CHP.
Former Family and Social Policies Fatma Şahin Minister, currently serving as Gaziantep mayor, came seventh with 54.9 percent approval.
Turkey is set to hold local elections in 2019. In the previous local elections in 2014, the AK Party garnered 45.6 percent of the vote. The party prevailed in 19 out of Turkey's 30 metropolitan areas. In the face of the AK Party's success in 2014, the main opposition CHP received 27 percent of the vote, holding office in six metropolitan cities.
As the 2019 local elections near, AK Party chairman and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan urge every local branch and party member to communicate more with locals and listen to their problems. The 2019 local elections are seen by many as a rehearsal for the 2019 presidential election, which will be held for the first time after the Constitution was changed after the April 16 referendum to switch from the parliamentary to a presidential system.
