Top polling company predicts rise in AK Party votes

GENAR's president İhsan Aktaş says their latest poll for the March 30 local elections placed the AK Party ahead of the opposition at 48.8 percent.

Aktaş believes the AK Party will not lose voters over the Dec. 17 operation, which pitted the Gülen Movement against the government. "Unless there is an economic crisis, the AK Party will not lose, but there might be a decrease in the number of votes the party recieves," he said.

In a GENAR poll conducted prior to the Dec. 17 operation, the AK Party took 50.2 percent of the vote. The main opposition, the Republican People's Party (CHP), only received half a percentage point increase, reaching 28 percent.

GENAR also recently conducted a survey on the conflict between the AK Party government and the Gülen Movement. The survey found that 64 percent of interviewees sided with the government in the face of the Dec. 17 plot, while 18 percent believed the Gülen Movement was right in the debate. The survey asked participants whether they believe the Gülen Movement orchestrated the Dec. 17 plot; 73 percent answered in the affirmative.

The Gülen Movement, once lauded for its charity work and educational institutions in far-flung corners of the world, has morphed into a politically motivated body. Aktaş says public perception of the movement was initially affected by the intimidating Ergenekon and Balyoz trials, where people were wrongly investigated for involvement in coup. "Following those trials, the police and judiciary were regarded as above the state. The Gülen Movement threated and intimidated people. It used to be a religious congregation representing Turkey well. Now, it has lost this quality," Aktaş said.

As for voting figures for other parties competing in local elections, the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) followed CHP with 13 percent of the vote. The pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) secured the fourth spot with 6.5 percent.