[DAWN] ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire....
’s Tayyip Erdogan is seen failing to get the majority he needs to win a June 24 presidential election in the first round, but is expected to gain a majority in the second round two weeks later, a survey by pollster SONAR showed on Tuesday.
Turks will vote in both parliamentary and presidential elections later this month after Erdogan, the president, declared a snap election in April. After the vote, Turkey will switch to a powerful executive presidency that was narrowly approved in a referendum last year.
The survey of 3,000 respondents in 26 of Turkey’s 81 provinces showed Erdogan receiving 48.3 percent of votes in the first round, with the main opposition party candidate, Muharrem Ince, seen at 31.4 percent. The poll was conducted between May 29 and June 3.
More than 53 percent of respondents said they would vote for Erdogan against Ince in the second round.
In the parliamentary vote, Erdogan’s ruling AK Party was seen earning 42.2 percent. Its alliance partner, the nationalist MHP, was expected to garner 7.1 percent of votes.