P.A. Turkey

Nearly two-thirds of Turks say Erdoğan doing bad job on economy

Almost two-thirds of Turkish voters think President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s government is doing a bad job on the economy, according to an opinion poll by Avrasya Araştırma.

Just 21.1 percent of respondents in the poll of 2,460 people said Erdoğan was managing the economy effectively, Kemal Özkiraz, the head of Avrasya Araştırma, said on Twitter at the weekend.

Turkey’s lira sank to record lows against the dollar over the past month and has lost almost a quarter of its value this year. Inflation in the country accelerated to almost 20 percent in September, cutting spending power, while the official unemployment rate stands at 10.8 percent for men and 15 percent for women. Less than a third of women are now in the labour force.

Less than 20 percent of Turks think the government is capable of resolving Turkey’s economic problems, according to the poll. Asked whether a change of government would improve the economic situation in the country, 48.1 percent of respondents answered positively, while 32.1 percent thought it would worsen.

Sixty-two percent of voters thought the government should call early elections, Avrasya Araştırma said.

Former Economy Minister Ali Babacan, who heads the opposition Democracy and Progress Party (DEVA), would do a better job on the economy than Erdoğan, 63.4 percent of respondents said. The economy would also fare better under other opposition leaders including Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, Meral Akşener and Ahmet Davutoğlu, they said.

Turkey is going through a serious economic crisis, according to 56.9 percent of people questioned in the poll. Less than 30 percent thought the situation amounted to a temporary downturn.

Ahval