Türkiye’s AK Party leads opinion polls two years before election

Türkiye’s ruling Justice and Development Party, known as the AK Party, remains ahead in opinion polls two years before the next scheduled election, even as the main opposition presses for an early vote.

A Betimar survey found that 35.4% of respondents would support the AK Party if voting took place the following week. The New Party, which became the main opposition shortly after its creation, followed with 20.1%.

New Party leader Özgür Özel has repeatedly called for the 2028 election to be brought forward. He recently claimed that the party could win 60% of the vote in an early election. The poll offered a less sweeping picture, while showing a surprise rise for the Good Party, which reached 9.3% and moved ahead of the Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party.

The Republican People’s Party fell to 5.3%. The decline followed the loss of its main opposition status after a former CHP lawmaker founded the New Party.

The government, meanwhile, appears set on holding the election on time. Vice President Cevdet Yılmaz said the medium-term economic program had been prepared on the assumption that voting would take place in spring or summer 2028. He added that any change to the timetable would be decided by Parliament. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan also has the authority to call an early election, but has not openly responded to the opposition’s demands. The AK Party marked its 25th anniversary last month, pledging to deliver more services after successive election victories over the past two decades.