28.01.2026 15:43
In a survey conducted by ASAL Research in January 2026 across 26 provinces, voters were asked, "Who would you like to see as a presidential candidate in the upcoming elections?" In the open-ended survey, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan ranked first, followed by ABB President Mansur Yavaş.
ASAL Research and Consultancy shared the results of its "Presidential Candidate" survey conducted across Turkey in January 2026 with the public. In the study conducted with 2,000 participants aged 18 and over in 26 provinces, respondents were asked the open-ended question "Who would you like to see as a presidential candidate in the upcoming elections?" without being given any names.
ERDOĞAN IS IN FIRST PLACE
According to the survey results, President and AK Party Chairman Recep Tayyip Erdoğan ranked first with 35.8%. He was followed by Ankara Metropolitan Mayor Mansur Yavaş with 20.1% and Istanbul Metropolitan Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu with 17.5%.
OTHER NAMES MENTIONED BY VOTERS
The other prominent names and their vote percentages in the research were as follows: Selahattin Demirtaş 5.2%, CHP Chairman Özgür Özel 4.4%, İYİ Party Chairman Müsavat Dervişoğlu 2.5%, Victory Party Chairman Ümit Özdağ 2.0%, New Welfare Party Chairman Fatih Erbakan 1.5%, and Yavuz Ağıralioğlu 1.0%. The "Other" response was 4.1%, while the percentage of those who said "I have no opinion/no answer" was measured at 5.9%.
Here is the graph of that survey;
DETAILS OF THE RESEARCH
It was stated that the study conducted by ASAL Research was carried out between January 16-24, 2026, with a 95% confidence interval and a ±2.5 margin of error using the CATI (Computer-Assisted Telephone Interview) method. It was reported that the distribution of the sample was based on the number of voters in the last general elections by province.