Opinion polls in Turkey

Opinion polls in Turkey (Turkish: anketler) are conducted by several companies which vary in terms of political affiliations and sampling techniques. They usually conduct polls in relation to voting intentions of the electorate during elections. Results of such polls tend to vary widely, usually due to political bias and alleged manipulation.^[1] In some cases, such as during the 2014 presidential election held on 10 August, they have been criticised for their inaccuracy.^[2][3][4] The leader of the KONDA polling company issued an apology for their inaccuracy on 15 August 2014.^[5] On a notable occasion on 17 March 2014, just before the local elections, a poll conducted by the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) put the opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) in the lead.^[6] This poll, like several others conducted before the local elections, did not reflect the outcome of the vote, which again put the verifiability of Turkish opinion polls in doubt.

List of polling companies

A list of major polling companies in Turkey is as follows. Alleged affiliations and history is also listed.^{[7][8][9][10][11][12][13]}

Company	Formation	Owners	Alleged affiliations		Notes
A&G	1997	Tarhan Erdem (owner) Adil Gür (Manager)		Doğan Holding newspapers	Critical of the opposition CHP and its former leader Deniz Baykal, despite Gür's social democratic ties, after Erdem (former Minister of Industry and Technology under Bülent Ecevit) left the party.
ANAR	1998	Beşir Atalay		Justice and Development Party (AKP)	Founder Beşir Atalay is an AKP Member of Parliament, former Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior.
Andy-AR	1999	Faruk Acar		Justice and Development Party (AKP)
Denge	-	Hasan Basri Yıldız		Justice and Development Party (AKP)	Yıldız has worked with AKP leader Recep Tayyip Erdoğan since the latter entered politics. The company's secretary is AKP İstanbul Member of Parliament Zeynep Karahan Uslu. Works as a private polling company for the AKP.
Estima	2010	Hasan Tanla		Republican People's Party (CHP)	Owner Hasan Tanla is the son of CHP Member of Parliament Bülent Tanla, usually works for Vatan. Formerly known as Piar Gallup.
GENAR	1997	see notes		Unknown	Largely owned by academics. Managers include Hüsrev Hatemi, Ümit Meriç, Nilüfer Narlı, Davut Dursun, İlber Ortaylı, Haluk Şahin, Εdibe Sözen and Arus Yumul.
Gezici	2003	Murat Gezici Uğur Dündar[13]		Republican People's Party (CHP)	Known for its Kemalist and Social democratic political orientation.
KAMAR	1987	Murat Doğan		Republican People's Party (CHP)	Founded by Emre Κongar, who left the company in 1991. Published Bülent Τanla's analyses at one point.
Konda	1986	Tarhan Εrdem Bekir Ağırdır		Justice and Development Party (AKP)	Has alleged links with the AKP, with high poll results for AKP leader Recep Tayyip Erdoğan drawing criticism in the 2014 presidential election.[14] Tarhan Εrdem, who also founded A&G, has quit the CHP.
Konsensus	2001	Murat Sarı		Justice and Development Party (AKP) (former)	Conducts opinion polls mostly for Habertürk, moved away from the AKP after the 2013–14 protests in Turkey.[15]
MetroPOLL	2009	Özer Sencar		Justice and Development Party (AKP) (disputed)	Accused of being associated with the AKP after publishing polls in July 2014 vastly in favour of Erdoğan.[16]
Optimar	-	Hilmi Daşdemir		Independent	Known to be independent, but polling results showing high results for the AKP has resulted in scrutiny.[17][18]
ORC	-	Mehmet Sefa Posteki		Unknown
POLLMARK	2003	see notes		Justice and Development Party (AKP)	Founded by İbrahim Dalmış, Ertan Aydın, Yusuf Ziya Özcan, İhsan Dağı, worked for the AKP during the 2014 presidential election.[19] Ertan Aydın works as an advisor to Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.[20]
SONAR	-	Hakan Bayrakçı		Republican People's Party (CHP)	Founder Hakan Bayrakçı was a parliamentary candidate for İstanbul from the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) in the 1999 general election.
Verso	1987	Erhan Göksel		Justice and Development Party (AKP)	Founder Erhan Göksel, an AKP supporter, led the company until his death in 2010.[21]

References

1. Nainesh Vaid. "BİRGÜN - Anket şirketleri manipülasyon mu yaptı?". birgun.net. Retrieved 2014-09-03.
2. "Anket şirketleri anket sonuçlarıyla fena çuvalladı Haberleri, En Son Haber || Samanyolu Haber". samanyoluhaber.com. Retrieved 2014-09-03.
3. "KONDA: Kamuoyundan özür dileriz - Gündem - T24". t24.com.tr. Retrieved 2014-09-03.
4. "MHP'den anket şirketlerine tepki - Gerçek Gündem". gercekgundem.com. Retrieved 2014-09-03.
5. "Anket şirketi KONDA kamuoyundan özür diledi | nediyor.com". nediyor.com. Retrieved 2014-09-03.
6. "AK Parti'nin anketinden CHP birinci parti çıktı | İnsan Haber". insanhaber.com. Retrieved 2014-09-03.
7. "Hangi Kamuoyu Araştırma Şirketi Kime Ait?". Retrieved 7 June 2015.
8. "Hangi araştırma şirketi kimin?". Retrieved 7 June 2015.
9. "Hangi ANKET şirketi, KİMİN?". Samanyoluhaber Mobil Site. Retrieved 7 June 2015.
10. "Hangi anket şirketi hangi partiye yakın?". METROSFER. Retrieved 7 June 2015.
11. "Haber 10 - Hangi araştırma şirketi kimin?". Retrieved 7 June 2015.
12. "O Araştırma Şirketleri Kime Yakın! - Önce Halk Haber Sitesi". Retrieved 7 June 2015.
13. "Hangi anket firması kime ait? Uğur Dündar'ın araştırma şirketi hangisi?". http://www.kemalistler.org. Retrieved 7 June 2015. External link in |work= (help)
14. "nediyor.com". nediyor.com. Retrieved 7 June 2015.
15. "Demokraside azınlıklara marjinal denmez". 5 July 2013. Retrieved 7 June 2015.
16. Hürrem Sönmez. "Metropoll araştırma şirketinin sahibi: Anketlerdeki fark, algı operasyonudur". Diken. Retrieved 7 June 2015.
17. "Haber : AK Parti seçim rekoru kırabilir mi? haberi". Internethaber. Retrieved 7 June 2015.
18. "Bağımsız Optimar Araştırma, AKP'ye Yakınlığıyla Bilnen Konda ve Anar'ı Doğruladı". http://www.adanakent.com/. Retrieved 7 June 2015. External link in |work= (help)
19. "Yusuf Ziya Özcan: Mübarek adam!". soL Haber Portalı - güne soL'dan bakın. Retrieved 7 June 2015.
20. "Başbakan Erdoğan'ın en yakın danışmanlarından Pollmark araştırma şirketinden Ertan Aydın, seçim stratejilerini anlattı". Internethaber. Retrieved 7 June 2015.
21. "Erhan Göksel: Güleni de, Erdoğan'ı da Yok Edecekler!". Retrieved 7 June 2015.