Voters in Turkey keep energy policy in mind when voting: Survey

ISTANBUL

Turkish voters will keep energy policies in mind when voting in elections, a poll conducted by an Istanbul university’s research center has revealed.

The poll conducted for the third consecutive year by Kadir Has University’s Center for Energy and Sustainable Development Research Center showed an increasing trend in levels of awareness on energy issues.

High prices continue to remain as Turkish consumers’ number one problem when it comes to energy issues, revealed the poll made public yesterday.

The overriding outcome for this year’s poll is the fact that energy price hikes last year have had its toll as people seriously feel the effect of the prices on their budget, according to Professor Volkan Ediger who presented the findings of the poll as the head of the center.

2018 saw one of the highest price hikes in energy in modern Turkey’s history. Electricity prices were subjected to rise five times over the year, with the hike reaching 45 percent in households and 70 percent in the industry. Similarly, the prices of natural gas increased by four times, with the rise reaching 27 to 37 percent in households, 29 percent in small industry and 100 percent in heavy industry.

Some 42 percent of the respondents of the survey said that ”high cost is the most important problem of Turkey’s energy system.”

This is the same outcome as the one of the 2017 poll.

In 2016, “dependence on imported energy” ranked as the most important problem, with 39 percent, while “high cost” came second, with 31 percent.

Meanwhile, 33 percent said the economy is Turkey’s most important problem, followed by education, with 16 percent.

There is an increasing trend to see democracy as Turkey’s most important problem. It came third this year, with 14 percent, while this rate was 12 percent in 2017 and 7 percent in 2016.

In 2016, 22 percent had said domestic security was Turkey’s most important problem. This rate dropped to 6 percent in 2017 and to 3 percent in 2018, underscoring a declining worry among Turks since a year plagued by several terror attacks.

There is an upward trend among those who say they take into consideration energy policies while voting for political parties. Around 34 percent said they take account energy policies into consideration, while this rate was 17 percent in 2017 and 15 percent in 2016.

In 2016, 55 percent had said “I don’t take into consideration energy policies while voting.” This rate dropped to 44 percent last year and 35 percent this year.