Google Search Trends enables users to delve into the vast realm of search data and gain unique insights into interests, concerns, and curiosities. By providing real-time and historical data on trending search queries, this resource can reveal significant patterns and changes in public interest, making it an invaluable resource for researchers, marketeers, journalists, and the public alike.
Events and developments in one country can have an impact on the entire world. Therefore, monitoring search trends can provide important insights into how various events are perceived and discussed in communities.
Soon, Turkiye will run a big election day. Due to the geopolitical situation of the country, the outcome of this election is of great importance not only for Turkiye itself, but also for the whole world.
That’s why, in this post, using our free Search Trends Chart Generator, we observed trend changes between candidates of the 2023 Turkish Presidential Election. Keep reading if you would like to see details of major events and their effect on search trends.
We typed four candidate names in keyword section on PEMAVOR’s free Search Trends Chart Generator, set the date between 01.01.2023 and 04.23.2023, then we selected country as Turkiye.
Let’s check how these milestones relate to the voters’ search trends.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan signed the decision for the Presidential and 28th Term Parliamentary Elections at the press conference in Bestepe on March 10, 2023. Thus, Turkiye’s next elections will be held on May 14.
| Candidates | Alliance | Party |
|---|---|---|
| Kemal Kilicdaroglu | Nation | CHP |
| Sinan Ogan | Ancestral | ZP |
| Recep Tayyip Erdogan | People’s | AKP |
| Muharrem Ince | – | MP |
Declaration of election
There were always speculations about whether the elections would be held early. However, On January 18, Erdogan again referred to the May 14, 1950, election at the AKP parliamentary group meeting, in which the Democratic Party leader Adnan Menderes won the election and assumed the post of prime minister. This reinforced the signal that the 2023 elections could be held on the same date.
On January 23, Erdogan declared at the presidential cabinet meeting that May 14, 2023, would be the best day for the election.
After the election date was announced, the question of candidates came to the fore. The first statement came from MHP Chairman Devlet Bahceli. He declared that their candidate was Erdogan, and they’d stand by their decision. This didn’t have much impact on search trends, as it was a predictable statement.
While the election process had already gained widespread influence in Turkiye, the February 6, Kahramanmaras earthquake affected eleven provinces. The whole country was suddenly plunged into mourning.
Horrible earthquake
The Homeland Party leader Muharrem Ince was the first politician to visit the earthquake area the next day. The videos he shared from the region became an important source for the public wondering about the situation there. This made his name rise in search trends.
On February 15, “Turkiye One Heart” campaign was held on Turkish televisions to raise funds for earthquake survivors. Kemal Kilicdaroglu donated his one month’s salary to this campaign. It was an exemplary behavior for other politicians, which put Kilicdaroglu at the top of the search trends by a large margin.
The Nation Alliance is an electoral and political alliance in Turkiye, made up of six opposition parties to contest the 2023 Turkish general election against its main rival, the People’s Alliance.
Table of Six situation
On February 20, Muharrem Ince appeared on Fatih Altayli’s political talk show Bire Bir. His rhetoric was widely discussed by his opponents and supporters on Twitter. On March 3, he also said he wasn’t opposed to Good Party leader Meral Aksener becoming prime minister. He stated that he was a presidential candidate.
During this time, the dissolution and reunification of the Table of Six suddenly hit like a bombshell. Aksener suddenly left the Nation Alliance. However, after the negotiations, she returned to the Alliance three days later. And on the same day, the Table of Six announced that the presidential candidate was Kemal Kilicdaroglu. Although this event was an important process for Turkiye’s agenda, it didn’t have much impact on the candidate searches. The issue was discussed mainly in relation to Aksener and the Table of Six.
Moreover, at this time, Muharrem Ince’s dance on the campaign bus suddenly went viral on TikTok. And young people started making videos of Muharrem Ince dancing. However, many well-known names criticized him on Twitter. They argued that such a dance shouldn’t be done after a month has passed since the earthquake.
These two simultaneous agendas significantly increased the search trends of both Ince and Kilicdaroglu.
100 thousand signature
In the Homeland Party primaries on March 12, leader Ince was elected by the members as the presidential candidate. On the same day, Sinan Ogan was elected as the presidential candidate of the Ancestral Alliance.
Ince had stated in some of his statements that he wanted to become a presidential candidate after leaving the Ancestral Alliance. In other words, it was obvious that he’d run for the Homeland Party.
Therefore, this result had little impact on search trends. On the other hand, we found that Sinan Ogan’s result contributed more activity to his search trends.
In this context, only Ince and Ogan have completed the collection of signatures for those who want to be nominated by electorates as presidential candidates.
Moreover, the candidacies of Erdogan and Kilicdaroglu , who were nominated by the decision of the party groups, were also approved by the Supreme Election Commission (YSK).
The signature nomination of Ogan and Ince was one of the most discussed nominations. People were eager to see if the two popular names could actually collect 100 thousand signatures and how many days they did it. There was also speculation that the AK Party was behind Ince’s collection of 100 thousand signatures in four days. This whole process brought the two names to the forefront of search trends.
Can Erdogan run for a third term in Turkiye’s upcoming?
The closer the elections came, the more frequently the question was asked whether it was possible under the constitution for Erdogan to run for a third time. The government claimed that Erdogan’s candidacy was possible because his first presidency predated the presidential system.
The opposition, on the other hand, said Erdogan has already held the presidency twice, and it doesn’t matter whether this was before or after the presidential system. They added that there was no transitional article in this regard in the 2017 constitutional amendment when the presidential system of government was introduced. For this reason, they claimed that he wouldn’t run for a third time.
As a result, an objection to Erdogan’s candidacy was filed with the Supreme Election Commission (YSK). However, on April 3, the YSK rejected this objection.
Kilicdaroglu’s “Alevi” video went viral on Twitter
On April 19, Kilicdaroglu shared a video titled Alevi on Twitter. The video caused quite a stir. It even surpassed Messi’s 26 million viewed videos. The impact of this video brought Kilicdaroglu to the top of search trends.
Alevism is an Islamic tradition whose followers follow the mystical Islamic teachings of Haji Bektash Veli. Followers of Alevism are found primarily in Turkiye, and it’s estimated that between 4% and 25% of the Turkish population are Alevis.
Conclusion
???? Google Search Trends shows the interaction of social events.
???? World events have a huge impact on Google Search Trends.
???? Nowadays, the Internet is more trustworthy than the mainstream media to get information.
???? As Generation Z is more active on social media, politicians are also focusing on digital campaigns. In parallel, this situation provides a free opportunity to campaign for politicians who have no financial support from their party.
???? Even though politicians have a low vote rate according to surveys, this doesn’t prevent them from being at the top of Google Search Trends.
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