ORC Research General Manager Mehmet Pösteki speaks to 12punto: 'We have no relationship whatsoever with the IYI Party'

Ayhan TAŞPINARLIOĞLU - 12punto.com.tr

ORC Research Company found the IYI Party candidate Ayyüce Türkeş at 27% in Adana, Hamdi Sedefçi at 28% in Edirne, and Metin Özad at 23.8% in Kars in its research.

Large discrepancies emerged between the results found and the results that appeared on election night.

12punto.com.tr asked the reason for this to ORC Research Company General Manager Mehmet Pösteki.

''A LACK OF TRUST EMERGED DUE TO ITS GENERAL POLICY, WHICH REFLECTED ON THE CANDIDATES''

You found results suggesting the IYI Party would be over 20% in the general elections and that the IYI Party could win some cities in the local elections. Why are you unable to accurately predict the IYI Party's results?

''Research companies reveal and announce current trends during the process. One must evaluate general elections and local elections differently. Local elections are more candidate-based. The individuals in the provinces you mentioned are names who are liked and sympathized with by the public, and who received the answer 'I could vote for them.' But as the election approached, a lack of trust emerged due to the IYI Party's general policy, and it seems to have reflected on the candidates in some way. In provinces like Edirne, Çanakkale, Nevşehir, and Kars, the IYI Party candidates did not receive few votes at all; we only had a serious error in Edirne. Besides this, there was a performance in Nevşehir that no one expected. The IYI Party won there. We had announced that the CHP would win in provinces like Denizli and Manisa, which no one expected. We have as many places where we gave accurate results as we have places where we gave incorrect results.

''THERE IS NO COMMERCIAL RELATIONSHIP WITH THE IYI PARTY''

I do not find it right to be labeled with the IYI Party. There is no commercial relationship or anything of the sort. We have no ties to the IYI Party. If such a thing were the case, it would be like this in Istanbul, Ankara, and many provinces of Turkey. We conducted a candidate-based study. Even in the last week, there were many undecided voters. We asked the undecided voters, 'Which candidate do you feel closest to?' We do not distribute the undecided voters proportionally. Incorrect results emerged in a few provinces.

''WE ARE LEARNING FROM OUR MISTAKES''

We announced accurate results in Istanbul, Ankara, İzmir, and many cities. There are some deviations in the percentages. We correctly predicted many provinces in terms of who would win. For the candidates in Kars, Uşak, or other cities, only 1 study was not conducted; 3-5 studies were conducted. The trend was consistently a 3-way race. We are a company that has been in this sector for more than 20 years. We are learning from our mistakes. In this election, we did not act shamelessly and say, 'We couldn't get these right, but there are places we did get right.' We are evaluating with our colleagues. We will announce our election evaluation report in a few days.

"WE WILL COMPENSATE FOR THIS"

Do you conduct the polls face-to-face or by phone?

We conducted them mainly by phone. There are not many errors with the phone method. There is such a perception in the public. Inevitably, there can be some fears when conducting polls by phone. There are also places where we conducted them face-to-face. We announced 50 places. 30 of them yielded accurate results. 10 of them were average, and there was a serious error in 10 of them. We are evaluating this situation with our colleagues. We will compensate for this in the coming days.''