Optimar denies data from its local election poll in Istanbul: 'What changed overnight?'

Journalist İsmail Saymaz had reported on a 5,000-person local election poll conducted by Optimar Research in Istanbul last month, stating that Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu was leading his closest rival by 12 points. Following the report, Optimar Research President Hilmi Daşdemir announced on his social media account that the data should not be considered credible. İsmail Saymaz subsequently responded to the post.

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Optimar denies data from its local election poll in Istanbul: 'What changed overnight?'

Optimar Research Company's local election poll of 5,000 people conducted in Istanbul last month, which was featured in a column by İsmail Saymaz, revealed data suggesting that IMM Mayor Ekrem İmamoğluwas leading his closest rival by 12 points.

Following the incident, Optimar Research President Hilmi Daşdemir released a statement on his X account.

WARNING AGAINST MANIPULATIVE ATTEMPTS

The statement included the following remarks:

"We are seeing public opinion polls circulating in traditional and social media that use the OPTİMAR name.

We kindly ask our valued followers not to give credence to research results that have not been announced through OPTİMAR's official corporate channels and to be cautious against manipulative attempts that could cause confusion in the public eye."

Following the post, İsmail Saymaz quoted it and said the following:

"Mr. Hilmi, you called me at 11:41 this morning. We talked about the research. In the morning, you did not say, 'We do not have such a study.' What changed by the evening?"

News Source: 12punto