The president of the Istanbul-based A&G research company, Adil Gür, announced the results of a recent survey that found the majority of those asked consider President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan the leader of the country.

Speaking on the A Haber show late Wednesday, Gül said that when participants were asked to name who rules the country, 62.2 percent said Erdoğan, according to the survey, which was conducted last weekend with people from nearly 3,000 households in 36 provinces.

When participants were asked about their favorite politician, 49.4 percent overall said Erdoğan and 86 percent for participants who support the Justice and Development Party (AK Party.

Speaking on another program on the same day, Gür also said the results of other surveys found that support for the AK Party is higher than that of the party's votes in the Nov. 1 elections, which was 49.46 percent and netted 316 seats in Parliament.

A recent survey conducted by MAK Consultancy found that 57 percent of those questioned favor a presidential system over the current parliamentary structure. Another poll in mid-April by the Gezici Research Company, which strongly opposes the ruling party, found that 56 percent of participants favor a presidential system. While debates roil over a proposed new constitution and a possible change to presidential system, the recent survey came as a surprise to those who oppose the ruling party.

The Gezici Research Company, a widely debated polling company known for its dubious findings against the AK Party, projected that the AK Party would receive 56.2 percent of the vote if an election were held on the day of the survey.

Revealing the survey results on a television program on the leftist Halk TV channel, the president of the research company, Murat Gezici, said that the AK Party had received 56.2 percent support from survey participants. The survey also looked at public opinion regarding a presidential system as well as the establishment of a new constitution.

Another poll in early February conducted by the Ankara-based Objective Research Center (ORC) found that 56.1 percent of participants support a presidential system. The survey's administrators held face-to-face interviews with 8,329 participants from 30 provinces between Jan. 27 and Feb. 3. It also found that support for the AK Party stood at 52.4 percent at that time.

"The head of state, elected by the people, must have more than a symbolic role," Erdoğan said during a gathering in late January with more than 250 nongovernmental organizations aimed at launching efforts to establish a new constitution and show support for a presidential system. Former Presidents Turgut Özal and Süleyman Demirel along with former Prime Minister Necmettin Erbakan and former Deputy Prime Minister Alparslan Türkeş had all argued that Turkey needs a presidential system. In the first issue of Kriter magazine, which is published by Ankara's Foundation for Political, Economic and Social Research (SETA), Erdoğan said that Turkey's governing structure impedes rising opportunities and capabilities and that the country needs a presidential system based on a synthesis of Turkish history and culture and universal standards.

He said that many G20 countries are ruled by presidential systems. "We see that presidential systems are behind the success of the majority of developed countries in the world because they are capable of making quick decisions and [have] rapid execution mechanisms. I think that we also need a new constitution and presidential system for the new Turkey in terms of the aforementioned mechanisms."