Discrepancies Between Political Parties' Membership and Social Media Follower Counts Draw Attention
According to Court of Cassation data, when comparing political parties' membership numbers with their follower counts on the X platform, it was observed that members do not follow their parties in all parties except for the CHP.
A comparison between the official membership numbers of political parties and their follower counts on the X platform revealed a distinct picture. According to the Court of Cassation data, while the AKP ranks first in membership count, the membership numbers of all parties except the CHP remained higher than their social media follower counts, or members did not follow their parties. The sole exception to this situation was the CHP, which had more followers than its number of members.
Current Membership Data Announced by the Court of Cassation
According to the data from the Office of the Chief Public Prosecutor of the Court of Cassation dated July 1, 2026, the membership numbers of political parties in Turkey have become clear.
According to these data, the AKP ranks first with 11,709,913 members, while the Republican People's Party's (CHP) membership number was recorded as 1,879,973.
Membership Distribution of Other Political Parties
NEW Party Chairman Özgür Özel stated in his announcement on October 6 that his party's membership number reached 753 thousand.
Additionally, the New Welfare Party has 783,085 members, the MHP 501,122, the İYİ Party 385,025, the Felicity Party 374,724, and the DEM Party 17,060 members.
Status of Follower Counts on the X Platform
When the follower counts of the official X accounts of parties with millions of members are compared with their membership numbers, a striking picture emerges.
The official X account of the AKP has approximately 3.4 million followers, the CHP 2.7 million, the MHP 2.7 million, and the DEM Party 1.3 million followers.
Striking Contrast Between Membership and Follower Counts
While the official account of the İYİ Party has approximately 1 million followers, the follower count on the NEW Party's X account remained at 321 thousand.
The fact that the NEW Party's X account remained at 321 thousand followers despite its declared 753 thousand members shows that there is a significant difference between the two figures.
CHP Stands Out as the Sole Exception
In the AKP as well, against 11.7 million members, the follower count of the official X account is around the 3.4 million level.
Only in the CHP does having approximately 2.7 million followers on its official X account against 1.88 million members constitute the sole exception in this picture.