Erdogan: TIME’s peoples choice Person of the Year 2011
Baku, December 14 (AZERTAC). Turkey’s Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, was the far-and-away favorite in TIME’s 2011 Person of the Year poll. He received 122,928 votes nominating him as the most influential person of the year. The three-term Turkish PM blew away every competitor; second-place challenger Barca striker Lionel Messi earned a mere 60% of the votes (74,412) that Erdogan did, with 99% taking a healthy third.
So how did Erdogan earn the title of both most and least-favored Person of the Year? A viral campaign circulating on Turkish websites and via email kept the worldwide audiences voting. According to The Wall Street Journal, an email chain letter warns Turks of the consequences of voting Erdogan as TIME’s Person of the Year.
Steve Jobs was the fifth most-popular pick for Person of the Year, notching up 30,047 votes. SEAL Team 6 was the eighth most-popular and Gabby Giffords, the Arizona congresswoman making a stunning recovery after being shot in the head in January, garnered the tenth most “Yes” votes. On the flip side, Casey Anthony made few friends, and was ranked the third least-popular candidate for the accolade. A number of politicians were ranked in the top 10 lowest-rated people, including Michele Bachmann (#5), Silvio Berlusconi (#8) and President Barack Obama (#10).
While the people have spoken loudly for (and against) Erdogan, in the end, TIME’s editors make the decision. The 2011 Person of the Year will be revealed this week.
Other news in this section
