Al Jazeera survey names Erdogan 'Person of the Year'

President of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan salutes the people as he gives a speech during the council meeting of the Confederation of Turkish Tradesmen and Craftsmen (TESK) at ATO Congresium in Ankara, Turkey on November 08, 2016 [ Mehmet Ali Özcan / Anadolu Agency]

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was named 2016’s “Person of the Year” in a survey by Al Jazeera’s Arabic service on Saturday.

According to Al Jazeera’s Arabic service website, around 130,000 people voted in the survey carried out on the Doha-based network’s Facebook page.

Nearly a year after Kurdi's picture made headlines, Omran Danqeesh caused outrage. The five-year-old was pictured blood stained .

Nearly a year after Kurdi’s picture made headlines, Omran Daqneesh caused outrage. The five-year-old was pictured blood stained.

Erdogan came out as 2016’s “Person of the Year” by bagging 40 percent of the votes.

Omran Daqneesh, the five-year-old Syrian child who was photographed in August 2016 with his face covered in dust and blood after an attack by regime forces, came in second with 34 percent votes.

Slain Tunisian aviation engineer Mohamed Zouari, who was reportedly behind the drone program of Palestinian group Hamas, came in third with 17 percent votes.

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