CHP’s Özel, İmamoğlu, Yavaş meet to discuss party primary
CHP leader Özel, Istanbul Mayor İmamoğlu and Ankara Mayor Yavaş met to discuss the party primary in which the presidential candidate will be named. Yavaş reportedly decided not to be a candidate in the primary, arguing it “will split party members.”
Ceren Bayar / DUVAR
Turkish main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Özgür Özel, Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu and Ankara Mayor Mansur Yavaş on Feb. 9 held a meeting in the capital Ankara.
The meeting came one day before the party assembly meeting, in which the party primaries to name the presidential candidate will be discussed.
The party previously announced that it would hold primaries to name its presidential candidate. The presidential and general elections are expected to be held in 2028 in case of no early election.
Yavaş previously said he thought it was “too early” to name the presidential candidate.
After the meeting, Özel shared a photo of them, and said, “We are together. We will be together. We will win together. Turkey will win.”
However, Yavaş reportedly decided to not participate the party’s primary.
Accordingly, Yavaş emphasized that the primary election should not be the only criterion and that alternative options should also be on the table. “They are all our members, of course we respect their decisions, but I don't think this is the agenda. I think this will already lead to a major split among the party members and the signs of this have already started to show themselves.”
Yavaş also expressed his concern that the primary election would prevent the discussion of Turkey's real agenda, such as economy.
At the end of the meeting, all three names left the table with a “consensus.” They reportedly agreed to abide by the decision to be taken by the party and to act together for the success of the party.