Anxiety in AKP over Ekrem İmamoğlu and Mansur Yavaş: 'Voters will hold us accountable...'

Turkey has been going through turbulent days for the past week. IMM Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, whose university diploma was cancelled on March 18, was detained in a dawn operation the following morning.

İmamoğlu, who faced an investigation on allegations of 'terrorism' and 'corruption,' was arrested on corruption charges after a 4-day detention and sent to Silivri Prison.

While protest actions across the country grew following İmamoğlu's arrest, permission was granted for an investigation into 33 concerts at the Ankara Metropolitan Municipality (ABB) over allegations of public loss. No investigation permission was granted for 97 other concerts. In a statement, the ABB reported that no negative findings were encountered in previous audits conducted by the Court of Accounts and the Ministry of Interior regarding the concerts for which investigation permission was granted.

The successive operations and investigations have also caused debate and concern within the AKP. According to a report by Cumhuriyet, AKP officials who find the operation against İmamoğlu to be wrong and argue that a "hero" is being created out of him also find the targeting of the Ankara Metropolitan Municipality to be a mistake. Emphasizing that they were informed of both decisions only after the fact, some AKP sources state that declaring war on the main opposition will have a heavy cost for the AKP.

'CHANGE HAS CAUSED DISAPPOINTMENT'

Reminding that President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has given messages of change to his party for the return of voters who have broken away from the AKP, an AKP executive comments, "The change made at the congress caused disappointment. Instead of those who have put effort into the party, transfers from other parties entered the party management. While the debates on this are still ongoing within the party, declaring war on the main opposition to win back voters will not contribute anything to the AKP regaining its former strength."

'INTERNAL ACCOUNTING' MUST BE DONE FIRST

Some officials, underlining that Ankara Metropolitan Mayor Mansur Yavaş has "right-wing" roots, point out that a move against Yavaş will cause voters to break away from the AKP. Stating that Yavaş's municipal administration is appreciated by the public and that he has a clear line between himself and terrorism, the sources note that the AKP should primarily conduct an internal accounting and shape its policies accordingly.