Erdoğan-Özlem Çerçioğlu summit in Ankara: What was discussed in the secret meeting?

A claim that could shift the balance in Aydın politics has dropped like a bombshell in Ankara's political corridors. It has been alleged that Özlem Çerçioğlu, who has served as the Mayor of Aydın Metropolitan Municipality for two terms from the CHP, will switch to the AKP.

SHORT MEETING WITH ERDOĞAN

It has been learned that Çerçioğlu, who has not been answering her phone in recent days and whose whereabouts have been a subject of public curiosity, met with President and AKP Chairman Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in Ankara yesterday. According to information obtained by Halk TV, the meeting took place at the AKP Headquarters.

SIGNAL OF “PARTICIPATION” FROM ERDOĞAN

Following the brief meeting, Erdoğan used notable expressions in his speech at the “AK Youth Strategy and Consultation Camp Closing Program”:

“In just 3 months, 130 thousand members have joined our family. I say ‘Welcome’ to the new members of our youth family. Our family is growing with new participants. We give confidence to our friends and fear to our rivals. There will be more participants tomorrow, and our party will continue to grow stronger.”

According to the allegations, the “Aziz İhsan Aktaş” investigations, which became the justification for operations against CHP-run municipalities, were influential in Çerçioğlu’s decision to switch to the AKP.

It was alleged that companies belonging to Aktaş received numerous tenders from the Aydın Metropolitan Municipality between 2015 and 2017, and that these tenders became the subject of an investigation.

ALLEGATIONS THAT FILES ARE ‘GATHERING DUST’

While the investigations were ongoing, reports appeared in media outlets close to the government suggesting that these files were “not being processed routinely” and were effectively gathering dust. Haber7 columnist Zekeriya Say brought the files back to the agenda in an article he wrote on August 4.