Dervişoğlu reacts to Akşener's surprise visit to the Palace: 'I am the Chairman'

İYİ Party Chairman Müsavat Dervişoğlu spoke for the first time regarding the visit of his party's former chairman, Meral Akşener, to President and AKP Chairman Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

Speaking on Habertürk, Dervişoğlu said he was not aware of the surprise visit beforehand and saw the meeting through a post made by the Presidential Communications Directorate on social media.

"I AM NOT ANYONE'S CLERK"

"The part that concerns me is that while I am the chairman of the İYİ Party, Mr. Erdoğan met with Ms. Akşener. I should have been the one taken as the interlocutor," said Dervişoğlu, noting that he called Akşener after the meeting and continued as follows:

"They stated that they exchanged views regarding Turkey. I find the statements made on TV screens by names close to her after this meeting to be strange. I found it disturbing in terms of the party. These are statements to be made by people who are not competent to speak, by being appointed as clerks. I cannot remain silent about these, I cannot be silent against those who try to make it look like there is a problem within the party. Whoever it is in this party, I cannot remain indifferent to those who will harm the past and future of the party. If some try to go to Mount Hasan without looking at their own stature, they may see a reaction from me that they have not seen before. I am not anyone's clerk. I am the Chairman of the İYİ Party."

"DOES DERVİŞOĞLU EVEN WANT TO GO TO THE PALACE?"

Reminding of the discussions held after the meeting, Dervişoğlu said, "A segment that claims Erdoğan determines his own interlocutor is targeting my party and me. The situation created by those who abnormalize the process is not being discussed. From my perspective, rumors are not important at all. There is an area here that needs to be discussed. It needs to be thought about in all its aspects. It is being discussed that a constitutional amendment will be made in Turkey. I have said from the very beginning that this would overshadow Turkey's agenda. I said that we would not be an intermediary in such a process. At the point of the Palace or the nation, our preference is on the side of the nation. I said that I would not abandon the country to the words coming out of one man's lips. I stated what we could not stand side by side with. There is no harm in discussing the issue from our perspective. It does not bother me from a leadership standpoint either. Ms. Akşener went to meet with President Erdoğan. There are discussions that 'Akşener went to the Palace, not Dervişoğlu.' Does Dervişoğlu even want to go to the Palace? That needs to be asked. I don't have such a desire, so why would I be bothered by this meeting? It is a delusion to see us as small enough to fall for these little games," he said.

News Source: 12punto