Erdoğan vetoed the name expected to join the AKP at the last minute! Striking Meral Akşener claim...

Journalist Fatih Altaylı shared striking behind-the-scenes information regarding Sakarya MP Ümit Dikbayır, who was expected to join the AKP at the party's 25th-anniversary event on August 14, being left off the list at the last minute.

Altaylı alleged that Dikbayır's transition to the AKP was vetoed directly by President and AKP Chairman Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. According to the claim, a warning issued to Erdoğan by former İYİ Party Chair Meral Akşener was influential in the decision.

HE DID NOT TAKE PART IN THE CEREMONY

Ümit Dikbayır, who was elected as an MP from the İYİ Party in the May 14, 2023 elections, was later removed from the party during the tenure of then-İYİ Party Chair Meral Akşener. Dikbayır, who briefly joined the CHP, later resigned from the CHP as well.

In a statement to Serap Belovacıklı of Sözcü TV, Dikbayır had announced that he would join the AKP on August 14. However, while badges were pinned on figures such as Ömer Karakaş, Mustafa Bilici, and Mehmet Gürban at the anniversary program held in Ankara, Dikbayır did not take the stage.

Following this development, Altaylı stated that he asked a trusted source within the AKP about the situation and conveyed that the final decision regarding the accessions was made by Erdoğan.

“It was Mr. Erdoğan who vetoed the name Ümit Dikbayır without a second thought. He didn't even discuss it; he cut it off.”

According to the claim included in Altaylı's article, Meral Akşener warned Erdoğan about two names and requested, “If they come to your door, do not let them in.” Altaylı argued that this warning was effective in Dikbayır not being accepted into the AKP.

This claim has opened a new topic in political circles at a time when transitions from opposition parties to the AKP and political debates over local administrations are on the agenda.