Bilge Yılmaz resigns with criticism of Akşener: 'She conducted a poor negotiation process'

Bilge Yılmaz, who served as the head of the IYI Party's Economic Policies, announced his resignation on his X account. Yılmaz also criticized IYI Party Chair Meral Akşener.

Yılmaz's resignation statement is as follows:

“Dear IYI Party members, since 2021, I have been engaged in a political struggle alongside you to live in a more democratic and prosperous country. When I came to Turkey, I believed that the IYI Party could convince millions of reasonable voters, including those who support the government, who dream of a better Turkey, and that it possessed the staff and discourse to achieve this. Frankly, I met many experts and people of upright character in the party who did not disappoint my expectations. The sincerity of these people and their love for their country encouraged and emboldened me to work for my party. The IYI Party was an actor capable of filling the void demanded by the voters with a proper corporate structure and strong leadership. However, over time, we all saw the party's weaknesses. Our party's corporate structure collapsed in the face of individuals' interests, inclinations, and expectations. Party leader Ms. Meral Akşener conducted a poor negotiation process at every stage of the Table of Six process, and she could not prevent Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu's candidacy. This process resulted in leaving the table with a harsh and emotional reaction on March 3, and returning to the table 3 days later by accepting the model of 7 vice presidents. This inconsistency exhausted the leader's political capital. In the past year, we have followed a leadership style that is constantly in a victim mentality, seeking the source of all the problems it experiences outside, and legitimizing itself only by being hostile to the outside. What remains is a party that can no longer speak to anyone outside itself and can only attract the attention of society with sensational news and scandals. Many well-intentioned, clean-character people think that they have been treated unfairly and that their efforts have been wasted in vain as they look at the lists of parliamentary candidates and mayoral candidates. Citizens who vote for the party show their reactions either by not going to the polls or by voting for other parties. This is the point we have reached. In 2023, I expressed both in authorized boards and publicly many times that the IYI Party has a key role in achieving good governance in our country and that it must solve its corporate problems. At the request of our chair, I withdrew in December 2023 to give the party leadership one last chance. Unfortunately, as the poor course continued, I announced on February 28, 2024, that personal interests had come before common goals and that opposition parties needed to be restructured to win general elections. We have a congress process ahead of us, and Ms. Meral Akşener announced that she would not be a candidate, showing an exemplary behavior. However, it will not be possible for the IYI Party to get out of this predicament with the atmosphere created by the competition of the current general chair candidates. My hope in this process was different. We should have addressed the point we reached as a party with common sense and moved the issue beyond the competition for the general chair. The issue of the IYI Party is not who will be the general chair, but how the party will transform into a structure that can speak to the entire society again and offer hope. I see that we are very far from this point. The wrong choices made for over a year are pushing me to leave the IYI Party and work under a new structure for our country. However, I waited so as not to harm the party during the election process and not to betray the GIK membership authority given to me by the delegates. I am leaving the IYI Party with the peace of mind of having tried to do my best. I am grateful to all the patriotic people I had the opportunity to work with in the IYI Party. I wish everyone, especially the general chair candidates, success in the upcoming congress.”