CHP has one playmaker and two strikers

Journalist and Author Murat Yetkin penned an article titled ''Özel's calm power Yavaş, who pits İmamoğlu against Erdoğan.''

Yetkin stated in his article, ''İmamoğlu is one of Özel's 'two strikers'; the other is Ankara Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Mansur Yavaş. It is known that Yavaş has conveyed to his close circle that he has no personal expectations regarding the Union of Municipalities of Turkey (TBB), but that whatever decision is to be made, it should be made as soon as possible, and he has communicated this to the CHP leadership.''

The full text of Yetkin's article is as follows:

''On June 1, the day CHP leader Özgür Özel nominated Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu for the Presidency of the Union of Municipalities of Turkey (TBB), President Tayyip Erdoğan also decided to return to the field at the AK Party's Kızılcahamam camp; even though there is no election on the horizon.

In the last week, the moves by Özel and Erdoğan can also be read from another perspective as moves in a chess match. Like the tea producers' rally Erdoğan held in his hometown of Rize on June 2. (*)

It is understood that this tour by Erdoğan, which will cover at least 30 metropolitan cities, has three goals within the framework of accounting for the March 31 election defeat:

• Repairing the damaged ties between the voters and the AK Party,
• Repairing the ties between the AK Party base and the Headquarters,
• Preparation for the AK Party's grand congress, which is expected to be held after October and is estimated to result in a restructuring rather than being 'just any congress.'

Of course, here, especially in the first item, Erdoğan's biggest obstacle is the ongoing economic crisis. It is difficult for the rhetoric that 'inflation figures are falling' to find a response among the public as long as the high cost of living is not pushed back and raises are not given to civil servants, workers, and retirees.

BRINGING İMAMOĞLU TO THE FORE

It is seen that the CHP's nomination of İmamoğlu for the TBB Presidency also has three goals:

• To increase the CHP's visibility nationwide with İmamoğlu as TBB President in a way that 'no one will ask what he is doing there,'
• To open a new channel for contact with public administration, 'from the Presidency to the ministers,' through İmamoğlu as TBB President,
• To actually send a message to the CHP base by pitting İmamoğlu against Erdoğan nationwide, especially in Anatolia.

İmamoğlu is one of Özel's 'two strikers'; the other is Ankara Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Mansur Yavaş. It is known that Yavaş has conveyed to his close circle that he has no personal expectations regarding the TBB, but that whatever decision is to be made, it should be made as soon as possible, and he has communicated this to the CHP leadership.

Despite this, Özel also shows that the Headquarters takes into account Yavaş's -strengthening- influence and position. He told Mustafa Balbay of Cumhuriyet, pointing out that Yavaş is the most popular politician in the polls, that he 'one hundred percent agrees' with Yavaş's goals of 'the integrity of the CHP and the continuation of the climate of the CHP receiving votes from all segments.'

THE SECOND ERDOĞAN - ÖZEL MEETING

While Özel brings İmamoğlu to the fore in the TBB, he takes care not to leave Yavaş behind; the two-striker approach continues. His not directly targeting his predecessor Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu but criticizing those around him is also within this framework.

Özel may make a few more moves before his second meeting with Erdoğan; likewise, Erdoğan may as well. Both may make a few more moves before the CHP visit, which Erdoğan defined as after June 9 and before the Eid al-Adha.

For example, it is important that Erdoğan reminded Özel at the opening of the Kızılcahamam meeting that 'we cannot give up our red lines for normalization,' saying that the MHP also has red lines. Erdoğan has in a way pointed out that MHP leader Devlet Bahçeli's de facto coalition partnership gives him an indirect right to speak.

On the same day, Özel attended the kindergarten graduation ceremony of Vera, the daughter of Tayfun Kahraman, who was sentenced to 18 years in prison in the Gezi Park trial, also said he would visit Selahattin Demirtaş, and announced the decision to pit İmamoğlu against Erdoğan in Anatolia.

ERDOĞAN HAS NO SECOND

Özel's nomination of İmamoğlu for the TBB Presidency also has a strategic meaning.

The AK Party has no one else to put before the public other than Erdoğan; there is no one left.

Özel sees that the AK Party's both playmaker and striker are the same person, namely Erdoğan.

Currently, CHP's playmaker Özel is in third place in the ranking of popular politicians; Erdoğan is fourth. For the first time, the CHP leader is ahead of the AK Party leader in the popularity ranking; whether it will be permanent is another matter. We see Yavaş and İmamoğlu in the first two places.

The CHP has three names capable of driving its politics, the AK Party has one.

I think this is how we need to look at the issue.''