Debate over 'Sinan Oğan sin' between Erol Mütercimler and Ümit Özdağ: Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu couldn't use it

Arguing that Sinan Oğan, the candidate of the ATA Alliance who received 5.17 percent of the vote in the first round of the 2023 Presidential Election and sparked controversy by announcing his support for President and AKP Chairman Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in the second round, was the wrong choice, Mütercimler stated, "Professor Ümit has a very big sin; Sinan Oğan."

ÜMİT ÖZDAĞ PASSED THE BUCK TO KILIÇDAROĞLU

Özdağ responded as follows:

“Sinan Oğan is not a sin at all. Would it have gone to a second round if we hadn't put forward a candidate? It wouldn't have. Erdoğan would have won in the first round. Who won the parliamentary elections in the first round? The AKP. In the first round, Erdoğan received more votes than Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu. If there hadn't been a second candidate, it wouldn't have gone to a second round. So who nominated the candidate for the second round? The Victory Party and the Justice Party nominated the candidate together. My election budget was 1.5 million liras. I found that 1.5 million liras by selling my rosary collection. And with 1.5 million liras, I ensured that the election in Turkey went to a second round. And in the second round, Turkey gained a chance. Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu could not use that chance.”

When Mütercimler asked, “What did you think about Sinan Oğan afterwards?”, Özdağ replied, “Sinan Oğan did the wrong thing. But the Victory Party did the right thing and supported Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu.”

Özdağ added that he had not spoken to Oğan at all since the election.