Ekrem İmamoğlu to be in Ankara, will Mansur Yavaş attend? 'He has stepped aside and is watching now...'

Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (İBB) Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, who is preparing to enter the primary election on March 23—where the CHP will determine its presidential candidate—as the sole candidate, has launched his election campaign.

The fact that Ankara Metropolitan Municipality (ABB) Mayor Mansur Yavaş, who decided not to participate in the primary, did not attend the meeting where İmamoğlu announced his candidacy, and his statement that "other options on the table are always on the agenda," had drawn attention.

İmamoğlu, who is traveling from city to city as part of his election campaign, will address party members at the Hidayet Türkoğlu Sports Hall in Mamak on Saturday. Whether Yavaş will attend the program in question is a matter of curiosity.

According to a column by Aytunç Erkin from Nefes Gazetesi, Yavaş absolutely does not intend to go to the meeting to be held.

Aytunç Erkin conveyed that individuals close to Yavaş provided him with the following information:

"It would not be appropriate for Mayor Mansur to attend after saying 'options are on the table.' He told this to both Özgür Özel and Mayor Ekrem at the table. It would not be appropriate for a figure who said at the triple summit, 'If the polls come in like this, we cannot watch the government for another term; I will become a candidate,' to attend the meeting. He has stepped aside and is watching now. We will see what happens when that day comes.

He wants to see this: Let Mayor Ekrem continue his candidacy; if he can carry it for three years, let him continue. If he comes out ahead in the polls, if it is guaranteed that he will win, he will not become a candidate! But if he cannot be elected against Tayyip Erdoğan, then he will become a candidate."