Candidacy and primary election crisis continues: Claim that 'Mansur Yavaş stood up to the CHP'! 'When Erdoğan eliminates the candidate you have determined...'

Republican People's Party (CHP) Chairman Özgür Özel announced that his party would determine its presidential candidate through a primary election.

While Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IMM) Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu expressed support for the primary, it was alleged that Ankara Metropolitan Municipality (ABB) Mayor Mansur Yavaş opposed it.

ABB Mayor Yavaş stated regarding the primary election his party would hold to determine its presidential candidate: "I believe it is too early to determine a candidate. The election date is not yet set. Conditions will change by then. I am of the opinion that the public should not be preoccupied with this while there are economic hardships. I think candidates should not exhaust each other's energy."

When asked, "Does this mean you will not be a candidate if there is a primary?" Yavaş replied, "There is no such thing. How could that be? Let's wait and see what happens; let the election date be set first."

IMM Mayor İmamoğlu, who fully supports the primary, responded to Yavaş's remarks on the primary and candidacy by saying, "Our esteemed mayor Mansur Yavaş may have a different view, but we will discuss these things anyway. These are internal party matters. We will find the best solution. We must define a process where all our hands are raised together."

"THE CANDIDATE FOR AN EARLY ELECTION IS DETERMINED EARLY"

Following the mutual statements by Yavaş and İmamoğlu, CHP leader Özgür Özel, speaking at his party's group meeting, addressed the ongoing debates regarding the presidential candidate, stating, "The candidate for an early election is determined early. We paid a heavy price for determining the candidate too late."

While the debates within the CHP regarding the presidential candidate and the primary continue, Fatih Atik, Ankara Representative for TGRT Haber, which is close to the government, brought up a striking claim regarding ABB Mayor Yavaş.

Sharing the information he received on the subject during a live broadcast, Atik claimed that Yavaş said, "You do not know Erdoğan. You do not know how to fight him. When Erdoğan eliminates the candidate you have chosen, do not come knocking on my door again."

ÖZEL: YAVAŞ HAS NO INTENTION OF CAUSING TURKEY TO LOSE

Özel had commented on Yavaş's view that 'it is too early to determine a candidate' with the following words: "He has no objection to a primary election, but he also conveyed some of his concerns to me, asking 'Are we perhaps rushing?' However, the party's authorized bodies say 'a candidate must be determined as soon as possible for strategic reasons.' I do not know whether he will enter the primary or not, but I saw this in Mayor Mansur: if the party assigns him a duty, he wants to do his best to ensure a victory. He has no intention of causing the party or Turkey to lose."