Tea party at the Palace... Invitation for CHP mayors!

Republican People's Party (CHP) Deputy Chairman Gökan Zeybek stated in his remarks regarding local governments that CHP mayors are being subjected to various pressures and intimidation by President Erdoğan.

Zeybek expressed that many mayors have been invited by the President to have tea, and that there are elements of political pressure behind these invitations.

Zeybek said the following in his statement: “Many of our mayors are being invited by the AK Party Headquarters, or by their deputies and provincial chairs, to have tea with the President. In these invitations, requests such as ‘Would you consider joining the AK Party? We would be happy about that’ are being made.” Zeybek stated that these invitations are pressures applied by the ruling power, which is uncomfortable with the success of CHP mayors.

Making statements regarding the possibility of Mansur Yavaş being nominated as a candidate, Zeybek said, “Last week, I visited Mr. Mansur Yavaş at the Ankara Metropolitan Municipality and offered our support. Nothing will come of that file; we are already extremely familiar with it. The public concerts, Republic Day celebrations, and other events held by CHP municipalities frighten the ruling power. To manage this fear, they want to intimidate other municipalities by opening an investigation into Yavaş.”

Gökan Zeybek emphasized that the discomfort felt regarding the public relations activities of CHP municipalities is being used to exert pressure on local governments. “We do not believe any of our mayors have done anything wrong. We would not harbor anyone who does wrong within our ranks anyway,” said Zeybek, citing a disciplinary action taken against the Mayor of Altınova in Yalova as an example. “If a file emerges regarding a mayor who has done wrong, the Central Executive Board (MYK) meets immediately and that person is referred to disciplinary action. As in the case of the Altınova Mayor in Yalova,” he said.

Stating that President Erdoğan’s pressure policies toward local governments do not only target mayors but also aim to make the CHP a subject of debate in the eyes of the public, Zeybek said, “We believe that the current cases are not result-oriented and will go no further than making CHP municipalities a subject of debate in the eyes of the public during the process.”