Muharrem İnce responds to claims that he will be the IYI Party's Istanbul candidate
Memleket Party Chairman Muharrem İnce has categorically denied claims that he will be the IYI Party's candidate for Istanbul in the local elections.
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Months before the local elections, IYI Party Chairwoman Meral Akşener stated that they would not form an alliance with any party and declared, "You will be very surprised by our Istanbul candidate."
Former CHP MP and Minister of State Mehmet Sevigen, in a statement following Akşener's remarks, claimed that the IYI Party's candidate would be Memleket Party Leader Muharrem İnce. Sevigen stated the following:
“I am not exaggerating. It just came to my mind, but I hope it doesn't happen. If Ms. Meral acts in such a way, I would be very saddened. They met with Mr. Muharrem recently. They are saying let's form an alliance in Istanbul. If the IYI Party and the Memleket Party are going to form an alliance in Istanbul, the candidate she said 'You will be very surprised' about is, in my opinion, Muharrem İnce.”
Following this claim, former DSP Chairman and Minister of State Masum Türker stated on a live TV100 broadcast that he had called Muharrem İnce regarding the matter and made the following statement:
“I asked Muharrem İnce about the candidacy claims. I said, 'Mr. Mehmet Sevigen predicted on a television program that you might be the surprise candidate Meral Akşener will nominate.' He replied to me, 'There is no such issue.'”
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Journalist Şaban Sevinç also stated that he had spoken with İnce and that the claim was untrue.
In a post on his X account, Sevinç wrote, “I spoke with İnce… The claim that Muharrem İnce will be the IYI Party's Istanbul candidate against Ekrem İmamoğlu is untrue. What should we say about debating such 'absurd' claims without asking the parties involved, or even worse, without considering their 'plausibility'?”