Fatih Altaylı reveals what Meral Akşener told him about her candidacy: 'It will result in losing the election...'

Former IYI Party Migration Policies Head and Deputy Chairman Mehmet Tolga Akalın alleged that former IYI Party leader Meral Akşener wanted to be a candidate in the 2023 presidential elections but was hesitant to do so.

Akalın stated, "Akşener wanted to make herself a candidate by cornering Turkey between Erdoğan and Kemal Bey, and then opening a path for a third candidacy."

'SHE NEVER BROUGHT IT UP AT THE TABLE UNTIL THE VERY END'

Journalist Fatih Altaylı, in the program where he evaluated the claim in question, noted the following:

I do not believe this view is accurate, even if it came from within the IYI Party. Why don't I? We were having a chat with Meral Akşener before the candidate was determined. Whether she was visiting Habertürk or we were chatting on some occasion.

I told Meral Akşener that Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu had almost no chance of winning the election. She was of the same opinion, but for some reason, she never brought this up at the table until the very end.

'YOUR POLITICAL COURTESY WILL RESULT IN LOSING THE ELECTION'

However, if she had said it at the very beginning, perhaps things would not have reached this point. She insisted on not bringing it up at the table. I even asked her several times, "Why don't you say this at the table?" She would respond with things like, "The time hasn't come," "Candidacy isn't being discussed yet," or "It would be impolite if I said it now."

I said, "Your political courtesy will result in losing the election." In one of these conversations, I made a statement like this: "Ms. Meral, rest assured that if you were a candidate and there were 3 candidates, and two candidates emerged from your bloc, the Table of Six, there is a possibility that you would remain for the second round; your chances of winning might be higher." Because we could see by looking at politics that center-right voters in Turkey were ready to break away from the AKP but were not ready to go to the CHP, or more accurately, were not ready to go to Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu.

'MS. MERAL PERHAPS...'

Ms. Meral had cut it off back then, saying, "Such a thing is out of the question."

That is why I do not really think this interpretation is correct.

Ms. Meral may not have thought about it because she truly believed she could win the election; perhaps she could have won."