AKP's Elitaş reveals for the first time: A notable detail from the Erdoğan-Özel meeting

AKP Deputy Chairman Mustafa Elitaş made statements regarding the normalization/softening process that began between his party and the CHP following the March 31 Local Elections.

Speaking to the newspaper Ekonomim, Elitaş said, "What is called softening is politics entering its own rules. This is what the nation longs for."

Stating that a large portion of AKP voters find the meetings with the CHP positive, Elitaş said, "A research company brought [data] recently; MHP members also find the meetings between Mr. Bahçeli and Mr. Özgür Özel very positive. The interesting part is that CHP members find it less positive. I don't fully know why that is, they will evaluate that themselves. As a political party governing the country, the greatest duty of those in power, whoever they may be, is to conduct this business with composure and ease," he stated.

BAHÇELİ'S STATEMENTS REGARDING NORMALIZATION

Elitaş also commented on the remarks made by MHP leader Devlet Bahçeli during the normalization process as follows:

"Mr. Bahçeli says that the softening in Turkey is very correct and very appropriate. It is a fact that the alliance, or rather the friendship beyond an alliance, that our President and Mr. Bahçeli have maintained since July 15, 2016, continues in an extraordinary way, within the framework of respect and courtesy. It is about to reach 8 years."

'HE CAME ON THE NIGHT OF JULY 15'

On the night of July 15, we invited all our deputies to Ankara. About 85 AK Party deputies came. I was in Kayseri. We spoke with our Speaker of the Parliament. We said, "Let's open the Parliament." I spoke with the CHP deputy chairmen from Kayseri—with Mr. Özgür Özel, Mr. Engin Altay, and Mr. Levent Gök. I invited them to the Parliament. They said, "We are coming." They came, and thank goodness, the person who was under that bomb that day was Özgür Özel."

'THEY TOOK NOTES, AND SO DID WE'

Elitaş recounted for the first time an interesting 'note-taking' detail from the meeting between AKP Chairman and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and CHP leader Özgür Özel.

Saying, "There were good meetings with the CHP," Elitaş continued:

"Notes were taken during those meetings. Why were notes taken? I don't know. Because they were taking them, we took notes too. We wrote it down line by line. It was something we weren't used to. There are notes in diplomatic affairs. I have participated in many political meetings, but notes were never taken. In such meetings, if there is a consensus, it is either put into text or, if things are said, information is shared there; saying 'Let it be like this, we think like this, we are doing it that way.' But taking the words spoken and moving them toward a different point and interpreting them with different perceptions is not a practice consistent with the rules."

THE SEATING ISSUE

The situation regarding the seating is this: When the President meets with Mr. Devlet Bahçeli, there is a certain type of chair, and the same chair is present in the meeting held with Mr. Özgür Özel. In other words, there is no difference between the President accepting someone at the AK Party headquarters, at the Çankaya Mansion, at the Presidential Complex, or at any other venue. This does not diminish his Presidential office. When the CHP hosted, they placed the chairs side by side, and we have nothing to say about that either. Because the host said so. They also welcomed the President with courtesy. We also thank them for this courtesy. They had prepared very well. It was a nice welcome."