AKP Serik Mayor Enver Aputkan resigns from his party

Resignations in politics are coming one after another. Serik District Mayor Enver Aputkan announced that he has resigned from the AKP.

In his statement, Aputkan included the following remarks:

"We entered the 2019 elections as the AK Party candidate. The favor of the people of Serik was with us. For 4.5 years, we have served our district together with both our council members and our colleagues. We did not have an easy term.

The world and our country have gone through very serious stages. We experienced the pandemic and the earthquake together. We experienced the fire in our neighbor Manavgat together.

Looking back, we are happy to have brought many services to our district. Of course, we certainly have our shortcomings.

I would like to thank my fellow council members for their support. I am resigning from my party. I will continue the remaining time as an independent. We will continue our services by asking what we can do in the remaining 4 months."

Stating that he believes in the silent majority, Aputkan said, "The decision and perspective of our citizens are very important. May God grant the mayorship in this country to good people, to those who protect public property, serve our people, and do not offer public goods for the benefit of others."

I ALSO WANT TO EXPERIENCE INDEPENDENCE

Stating that he wished for these things during the election period as well, Aputkan said, "If there is someone who can do this job better than me, may God grant it to them. I do not have any resentment or anything like that. Our parties have a preference. It should be met with complete normalcy. Individuals also have preferences. This is my preference. From now on, I also want to experience independence. After that, whatever happens, whatever God does, He does well," he said.

HIS RELATIONSHIP WITH THE AKP WAS STRAINED

In 2020, allegations of a 500 thousand lira bribe emerged between Enver Aputkan and former Mayor Ramazan Çalık regarding a zoning plan amendment on the beach, and Serik Mayor Enver Aputkan requested an inspector from the Ministry of Interior over this situation. Aputkan had announced that he had an argument with ministers regarding the "500 thousand lira bribe" during a meeting held under the chairmanship of the then-Antalya Governor Münir Karaloğlu with AKP and MHP deputies. Mayor Aputkan, who accused the then-Minister of Foreign Affairs Çavuşoğlu and Minister of Culture and Tourism Mehmet Nuri Ersoy of "remaining silent despite knowing that the previous mayor had taken a bribe," had also requested that an inspector be sent by the then-Minister of Interior Süleyman Soylu regarding the matter. Following these statements, Aputkan's relationship with his party had become strained.