Erbakan reacts to 'political blackmail' by AK Party: 'They are trying to transfer them'

Yeniden Refah Party Chairman Fatih Erbakan, in a statement made on the social media platform X, claimed that mayors elected from their party are being pressured to transfer to the AKP through political blackmail.

Erbakan stated that these attempts mean disregarding the success their party achieved in the local elections.

'ABUSING THE POWER OF GOVERNMENT'

Erbakan stated that those holding the power of government are implying that they will not allow services to be provided by mayors elected from the Yeniden Refah Party by using public authority, and that these services can only be provided in exchange for the mayors resigning from their party and joining the AKP.

Describing this situation as "political blackmail," Erbakan emphasized that such behavior is morally and politically unacceptable.

Erbakan included the following statements in the continuation of his remarks:

"Those who hold the power of government are showing that they will not allow services to be provided by our mayors elected from the Yeniden Refah Party by using public authority; they are implying and stating that they will provide the necessary resources for these services in exchange for our mayors resigning from our party and joining their ranks. This situation means disregarding the will our nation demonstrated on March 31, and it is not appropriate behavior either politically or morally."

Finally, Erbakan stated that those who change parties by ignoring the will of the nation will not be forgiven, and that such political operations cannot stop the rise of the Yeniden Refah Party. Emphasizing that their party continues to grow rapidly by breaking membership registration records every month, Erbakan expressed that such attempts cannot stop the Yeniden Refah Party.

"THEY ARE CASTING ASPERSIONS"

A response to Erbakan's words came from AKP Spokesperson Ömer Çelik. Claiming that mayors who want to join their party are being 'cast under suspicion,' Çelik said the following:

"The Yeniden Refah Party is trying to cast aspersions on mayors who show the will to join the AK Party's politics of works and services with their own free will. The Yeniden Refah Party did not pursue an independent policy in many places during the local elections; it acted with the aim of making the AK Party lose and the CHP win.

The fact that it resorted to making offers to names who had previously engaged in politics within the AK Party solely for this purpose is a situation they need to confront in terms of political principles. Those who talk about political ethics and blackmail should first take these concepts into account themselves."