It was claimed he would join the AK Party: Özgür Özel's harsh response regarding Cemil Tugay
Yeni Parti leader Özgür Özel targeted the government over allegations that Cemil Tugay would join the AK Party, criticizing it as "old-school politics."
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While allegations that İzmir Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Cemil Tugay would join the AK Party continue to occupy the political agenda, a notable statement came from Yeni Parti leader Özgür Özel.
Özel reacted sharply to the discussions surrounding Tugay. Arguing that the government is trying to obtain through pressure a municipality it could not win in İzmir with voter support, Özel described this method as "old-school politics."
ÖZEL: THE ULTIMATE OLD-SCHOOL POLITICS
In his statement, Özel emphasized the choice of İzmir voters and brought up the claim that a mayor was being forced to change parties.
"Trying to convert to your party the person whom İzmir, which you have never been able to win for years and which does not trust you, has trusted and voted for, by using threats, blackmail, pressure, showing the edge of a prison, or showing their name in the file of someone currently imprisoned, is the ultimate old-school politics!"
While describing those who resist such pressure and do not leave their party as "our brothers and sisters," Özel further intensified his criticism regarding party switching.
"Those who do not bow to these pressures, who lie in prison like lions and do not sell out their party, are our brothers and sisters until they die. Those who sell out and leave are traitors. They are the children of traitors. And those who buy them are thieves of the national will."