İYİ Party Istanbul MP Salim Ensarioğlu resigns

The İYİ Party is facing a wave of resignations that continues unabated. Following the resignation of GİK member and Deputy Chairperson Ece Güner, Istanbul MP Salim Ensarioğlu, who was referred to the disciplinary board after his remarks regarding Sheikh Said, has also resigned.

The resignation statement made by Ensarioğlu via his social media account is as follows:

"I STOOD AGAINST SEPARATISM"

"I joined the İYİ Party family in 2018 at the invitation of Chairwoman Meral Akşener, based on the reality that there was a significant center-right void in the country.

During the three terms I served as a minister in DYP governments, my statement that ‘The headscarf is a command from God’ during the February 28 process—one of the dark stains in our country's history—was featured in the headlines of the newspapers of that era, and I was targeted by being placed at the top of the famous Andıç document prepared by the likes of Çevik Bir. However, I never took a step back during a period when the military designed politics and many politicians and bureaucrats bowed down to them. As a leader of one of the region's respected families and a son of the region, I never shied away from taking responsibility for the problems and orientations concerning the region. I have always stood against SEPARATISM and VIOLENCE.

THE SHEIKH SAID ISSUE

During the 6 years that passed in line with the goal of the center-right, many undemocratic and extreme discourses that we encountered while struggling for our center-right claim within the party were endured by those who love me, myself included. However, the change and transformation of the party's backbone at the 3rd Ordinary Congress after the elections was not a renewal of blood, but a clear indicator that it had abandoned its center-right claim and democratic identity. Our differences of opinion with the new management that emerged soon became apparent with the failure to take a clear stance against the war crimes committed by Zionist Israel in Gaza. It should be well known that Palestine is a matter of honor for us Muslims. However, our differences of opinion did not stop there; after the reasonable and humanitarian demands I made in my response to the insults of insolent circles directed at Sheikh Said, one of the important figures of the region—specifically that their remains be handed over to their families, as was the case with İskilipli Atıf Hoca—I was subjected to a lynching campaign on social media by fascistic circles, primarily my own party colleagues. Against the lynching campaign of these circles, the party authorities, let alone supporting me, referred me to the disciplinary board more impulsively than the lynching circles themselves. It should also be well known in this regard that Sheikh Said, Bediüzzaman Said Nursi, and Seyid Rıza are important values of my region.

HE SHARED SAID NURSI'S WORDS

The decision to refer my statements to the disciplinary board is also proof that the İYİ Party no longer carries its center-right claim. This attitude shows that the party has deviated from its founding philosophy of a Nationalist, Developmentalist, and Democratic identity and that it no longer has any tolerance for different views and its democratic identity. For this reason, the political justifications that brought me together with the İYİ Party have disappeared. I will never refrain from defending the truths I believe in, no matter the cost. As Bediüzzaman Said Nursi stated: ‘Remaining silent against injustice is a disrespect to the truth.’

Due to my respect for the truth, I hereby announce to the public that I have RESIGNED from the İYİ Party as of today."