İYİ Party leader Akşener takes a jab at İmamoğlu: 'Their hands are at their headquarters...'

İYİ Party Chair Meral Akşener took aim at Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (İBB) Mayor and CHP's İBB candidate Ekrem İmamoğlu during her party's candidate introduction meeting.

Highlights from Akşener's remarks are as follows:

"ISTANBUL HAS ALWAYS BEEN VIEWED AS A CAREER STEPPING STONE"

"As the İYİ Party, we have opposed this bipolar politics, where the two sides appear different but are mirror images of each other. We set out on a difficult but glorious path to put an end to this order. Both sides offer the nation a single promise: that the other side does not win. If you remove one of the parties from the equation, they have no promises left to offer. Today, Istanbul is a city struggling with corruption. Today, Istanbul is a city drowning in rent-seeking. At the point politics has reached, Istanbul has always been viewed as a city of money. Istanbul has always been viewed as a tool for personal ambition and revenge. Istanbul has always been viewed as a career stepping stone.

"THOSE WHOSE HANDS ARE AT THEIR HEADQUARTERS AND EYES ARE ON OTHER POSITIONS..."

This city, where East meets West, needs to be governed by those whose feet are firmly on the ground. It needs to be governed by those whose minds are only on Istanbul, whose interest and focus are only on Istanbul, and whose sole purpose is to find remedies for Istanbul's problems. Those whose hands are at their headquarters, whose eyes are on other positions, and who are only in Istanbul in their spare time cannot govern this city.

"YOU ARE NOT OBLIGATED"

For instance, let this mediocrity come to an end—both for those who act under the orders of those they hide behind, and for those who take courage from their own shadows and act with arrogance. Come, let the noise made by those who turn Istanbul into a springboard for their own careers no longer drown out the voice of the people of Istanbul. Come, let the question of 'Who will win Istanbul?' no longer cast a shadow over the real problems of Istanbul. And never forget, you are not obligated to those who enjoy luxury without shame while positions turn the ignorant into scholars, drive them off the rails and turn them into tyrants, and while the people of Istanbul struggle in scarcity. You are not obligated to those who betray Istanbul, nor to those who neglect it. In short, you are not obligated to a forced candidate or a proxy candidate. Because now, you have a candidate before you who is worthy of Istanbul. There is a candidate who will carry Istanbul on their head."