İYİ Party's Gürbüz Şancı resigns from his party, criticizes İYİ Party's Ankara candidate Cengiz Topel Yıldırım

In his statement, Şancı announced that he had resigned from the İYİ Party. Şancı said, "I would like to state that I will support Mansur Yavaş in the March 31 Local Elections and that I will work for his victory just as I did in 2019." 

Criticizing his former party's Ankara candidate Yıldırım, Gürbüz Şancı said the following:

"The İYİ Party has begun to lose its founding principles and its claim to be a center-ground party in Ankara, especially with Cengiz Topel Yıldırım being nominated as the Metropolitan Municipality mayoral candidate. The hopes of our organizations and the citizens who have devoted their hearts to our party are being destroyed one by one due to the strategy implemented in Ankara. The wrong policies followed by our party have disappointed everyone who cares about and works for Ankara and Turkey.

The statements made by Cengiz Topel Yıldırım, who was nominated as the Ankara Metropolitan Municipality mayoral candidate, the language he uses, and his attitude toward our fellow party members give the impression that he is trying to destroy our party's stance. The comments made among our organization members and in the public regarding Cengiz Topel Yıldırım, who was nominated as the Ankara Metropolitan Municipality mayoral candidate, are of a nature that casts suspicion on all of us."

"HE ACTS WITH FEELINGS OF GRUDGE AND REVENGE"

Stating that "a mayoral candidate who acts with personal feelings of grudge and revenge and prefers the language of hostility is betraying both Ankara and the millions who have worked for our party," Şancı continued as follows:

"Ankara was held captive by anger and hostility 25 years ago and experienced discrimination and poor management in every field. Cengiz Topel Yıldırım cannot say a single word about this period. This situation reveals what the true intention is and who is being served.

I would like to state that I will support Mansur Yavaş, whom we deemed worthy of the Presidency and whose services we have described to all of Turkey, in the March 31 Local Elections and that I will work for his victory just as I did in 2019.

In this regard... I am resigning from my post as İYİ Party Mamak District Chair, which I have carried out with struggle and hard work."