Membership call for the NEW Party from Ekrem İmamoğlu: 'Come, become a member'

Detained Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality Mayor and presidential candidate Ekrem İmamoğlu has issued a call for membership to the NEW Party. İmamoğlu's message was broadcast via an AI-generated video shared on the social media account titled "Presidential Candidate Office."

Addressing citizens in the video, İmamoğlu stated, "We are stepping into a new era. We are building a new generation of politics together." He defined NEW Party membership as a form of political participation that is "not waiting but demanding, not following but expressing free opinions, not watching but deciding."

İmamoğlu argued that party members would be the decisive will in the selection of mayoral candidates, parliamentary candidates, presidential candidates, and the party leader. Referring to the previous candidate selection process, İmamoğlu stated that 15.5 million votes were cast with the call, "Come, choose, make history."

Come, become a member, be the hope of Turkey. I am calling out to women, to the youth, to those who struggle for labor and bread for their families; to everyone who has not lost hope in the future of this country: You will pave the way so that Turkey can find peace.

In his message, İmamoğlu also included the lines from Mehmet Akif Ersoy, "It is a right for a homeland without owners to fall. If you take ownership, this homeland will not fall," and stated that the owner of the NEW Party is not "a person, an office, or a cadre," but the people.

İmamoğlu directed his call to the masses, saying, "Every individual of the 86 million is invited to this journey." Describing the route as "Republic, justice, democracy," İmamoğlu invited everyone who thinks about the future of Turkey to walk side by side on the same journey.