Muharrem İnce addresses İzmir candidacy rumors! What did he say to İmamoğlu?

Memleket Party Chairman Muharrem İnce recently met with Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu. Following this meeting, which stirred up political circles, it was suggested that İnce would be nominated as a candidate in İzmir.

Muharrem İnce has broken his silence regarding the claims.

“I CALLED İMAMOĞLU”

Speaking to journalist Fatih Altaylı, İnce said the following regarding his meeting with İmamoğlu;

“I called Ekrem İmamoğlu. I have known him for a long time. When I first met him, he was the Beylikdüzü District Chairman. These things happen in politics. Sometimes we are in higher positions, and sometimes we switch places. I called him and wanted to meet. I told him this: ‘Winning Istanbul was important. But not losing it is even more important. Your losing would demoralize Republicans. You need to protect that position. What can I do for you?’ I said.”

“ONE MUST NOT LOSE ISTANBUL”

“In the presidential election where I was not a candidate, I received 103 thousand votes in Istanbul, and just as many were invalidated. This means that the Memleket Party has at least 250 thousand votes there. Considering he won by a margin of 14 thousand votes in the last election, I think this support is significant. One must not lose Istanbul.”

“THERE IS NO QUESTION OF DISRESPECT TOWARD ÖZGÜR BEY”

Emphasizing that his meeting with Ekrem İmamoğlu was not institutional, İnce stated, “There is no question of disrespect toward Özgür Bey. We will meet with him too, but my meeting with Ekrem Bey was not institutional. I only asked what I could do for him. We will also meet with Özgür Özel. He is going to Germany now. I also have a trip abroad. We will meet with Özgür Bey on Tuesday. Afterward, we will come together with Meral Akşener.”

When asked by Fatih Altaylı, “Will you discuss the issue of candidacy in İzmir with Özgür Özel?”, İnce gave the following response;

“There is no such thing as an İzmir candidacy issue. There is no subject for a non-existent offer. There is no such offer for us to talk about. The issue there is this: I warned the CHP regarding İzmir. They see İzmir as a sure thing, but this time İzmir is not a sure thing at all. They will lose İzmir with the wrong candidate. It is being discussed that the HDP will nominate Sırrı Süreyya Önder as a candidate in İzmir. The HDP or HEDEP has a significant number of votes in İzmir, and Sırrı Süreyya Önder would consolidate those significant votes. The İyi Party candidate Özlale will also receive some votes. You might suddenly find that İzmir is gone. They need to get out of the mindset of ‘whoever I nominate in İzmir, I will win.’ I told them this. The new management of the CHP has not yet found its footing. That is why I am trying to talk to them and warn them.”

“MANSUR YAVAŞ’S JOB WILL BECOME DIFFICULT”

 “I have a fear there as well. Tayyip Erdoğan’s reach extends everywhere. If he makes a strong name he has in his hand the candidate for the İyi Party, Ankara will also become difficult. If he makes a strong district mayor a candidate from the İyi Party, Mansur Yavaş’s job will become difficult.”

WHAT WILL HE SAY TO MERAL AKŞENER?

“Meral Hanım actually knows politics well. What I will tell her is this: I will advise her, ‘Do not be stubborn in key places.’ In the last election, she had made a very positive cooperation for her own party in the local elections. For example, she won the mayorship in Nazilli. Although the İyi Party mayor later switched to the AKP, there are such places. The stance of the İyi Party in these places is important. For example, in Mersin. And there are many more such places. I will explain that it would be good for her to cooperate in at least such places.”