Özgür Özel's assessment of Adnan Beker: Did he vote for Erdoğan in the 2023 elections?

Independent Ankara Deputy Adnan Beker, who resigned from the IYI Party on November 16, 2023, joined the CHP three days ago. CHP Chairman Özgür Özel pinned the party badge on Adnan Beker. The number of CHP deputies has risen to 134.

Beker had previously stated that in the presidential elections on May 28, 2023, he voted for President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan instead of his own party's candidate, Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu. Former IYI Party member Adnan Beker had used the following expressions:

- I was there on the night the election was lost. Everyone was there. All the deputy chairmen and so on. It was like a funeral home; everyone was very sad. Meral Hanım's morale was also very low. I was the only one who wasn't sad. I didn't vote for Mr. Kemal. I didn't ask for votes either. I didn't vote on May 14, and I voted for Mr. Tayyip on May 28. Who should I vote for? There was no other candidate. These people couldn't even manage our Pursaklar Municipality, what are you talking about! There was no candidate other than Mr. Tayyip, who were we supposed to vote for?

YAVAŞ'S RESPONSE REGARDING THE 'TRUST'

Following Özgür Özel's statement that he was entrusting Adnan Beker to him, Ankara Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Mansur Yavaş said, "I don't know why the Chairman entrusted him like that. Because in politics, one can only vouch for oneself. The discretion is theirs."

Speaking on Now TV in the morning, Özgür Özel also responded to a question regarding Yavaş's statement.

The CHP leader pointed to the AKP's target of 400 deputies and emphasized constitutional change.

"ONE DEPUTY MIGHT SAVE THE HOMELAND"

Özel said the following:

- Let someone ask Adnan Bey. He told me the other day. He says, 'I got angry when the journalist pressed me hard during the television broadcast, so I said it.' He says, 'I swear, I actually did vote for him.' I said, well, that part is up to you. Also... Actually, he did vote. He says, 'The journalist provoked me. I thought, if I hadn't voted, and so on, I said there, 'I didn't vote'.' He says, 'I swear, I actually did vote.' That is, well, in their own realm, but I will tell you something like this.

- A day will come when that one deputy—you know, the nail that saves the horseshoe, the horseshoe that saves the horse, and the horse that saves the homeland—perhaps that one nail will save the horseshoe, the horse, and the homeland when they try to bring a constitutional amendment before us. What are they talking about? Nothing.

"AN OFFER WAS MADE FROM THE AK PARTY"

- Mansur Bey, well, I read that. I couldn't do anything in Brussels. I will ask what it is. I didn't say it was a guarantee, I said it was a trust. You already said it was a trust. We know Adnan Beker as someone very close to Mansur Bey. Six months ago, Mansur Bey had told me, 'Adnan could come.' Then, there were a few meetings with Adnan Bey and so on. We decided to watch a little bit because of some of Adnan Bey's past statements.

- While 39 deputies were being given on the list that day, the friend holding the pen is now criticizing Adnan Beker's arrival from the other side. Look, Adnan Beker has remained independent for six months. He has received offers from the AK Party seven times. He said, 'I was elected with opposition votes, I am staying.' No one is in a position to tell someone who says they will come to the CHP to go away.

- As long as he is without a party, offers are constantly being made, there are invitations. He wanted to end that process as well. He said, 'Let me come to the father's hearth.' He will come, work, and struggle with us. Well, what should we do? Also, we have pinned or will pin the badge. Friends say, 'No, this wouldn't be right, that wouldn't be right.' Well, this is the parliament that has been formed with its faults and merits.