Özgür Özel's Lütfü Savaş confession: 'I wish my hands had been broken...'

YENİ Party Chairman Özgür Özel made striking remarks regarding the candidacy decisions he made during his tenure as CHP Chairman. Appearing as a guest on journalist Fatih Altaylı's program, Özel defined the nomination of Lütfü Savaş for the Hatay Metropolitan Municipality in the March 31, 2024, local elections as the "only candidacy he regrets."

Özel stated that Savaş, who faced public backlash in Hatay following the February 6 earthquakes, was nominated because he was leading in the polls conducted by the party. Reminding that the election in Hatay was lost by a very narrow margin, Özel used harsh expressions regarding the decision-making process.

Özel said, "We put everyone in Hatay into the polls to avoid losing, and in the end, with our hearts bleeding, we nominated Lütfü Savaş and lost by a very small margin. Damn it, we shouldn't have nominated him; I wish we hadn't entered the election in Hatay at all. We made that mistake."

Clarifying his words further, Özel stated, "The only candidate I regret in all of Turkey is Lütfü Savaş. I wish my hands had been broken before I nominated him."

Lütfü Savaş had lost to his AKP rival in Hatay by a margin of approximately 3,500 votes. In the post-election period, Savaş criticized Özel regarding the defeat and filed a criminal complaint concerning the CHP's 38th Ordinary Congress held on November 4-5, 2023.