Yeniden Refah Deputy Chairman Aydal: Erdoğan tried to treat us like his backyard

The 'crisis' ongoing within the People's Alliance is deepening further. 

Participating in a live broadcast on Halk TV, New Welfare Party Deputy Chairman Doğan Aydal closed the doors to cooperation with the AKP, claiming that the name of Murat Kurum was not even shared with them.

TARGETED ERDOĞAN

"Erdoğan tried to treat the New Welfare Party like his backyard. There was no intention of compromise," said Aydal, adding, "Kanal Istanbul is a matter of our national survival. This reason alone is enough for Murat Kurum not to be the Metropolitan Mayor of Istanbul."

Highlights from Aydal's statements are as follows:

"I saw that they did not take our support for a party seriously. We realized that the meetings they held with us were just a waste of time. Our base does not want them either. Our friends in the AKP say, 'If you don't support us, the CHP will win.' We are not a party that exists to make the AKP win. We may not be able to reach an agreement for a reason. That is how it appears. They did not even share their Istanbul candidate with us.

"EMİNE ERDOĞAN HAD AN INFLUENCE ON MURAT KURUM'S CANDIDACY"

I think Emine Erdoğan had an influence on the name Murat Kurum. This is the effect of their relationship with Kurum in past projects, such as the plastic bag issue. I know Mr. Murat Kurum, he is a very gentlemanly person. But is there anything else that comes to mind from his time as Minister of Environment and Urbanization other than the plastic bag? The 25-cent plastic bag... There is a logical error even in that. It was pursued because the President's wife attached importance to it. What they did caused much greater damage. Those large black bags became widespread; this was not smart. We also saw Murat Kurum during the earthquake period. Mr. Murat Kurum is developing a discourse built on perception management."

"AKP IS VERY DESPERATE"

Now the AKP is in more trouble than ever; they cannot even find candidates. You may have noticed that they have re-nominated their old candidates even in the most troubled cities. One of the most notable of these is Kocaeli. Tahir Büyükakın promised two subways, and neither exists. He promised clean air, yet we are breathing poison every day. He promised clean water, but the water is dirty. He said he would build a tram, and not even one has been finished. If the AKP is nominating the same person despite all these failures, it means the AKP is very desperate. They will consider themselves defeated when they lose Ankara, Istanbul, and Izmir."