Ali Mahir Başarır compares Özel, İmamoğlu, and Yavaş! 'If I were in Erdoğan's shoes...'

Republican People's Party (CHP) Group Deputy Chairman Ali Mahir Başarır was a guest on the program "Nokta Atışı" (Point-Blank), hosted by İpek Özbey on Sözcü TV.

Making statements regarding the current agenda, Başarır gave a noteworthy response to Özbey's question about the claim that "the reason Erdoğan met with Özgür Özel is that he wants to compete against the CHP leader instead of İmamoğlu or Yavaş."

"If I were in his (Erdoğan's) shoes, answering in the context of your question, I would not want to compete against Özgür Özel," said Başarır, and he gave the following response to Özbey's question, "Would it be harder than the other candidates?":

"In my opinion, of course... I know the chairman very well; I have been with him for a long time. There is not a day that goes by where we don't work together or talk... He is very hardworking, very intelligent, and has a very strong memory. He takes confirmation from more than one expert friend on a subject in a very serious sense and makes his decision accordingly. He believes deeply in democracy and intra-party justice. I am one of the quick-witted deputies, and sometimes while joking around, I would say, 'I can't even convince him on some issues.' Because he is not someone who is easy to convince. In other words, he is a leader that Turkey has needed for many years. We will see this anyway. Entering into that debate is of no benefit to him. Ekrem, Mansur, and Özgür—we are all a whole anyway. Our concern is not for one of us to sit in that seat. It is to solve the problems raised in that 1 hour and 40-minute meeting."

ÖZEL HAD COMPARED İMAMOĞLU AND YAVAŞ TO FORWARDS

CHP Chairman Özgür Özel, in his statement on April 8, compared Istanbul and Ankara Metropolitan Mayors Ekrem İmamoğlu and Mansur Yavaş to 'forwards' and said, "When the day comes, one of our friends will be the presidential candidate."

News Source: 12punto