Aziz Kocaoğlu, who served as the Mayor of İzmir Metropolitan Municipality for three terms, made evaluations regarding İzmir Metropolitan Mayor Cemil Tugay joining the AKP.
Participating in a program on EGEMAX TV before the ceremony where Cemil Tugay joined the AKP, Kocaoğlu shared his views on mayors changing parties while in office.
Kocaoğlu stated that a mayor who wants to leave their party should first resign from their mayoral position and then leave the party.
"IF IT WERE ME, I WOULD HAVE RESIGNED IN THE MORNING"
Kocaoğlu used the following expressions in his evaluation of the subject:
"If I were in such a situation—and everyone in İzmir knows that I would do this—I would have resigned from the mayorship in the morning and from the party in the afternoon. This is the correct, appropriate, and political way to do it. My mind cannot comprehend the rest."
Arguing that value judgments in politics and society have changed, Kocaoğlu said, "Our value judgments; our perspective on politics, our perspective on life, our perspective on people, our perspective on money, and our perspective on positions and offices have eroded."
"THEN JOIN WHICHEVER PARTY YOU WANT"
Stating that there are no obstacles to resigning from the mayorship, unlike the processes in parliament, Kocaoğlu said that mayors can join any party they wish after leaving their posts.
Kocaoğlu continued his words as follows:
"There is no such thing as 'I cannot resign from the mayorship.' In parliament, you know, approval is needed, this and that is needed. There is no such thing here. After that, you can join whichever party you want. You struggle there. If you have a chance there, or if the opportunities exist, and if you are generally accepted, you become whatever you are going to become there, my brother. Isn't this it? This is politics. This is also what being elected is."
News Source: 12punto
