Cemil Tugay explains the behind-the-scenes of his transfer to the AKP! 'I was very impressed by Erdoğan that day'

İzmir Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Cemil Tugay, who continued his path as an independent for a while after resigning from the CHP, officially joined the AKP on October 7.

Tugay, whose badge was pinned by AKP Chairman and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, spoke for the first time about the transition process to the AKP as well as the events that took place at the ceremony.

“OUR PRESIDENT LISTENED TO ME THERE, HE DID NOT LEAVE ME ALONE”

Arguing that the primary purpose of his decision to join the AKP was to serve İzmir, Cemil Tugay drew attention to the fact that Erdoğan accompanied him during the badge-pinning ceremony.

Tugay used the following expressions regarding those moments:

“I have been in politics for years, and I have never seen a Chairman or our President stand next to another leader while they were giving a speech. During my speech, our President listened to me there, waited for the speech to finish, and did not leave me alone.”

Addressing the criticisms directed at him due to the speech he gave at the badge ceremony, Tugay stated that he had prepared the text himself and that he was saddened by the misunderstanding.

In his statement on the subject, Tugay included the following words:

“That speech is a speech that I wrote word for word, with every single word, down to the last letter. I was very saddened by the misunderstanding.”

Stating that he entered politics with the aim of being the voice of the voiceless, Tugay continued his words as follows:

“Frankly, I am a person who entered politics to be the voice of the voiceless. No one can deny, nor can they deny, Atatürk's words. But is this an obstacle for the AK Party to also claim that legacy and want to be the voice of the voiceless as a party? I don't understand why it is being criticized so much.”

“I WAS VERY IMPRESSED BY ERDOĞAN THAT DAY”

Cemil Tugay also made statements regarding his meeting with President Erdoğan at the Palace before his decision to join the AKP.

Stating that the meeting left a positive impression on him, Tugay expressed that he found Erdoğan different from what he expected and said the following:

“I saw a person much different from the Erdoğan I had imagined and known. I saw a person in front of me who was very knowledgeable, respectable; moreover, who had a fatherly, natural approach. Frankly, I was very impressed by him in a positive sense that day.”

Expressing that establishing a close dialogue with Erdoğan impressed him, Tugay said that the President's messages of support for İzmir created a sense of trust and closeness in him.

In his assessment of the meeting, Tugay used the following expressions:

“When you establish a close dialogue, you see that first and foremost he is a human being, a good-hearted person; a person who has spent many years working and striving to serve his country. It inevitably impresses a person. In that conversation, I heard that our President attaches importance to İzmir; that he would support every issue for investments to be made in İzmir and for the problems of İzmir to be solved. Because of that, a sense of trust emerged and there was a feeling of closeness.”

Stating that he thought for a long time before making the decision to join the AKP and that he took a risk, Cemil Tugay expressed in an interview with Yeni Asır that he stands behind his decision.

“I WORE A SHIRT OF FIRE BUT I BELIEVE I DID THE RIGHT THING”

Emphasizing that the process was not easy for him, Tugay made the following statement:

“I thought a lot, I took a risk, I wore a shirt of fire. I am saying these in the words of others; it is truly not an easy thing, but I believe I did the right thing. The greatest gain for me was to feel the support of a powerful President.”