During the time Nihat Yeşiltaş served as the Founding Provincial Chairman of the New Party, 6 Mayors in Bursa switched to the New Party without any defections, and the vast majority of Municipal Council Members also joined the New Party.
And 47 years later, during Nihat Yeşiltaş's term as Provincial Chairman, the Bursa Metropolitan Municipality was won.
Nihat Yeşiltaş was injured in the eye due to water sprayed by a TOMA (riot control vehicle) as a result of disproportionate intervention during the protests that began with the detention of Istanbul Metropolitan Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu on March 19.
Yeşiltaş, who announced that he is a candidate for Provincial Chairman at the New Party provincial congress to be held in Bursa on October 18, 2026, shared his candidacy on his social media account. In his statement, he addressed New Party members and the Bursa public:
"Faithful, brave, and self-sacrificing members of the NEW Party; our country is going through the most challenging and darkest test in the history of the Republic. We are in times when injustice and poverty have descended upon our homeland like a dark cloud, when imperialism is making monarchy plans for these lands, when a handful of interest groups are getting richer by the day, and our people who live by their labor are becoming increasingly impoverished.
My brothers and sisters!
We are the ones who have set out to change this broken system from its roots!
Even in the darkest and most hopeless moments; saying 'We light a lamp in our hearts by igniting our souls / Our pain subsides, and our ache too,' we have always sought the remedy in our own struggle and, despite all obstacles, we have never given up on walking shoulder to shoulder on this path!
As those who turn their hearts into torches and march against the darkness; we have proven to everyone what we can achieve when we believe and when we are one. Our organized power, leavened with this belief, brought us our greatest election victory in history in Bursa and subsequently made the NEW Party the leading party of this city!
I have always been honored to be a soldier of this great family and to carry out the duty of provincial chairmanship until today.
Today, however; with the strong support I have received from you, I am announcing my candidacy for the NEW Party Bursa Provincial Chairmanship to reach the goal of that great journey, for which we have planned every step with great care since the first moment we took office and of which we have not had the slightest doubt that it would be crowned with victory!
Now is the time to carry this righteous struggle that we have grown together much further.
As a fellow traveler who has dedicated himself to this path, I declare clearly from here: We will spread the 'New Politics' understanding of the New Party to the very capillaries of our organization. We will institutionalize a democratic and participatory structure where our members will directly guide party policies. Without leaving a single person behind; we will walk the path bravely, tirelessly, and all together!
Against those who aspire to monarchy and those who love sultanate; we will defend the Republic of Turkey, the greatest work of our Great Leader Gazi Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, and its enlightened values until our last breath!
In neighborhoods, workplaces, factories, fields, schools... We will make our righteous struggle mass-based in every area of life; under the leadership of our Chairman Mr. Özgür Özel, we will reach that beautiful future that our country expects and deserves, all together," he said.
News Source: 12punto
