A 'New Member and Council Member Participation Program' was organized by the AKP Bahçelievler District Presidency. The program, held at the Bahçelievler Nurettin Topçu Cultural Center, was attended by the Chairman of the Turkish Grand National Assembly (TBMM) Justice Commission and AKP İstanbul Deputy Cüneyt Yüksel, AKP İstanbul Provincial Chairman Abdullah Özdemir, Bahçelievler Mayor Hakan Bahadır, AKP Bahçelievler District Chairman Emrah Parlak, district organization members, women's and youth branches, council members, and new members who joined the party.
During the ceremony, badges were pinned on Bahçelievler Municipal Council members Cem Şafak, Barış Ural, and Levent Arısüt, who joined the AKP from the CHP.
With the joining of Cem Şafak, Barış Ural, and Levent Arısüt to the AKP, the number of CHP council members dropped from 25 to 22. The number of People's Alliance (Cumhur İttifakı) council members increased from 20 to 23. With this new distribution, the majority in the Bahçelievler Municipal Council has shifted to the People's Alliance. At the end of the program, the new members and the Bahçelievler Municipal Council members who joined the AKP were congratulated and their badges were pinned.
Speaking at the program, AK Party Istanbul Provincial Chairman Abdullah Özdemir said, "Today, we met with our Deputy Mayor of Üsküdar, our District Chairman, and our President, Mr. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, in Ankara. We also mentioned our program here in Bahçelievler today. He specifically asked us to convey his greetings to our Bahçelievler family. Since the establishment of our AK Party, Bahçelievler has always shown its stance. It has been a fortress. It has provided opportunities for very important names and very valuable politicians to develop. It is one of the most distinguished districts of our AK Party in Istanbul. Thank God, we are together today for a very beautiful occasion. In the 2024 elections, a result emerged in our Bahçelievler. In fact, we experienced a different picture across our Istanbul as well. We encountered a result we did not desire much. In our Bahçelievler, thanks to the strong bond our mayor established with the society and the efforts of our organization, we included the mayoralty in the AK Party family, but unfortunately, we could not reach the sufficient number in the municipal council. In the subsequent process, we truly followed the council meetings managed by our mayor with patience, effort, and determination. We saw his determination in the field. We saw the stance he put forward with his team to provide equal service to the people of Bahçelievler."
"We will hopefully be involved in every good work done until the end"
Stating that they will always be by the side of the people of Bahçelievler, AK Party Istanbul Provincial Chairman Abdullah Özdemir said, "I see that Mr. Levent Arısüt, Mr. Barış Ural, and Mr. Cem Şafak, who are with us here today, are actually expressing this: We will hopefully be involved in every good work done until the end. And as elected council members on behalf of Bahçelievler, we will always be by the side of the people of Bahçelievler. Unfortunately, those who have adopted a lack of service as a motto, those who aim to be a brake on the citizen rather than providing service to the citizen, will again not be able to understand this party switching, and they will try to create lynching campaigns in our Bahçelievler district as well. While they try to produce a lot of slander, our Bahçelievler Municipality will give the best answer by providing good service to the people of Bahçelievler."
Speaking at the program, TBMM Justice Commission Chairman and AK Party Istanbul Deputy Cüneyt Yüksel said, "I say welcome to our very valuable municipal council members Levent Arısüt, Barış Ural, and Cem Şafak, who joined us, to our AK Party family. I hope this program will be auspicious for our Bahçelievler, our Istanbul, and Turkey, our country. The AK Party was founded 25 years ago. It celebrated this with great enthusiasm last month. It was born from the hope of our nation, the demand of our nation, and the will for change. This march, which began on August 14, 2001, has turned into a quarter-century of political experience today. In this quarter-century, Turkey has changed a lot with our President, who is a world leader and who is always the hope for the oppressed geographies and oppressed people, especially in our region, against everything happening all over the world. Turkey has developed a lot. Nothing is the same as it used to be anymore."
"God is always the helper of the righteous"
Speaking at the program, Bahçelievler Mayor Hakan Bahadır said, "I thank our newly joined friends very much. I say welcome to our family. To be honest, our friends were in the CHP. They are coming to us from the Republican People's Party. You know, there is a division in the Republican People's Party as well. There is a New Party. That man who said 'He won't be purified' to me, Özgür Özel, who said 'He is shameless,' I said it in the group meeting and in the last council. God is so great that his former Chairman Kılıçdaroğlu says to him, 'Purify yourself and come.' Look at the situation the New Party has fallen into. Do you see it? Look at the situation it has fallen into. That is why we do not condemn anyone, but one should not slander. We took it to court. We took Özgür Özel to court, saying 'Prove it.' We presented our documents. We are not the ones holding him accountable for what he did in the general group meeting. God Almighty is holding him accountable through Kılıçdaroğlu. He says, 'Purify yourselves and come.' That is why there is a political change in Turkey. God is always the helper of the righteous."
"Our AK Party has no hidden agenda. It has a passion to serve Turkey"
Stating that the AK Party has a passion to serve Turkey, Bahçelievler Mayor Hakan Bahadır said, "We made an offer to our friends in the CHP. My dear Chairman, my dear Deputy, we made the offer together with our district chairman. Thank God, they did not break our hearts. I thank them. It might be difficult for them. It is difficult, it might be difficult. They were in the council there, they served there. Of course. But know this, the hearts of our friends here are truly open to you until the end. Starting with me, my district chairman, and our other friends, we will all defend your rights. There is nothing else. Because they can criticize. Those in the New Party will criticize a lot. They will say, 'Why did you leave?' But there is a reality here, there is a purpose. I said it a moment ago. Our AK Party has no hidden agenda. It has a passion to serve Turkey. The friend of ours in the CHP who will do that will come, the one in the New Welfare Party (Yeniden Refah) will come, the one in the DSP will come, the one in another party will come. Our President says: Our door is open, we do not exclude anyone. If there is someone leaving, they leave, but our door is wide open to those who come. I say welcome again. May God be pleased with you, thank you for coming."
News Source: 12punto
