As the local elections approach, the Peoples' Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) has made a notable decision regarding the Izmit district of Kocaeli.
Following the controversies within the CHP in Izmit, the incumbent mayor Fatma Kaplan Hürriyet, who had initially withdrawn her candidacy, later announced that she was running again. Following this, the DEM Party, which had nominated candidates for the Kocaeli Metropolitan Municipality and 8 districts, withdrew the candidacy of its Izmit mayoral candidate, lawyer Gencer Demirkaya.
According to a report by Gazete Duvar, DEM Party Kocaeli Provincial Chair Nuri Tan stated the following:
"Our Izmit candidate has withdrawn. We do not want the opposition to lose. This is a decision we made in order not to cause the opposition to lose. Our Izmit candidate's request was also in this direction. It is entirely the result of an evaluation we made within the scope of a city consensus."
Nuri Tan also denied allegations that DEM Party members would be given positions in the municipality in exchange for this decision.
News Source: 12punto
