Very harsh 'Ümit Özlale' statement from IYI Party İzmir Provincial Organization: 'With a spoiled whim...'

In a statement made by the IYI Party İzmir Provincial Organization, it was announced that the IYI Party İzmir Provincial Board of Directors was dismissed from duty on 11.01.2024, following a letter from the General Headquarters Organization Presidency dated 10.01.2024.

"I WOULD SAY IT'S EITHER THE PROVINCE OR ME"

The statement included the following expressions:

"Just before the new year, our Provincial Secretary walked over our Political Affairs President at the Provincial Presidency office and engaged in verbal and physical assault. Following this, the resignation of the Provincial Secretary was requested, but Ümit Özlale intervened and took on the leading role in the process by telling our Provincial President, 'If the provincial secretary is not here, then I am not here either.' The authority to appoint provincial administrators lies with the provincial president. This authority is not under the jurisdiction of a member of parliament or any candidate. When it was conveyed to him that such an incident within the party could not be tolerated, he stated that he was insistent, saying, 'I will go to the Party Leader and say it's either the province or me.'"

Following the incident, Ümit Özlale went to Ankara and met with our Party Leader, Ms. Meral Akşener. As a result of his insistence, saying 'it's either me or the provincial administration,' our Party Leader Ms. Meral Akşener was forced to make her choice in favor of Ümit Özlale, and the administration was dismissed from duty.

"WITH A SPOILED WHIM..."

It is an indication that it does not align with the democratic, republican, free, and contemporary structure of İzmir that Ümit Özlale, who says in his election campaigns, 'I am from İzmir, I possess the values of İzmir,' and whom our party accepts as its most ambitious mayoral candidate, ensured the dismissal of the elected provincial administration with a spoiled whim, and wanted to bring people who had lost to the current administration in the congress into the management."

Speaking to Oktay Güçkekin from Ege'de Sonsöz regarding the discussions that took place before the statement emerged, Özlale said the following:

"I AM NOT THAT KIND OF PERSON"

“I am not someone who would go to the party leader or the organization president and make a statement by saying 'it's either them or me.' I would never want to put the president or the party leader in a difficult situation. Our organization president, Buğra Kavuncu, evaluates the performance of the Provincial Presidency. From time to time, and naturally because I am an İzmir MP and the İzmir Metropolitan Municipality Mayoral Candidate, he consults me just as he asks our other MPs. Therefore, both by my character and my position in the party, I would not go to the party leader and say 'it's either them or me.' I set out for the Metropolitan Municipality and I am truly trying to carry out my work day and night. For this reason, I do not get involved in too many intra-party conflicts and put myself in an 'it's either them or me' position.”

"SITUATIONS THAT CAN HAPPEN IN ALL PARTIES"

Responding to the question, 'Why do they want to drag you into these kinds of discussions? How does this affect you?', Özlale said, “There will of course be those who want to try to drag me into such discussions from inside or outside the party; I am the first Metropolitan Municipality mayoral candidate to be announced in Turkey. However, this is not something unique to the IYI Party or İzmir. These are situations that can happen in all parties. I continue to work without getting too hung up on these. As you can see, I am visiting all the districts of İzmir without stopping, meeting with citizens, and chatting.”

News Source: 12punto