Meral Danış Beştaş responds to 'withdrawal from candidacy' question

Peoples' Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IMM) co-mayoral candidate Meral Danış Beştaş made statements during a live broadcast on KRT TV.

Speaking about the local elections on March 31, 2024, Beştaş responded to the question, "Do you have any intention of withdrawing from your candidacy?" by saying, "I have no such situation. Because if there were a possibility of withdrawal, I would not have become a candidate."

Stating that they have not made any secret agreements with any party, Beştaş said, "I am telling the entire Turkish public: We say what we do, and we do what we say. We have no path involving such under-the-table dealings. Of course, we will tell our voters to vote for themselves. It is one of our fundamental mottos. That is, when we go, we will call on DEM Party supporters to vote for themselves. Why did we become candidates? We are hardly in a position to call on people to vote for someone else."

REACTION TO BURCU KÖKSAL: I THINK HER TRUE COLORS HAVE EMERGED

Reacting to CHP Afyonkarahisar mayoral candidate Burcu Köksal's remarks regarding the DEM Party, Beştaş said, "I am asking all citizens of Turkey. Should this situation only bother the DEM Party? This is called fascism. I served as a Group Deputy Chair alongside Ms. Burcu. I know her very well. For months, our seats were even side-by-side. I know her, but frankly, I did not know she had so many faces. We work together in Parliament. I did not think Ms. Burcu could go this far. I think her true colors have emerged."

'LET THE TWO OF THEM COMPETE, WE WANT TO GET OUR OWN VOTES'

Stating that they do not have any goal of helping any party win or lose by becoming candidates, and that they are seeking the votes of the electorate, Beştaş said the following:

"As the DEM Party, we are resisting. By entering the election, we are also demonstrating resistance. We are saying they cannot take us over. This is why we insist on democratic politics. No one has paid as high a price as we have. As a candidate, I am saying that we absolutely did not come here with a background of 'let's make this one lose or that one win.' Let the two of them compete; we want to get our own votes. Could there be any politics more natural than this? Our concern is not with the government or the opposition. We are waging a struggle against the government. We are not causing anyone to lose. If they are winning, they are welcome to win. Ultimately, I want to get my own votes. I said it at the beginning, there is no such thing as us voting for one party forever. We cannot conduct politics like this. We did this in 2019, we did it in 2023. In the end, this has become a bit too much."

News Source: 12punto