Warning from YENİ Party regarding Üsküdar and IMM: 'Municipalities that cannot be won at the ballot box are being targeted through the judiciary'

The YENİ Party Central Executive Board met under the chairmanship of Chairman Özgür Özel. The main agenda of the meeting held at the headquarters was the field operations to be carried out throughout September and the mayoral election process in Üsküdar Municipality.

During the meeting, it was emphasized that the election is approaching, and it was reported that Özel gave the message to his staff: "We will leave behind the wrongs done to us and explain our solution proposals and our claim to power to the citizens we meet face to face."

According to party sources, members of parliament will head to the field in two separate groups between September 10-20 and September 20-30. The reports to be prepared following these efforts are expected to guide the rhetoric and policy topics that Özel will use in his city meetings.

FIELD CALENDAR AND CONGRESS PROCESS

It was stated that Özgür Özel will continue his city tours starting from Eastern Anatolia. According to the program, Özel will be in Ardahan on September 10 and in Kars on September 11. While visits to Bursa and Yalova are planned after Ardahan and Kars, it was learned that the first mass rally will be held in Artvin.

The party's congress and convention calendar was also evaluated at the MYK meeting. YENİ Party officials stated that members will elect their district chairs on September 12, 2026, arguing that this method will be a "first in Turkish political history." It was reported that the Ordinary Convention will be held no later than November following the district and provincial congresses.

Another topic of the meeting was the elections held in Üsküdar Municipality. The party leadership expressed the view that if the 2-year, 7-month, and 15-day prison sentence given to Ekrem İmamoğlu in the case known to the public as the "Fool Case" (Ahmak Davası) is upheld, a similar process could be experienced in the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality.

YENİ Party officials claimed that if the verdict is upheld, a mayoral election could be held in the IMM, and that a scenario similar to the one in Üsküdar could emerge during this process. Party circles commented, "In the next elections, we will establish the will of the people in such a way that no one can take it back again."

Making a statement after the MYK meeting, YENİ Party Spokesperson Zeynel Emre also criticized the process in Üsküdar with harsh words. Emre stated that their party received 50 percent of the votes in Üsküdar in the March 31, 2024 elections, while the AKP-MHP bloc remained at 43 percent, saying, "There is a major theft in Üsküdar."

"The ministry is involved, the governorship is involved, the Kartal Courthouse is involved... The council members there are openly saying this, expressing that they are under pressure in every way. The name of this is theft."

Emre alleged that some council members voted under pressure during the mayoral elections. Criticizing the Istanbul Governorship's stance during the election process, Emre argued that what happened created a serious problem in terms of "democracy" and "national will."

News Source: 12punto