AKP favors İYİ, Felicity parties among opposition amid rumors of efforts to expand ruling alliance

AKP spokesperson Mahir Ünal has said that the party favors İYİ and Felicity parties among the opposition. He also dismissed reports that the AKP's votes have decreased below 40 percent.

Felicity Party leader Temel Karamollaoğlu (L) and İYİ Party leader Meral Akşener are seen in this file photo.

Duvar English 

Ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) spokesperson Mahir Ünal has said that the party favors the Good (İYİ) and Felicity parties among the opposition amid rumors of efforts to expand the People's Alliance. 

Ünal said that the two opposition parties have a different place for the AKP, while the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) and the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) are in a separate place. 

"I put two parties in the Nation Alliance to a separate place. The CHP and HDP are on one side and the İYİ Party and the Felicity Party are on the other," Ünal told reporters on Jan. 28.

"We can talk to those whoever stands with Turkey," he said. 

Both the İYİ and the Felicity parties are right-wing, with the former being Islamist and the latter nationalist - two traits that President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's AKP and the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) share. 

The AKP often antagonizes the CHP and the HDP, with the latter frequently being the target of terrorism accusations. 

Ünal's remarks came after rumors on People's Alliance looking to expand itself with new parties as polls show that their votes have significantly decreased. 

The AKP spokesperson dismissed such reports, saying that the AKP's votes haven't decreased below 40 percent. 

"The votes of our president haven't decreased below 52 percent and the AKP's is not under 40 percent. Recent polls show that our votes are around 40 to 44 percent," Ünal said.