Erdoğan once again calls on İYİ Party to join ruling alliance

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has stated "Our door is open to everyone who wants to join, including the İYİ Party," regarding ongoing alliance discussions. In response, İYİ Party leader Meral Akşener called to end alliance politics, arguing it polarizes the country.

Wednesday October 11 2023 10:07 pm

Duvar English

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Oct. 11 called on the opposition right-wing İYİ (Good) Party to join the ruling alliance.

Erdoğan stated "The door of the People's Alliance is open to everyone who wants to join our struggle for the survival, independence, and future of their country and nation, provided that our partners also consent," during the Justice and Development Party’s (AKP) parliamentary group meeting.

When the journalists asked if his remarks regarded the İYİ Party after the meeting, Erdoğan said "Our door is open to everyone who wants to join, including the İYİ Party."

When asked about the opposition’s decision to reject the military operation motion and the constitutional amendment, Erdoğan said that the collective votes of the People’s Alliance were enough to pass both motions.

The leader of the İYİ Party, Meral Akşener, responded to Erdoğan’s invitation through social media. She suggested “normalization” and moving away from the polarizing effects of alliance politics for the upcoming local elections of 2024. Akşener added, “I suggest AKP run independently in all 81 provinces like us.”

İttifak siyasetinin derinleştirdiği kutuplaşma, ülkemize zarar veriyor Sayın @RTErdogan.

Gelin, siz de aynı bizim gibi 81 ilde kendi adaylarınızla seçime girin. Türk siyaseti normalleşsin, kazanan milletimiz olsun.
— Meral Akşener (@meral_aksener) October 11, 2023

The İYİ Party joined the general elections under the main opposition Nation Alliance. In the aftermath of the general election, Akşener had stated that her party “rejected” alliance politics for the local elections of March 2024, and announced that they would run in each province with their own candidates.

The decision led to some reaction within the party, as the Ankara branch administration resigned saying a standalone İYİ Party candidate would benefit the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) candidate against main opposition Republican People’s Party’s (CHP) Mansur Yavaş.

Founded in 2017 by Meral Akşener, the İYİ Party is a breakaway party of the government ally Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), that aims to garner nationalist and centralist opposition votes.

MHP leader Devlet Bahçeli also called on the İYİ Party to form an alliance together, which was immediately rejected by the latter.

Topics Recep Tayyip Erdoğan AKP İYİ Party People's Alliance