Özgür Özel, a deputy from the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), has claimed that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s son Bilal Erdoğan could be appointed mayor of İstanbul if ruling Justice and Development Party’s (AKP) mayoral candidate for İstanbul Binali Yıldırım is elected but decides not to assume office, the Gazete Duvar news website reported on Wednesday.
Yıldırım, a former prime minister, is currently speaker of the Turkish Parliament. He did not resign from this post to run in the local elections to be held in Turkey on March 31, in a move that attracted widespread criticism from the opposition parties.
Speaking to RS FM radio station on Wednesday, Özel claimed that Yıldırım will not leave the post of speaker of parliament if he is elected mayor of İstanbul and that a member of the İstanbul municipal council will be appointed as mayor of Turkey’s largest city.
“The name of Bilal Erdoğan is among those mentioned [as the possible mayor],” said Özel.
The CHP deputy also said Yıldırım not resigning from his post as speaker to run in the local elections will go down as a “black stain” in Turkish history.
Erdoğan’s son-in-law Berat Albrayrak is Turkey’s former energy minister and current treasury and finance minister.