 at a time when the party is suffering from declining popularity.){kind=link}
Two members of the Turkish parliament from a nationalist opposition party and 13 mayors including independents and members of various opposition parties joined the ranks of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) at a time when the party is suffering from declining popularity.
Erdoğan pinned badges on the jackets of the party’s new members at an event in Ankara on Wednesday where the 23rd anniversary of the party’s founding was celebrated.
The new AKP members are lawmakers are Seyithan İşsiz and Ahmet Ersagun Yücel, who were elected to parliament from the nationalist İYİ (Good) Party in the May 2023 general election but later resigned from the party.
The mayors who joined the AKP include four independents, seven from the Islamist New Welfare Party (YRP), one from the İYİ Party and one from the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party). They are all district mayors from various provinces.
The participation of so many YRP mayors came as a surprise to many.
The YRP drew Erdoğan’s ire when the party emerged as the third most successful party in the local elections, taking over some municipalities from the AKP, while the AKP suffered its worst defeat since its establishment and came in second. The main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) had the most victories in the local elections held on March 31.
The YRP, established in 2018 by Fatih Erbakan, the son of legendary Islamist prime minister and leader of the Welfare Party (RP) Necmettin Erkaban, managed to garner 6.1 percent of the nationwide vote, amounting to 2.8 million votes.
Meanwhile, journalist Mustafa Balbay claimed this week on TELE1 that the AKP aims to attract at least 11 lawmakers from other parties and has allocated 500 million lira to use for that purpose.
“If you join the AKP in such an environment, it either means that you’re thinking about your future and interests, or you don’t have any choice other than joining the party,” said Balbay.
Journalist Barış Yarkadaş found it strange that the AKP accepts a politician from the DEM Party to its ranks although it constantly accuses the party of terrorism due to its alleged links to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey and its Western allies.
Yarkadaş said on X that Birecik district Mayor Mehmet Begit in the southeastern province of Şanlıurfa was presented as an independent mayor at today’s event, despite the fact that he was elected from the DEM Party, from which he later resigned.
“The AKP sees no problem in taking over a municipality that it didn’t win, but it is trying to hide the fact that the mayor it acquired comes from the DEM PARTY,” said Yarkadaş on X.