Mayor's defection to AKP sparks 'Respect for the People's Will March' by YENİ Party: 'Shame on you for turning the votes of those who gave you honest votes into something illicit!' | Src: Cumhuriyet (TR)

Members of the YENİ Party marched from Çekmeköy Doğa Parkı to Madenler Meydanı, protesting the defection of Çekmeköy Mayor Orhan Çerkez to the ruling AKP party. The demonstration highlighted the party's anger over what they perceive as a betrayal of the electorate's will.

During the march, YENİ Party Istanbul Provincial Chairman Özgür Çelik and other party officials voiced strong criticism against Mayor Çerkez. Istanbul Provincial Deputy Cemal Enginyurt directly addressed Çerkez, questioning his decision to switch parties. "Orhan (Çerkez) and those like Orhan, was this worth it?" Enginyurt asked. "When your comrades were in prison, did it suit you to abandon your friends? You couldn't even be like Fatma Kaplan, who said 'I'd rather rot in prison than join the AKP.' But you ran away, Orhan."

Enginyurt accused Çerkez of lying about his reasons for switching, suggesting the real motive was fear of accusations of corruption. "They called you a thief yesterday; you ran away, Orhan, afraid of theft," he stated. "You were threatened. You were threatened with your family, your children. And you chose to flee. You have turned the votes of 83,000 people who gave you their honest votes into something illicit, shame on you."

The party officials drew parallels between Çerkez's actions and the resistance of their comrades facing legal challenges. "Your comrades are resisting in Silivri prisons, in the courts. They are resisting oppression, resisting injustice," Enginyurt said. "Your comrades are resisting all over Turkey. But you and those like you ran away. How long will you run?"

Özgür Çelik also spoke, describing the party's struggle over the past two years as facing "a siege" and "an open attack on the national will." He argued that after the March 31, 2024 elections, where the YENİ Party emerged as the leading party in Istanbul, opponents realized they could no longer win elections through the ballot box. "They entered an effort to design politics with the weapon of the judiciary they held in their hands," Çelik claimed. He detailed how municipalities have been subjected to financial pressure, including cuts to provincial bank shares and seizures of revenue-generating assets, and alleged that "dawn raids" were initiated when these tactics failed to deter mayors.