Site icon Turkish Minute

İYİ inaugurates party HQ claiming 19 pct support

Turkey's Iyi ("Good") Party chairperson Meral Aksener salutes the party members during the opening of the party headquarters in Ankara on November 11, 2017. Aksener, 61-years-old, the Turkish former interior minister once dubbed Turkey's Iron Lady and seen as a potentially strong challenger to Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. / AFP PHOTO / ADEM ALTAN

The İYİ Party (Good Party, İP) which was established on Oct. 25, inaugurated its new headquarters in Ankara on Saturday.

İYİ Party Chairwoman Meral Akşener thanked the crowd for their support and patience against all efforts by the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) government to derail the venture, during a ceremony in the Çankaya district of Ankara.

Former interior minister and deputy speaker of the Turkish Parliament Akşener launched the party under the motto “Turkey Will Be Good” to challenge President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his ruling AKP.

In the meantime, Yeniçağ daily columnist Arslan Bulut on Saturday said support for the İYİ Party stands at 19 percent according to opinion polls, Akşener stated during a meeting with journalists.

“Whether it’s 10 percent or lower, the election threshold doesn’t matter to us,” Akşener said during her speech at the inauguration ceremony.

Mehmet Ali Kulat, chairman of the MAK polling company, which is close to the AKP, told the Cumhuriyet daily that 20 percent of the people view the İYİ Party favorably, according to an opinion poll conducted a week before the announcement of the party’s founding.

According to Kulat, support for the AKP has decreased to 41 percent. The Republican People’s Party (CHP) has 23.5 percent support, while the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) and Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) would not be able to pass the 10 percent threshold.

President Erdoğan has started to express some criticism of himself and his AKP due to the signals coming from opinion polls, said Kulat.

Recalling the failure of the AKP to inform supporters of operations targeting mayors from the party, including those of Ankara and İstanbul, Kulat said for the first time AKP supporters have an alternative with the establishment of the İYİ Party.

Liked it? Take a second to support Turkish Minute on Patreon!
Exit mobile version