Turkey
Meral Aksener at a party election campaign in Edirne province, Turkey on March 26, 2024. Photo: MHP
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Meral Aksener, leader of the ultra-nationalist IYI Party on Monday announced that she will not be running for the party presidency during the upcoming extraordinary congress, shouldering responsibility for the party’s dramatic drop in popularity reflected in its poor performance in the recent local elections.
Turkey held provincial elections on March 31. The IYI Party (Good Party), which had secured 9.69 percent of votes in May 2023 general elections, garnered a mere 3.77 percent of the votes, winning 32 municipalities out of 1,444, failing to be victorious in any metropolis.
Aksener has come under fire since the election results were announced, with many supporters calling for her resignation. In the aftermath of their disastrous performance in the local elections the party decided to hold an extraordinary congress on April 27.
“I will not run for the chairmanship of the party during the extraordinary congress,” she said in a two-page statement on Monday. Aksener shouldered the responsibility for the electoral loss, justifying herself by claiming that she paid the price for maintaining an independent party line and preventing the party from becoming either the government’s or the main opposition Republican People's Party’s (CHP) “backyard”. The IYI party had previously allied with CHP in the May polls, endorsing its presidential candidate.
CHP emerged as the main winner in the local elections, defeating the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) for the first time in more than two decades.
Aksener, a former interior minister, is known for her remarks against Kurds. During her mandate in the nineties, numerous Kurds were jailed on alleged links with Kurdish rebels.
When the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) released a postage stamp to commemorate Pope Francis’s historic visit to the Kurdistan Region in 2021, which featured a map ofGreater Kurdistan, which also included the Kurdish areas of Turkey, Aksener strongly protested the move.
Aksener’s deputy and a member of her bloc in parliament have announced that they would run to replace her as head of the party in the upcoming congress.
Turkey held provincial elections on March 31. The IYI Party (Good Party), which had secured 9.69 percent of votes in May 2023 general elections, garnered a mere 3.77 percent of the votes, winning 32 municipalities out of 1,444, failing to be victorious in any metropolis.
Aksener has come under fire since the election results were announced, with many supporters calling for her resignation. In the aftermath of their disastrous performance in the local elections the party decided to hold an extraordinary congress on April 27.
“I will not run for the chairmanship of the party during the extraordinary congress,” she said in a two-page statement on Monday. Aksener shouldered the responsibility for the electoral loss, justifying herself by claiming that she paid the price for maintaining an independent party line and preventing the party from becoming either the government’s or the main opposition Republican People's Party’s (CHP) “backyard”. The IYI party had previously allied with CHP in the May polls, endorsing its presidential candidate.
CHP emerged as the main winner in the local elections, defeating the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) for the first time in more than two decades.
Aksener, a former interior minister, is known for her remarks against Kurds. During her mandate in the nineties, numerous Kurds were jailed on alleged links with Kurdish rebels.
When the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) released a postage stamp to commemorate Pope Francis’s historic visit to the Kurdistan Region in 2021, which featured a map ofGreater Kurdistan, which also included the Kurdish areas of Turkey, Aksener strongly protested the move.
Aksener’s deputy and a member of her bloc in parliament have announced that they would run to replace her as head of the party in the upcoming congress.
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