AK Party to woo 'no' voters with a positive campaign: Deputy Chairman Yılmaz


Ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) Deputy Chairman Cevdet Yılmaz has said that even though current estimations suggested "yes" votes were ahead in the polls, the party will put its efforts into persuading the potential "no" voters by carrying out a positive campaign for the upcoming referendum on constitutional changes, scheduled for April 16.The AK Party will announce the details of its referendum campaign on Feb. 25 in Ankara. Speaking to the media about their campaign preparations, AK Party Deputy Chairman Cevdet Yılmaz said that throughout the campaign process the party will clarify the constitutional changes with four main themes: Abolishing tutelage, development and prosperity, unity and solidarity and a stronger Turkey in the international arena."This not an election and a referendum is not a competition between the political parties. Thus, we are targeting voters from the whole political spectrum," said Yılmaz."We believe the content of the amendment package is quite solid, therefore the majority of our people will support it in the referendum. So, our main strategy will be explaining the content to the best of our efforts." he added.Commenting about the current estimations, Cevdet Yılmaz said the polls results revealed that "yes" votes were partially ahead but underlined their commitment to woo "no" voters throughout the campaign."We will carry out a positive campaign, where we will focus on persuading undecided voters and opposing citizens. We believe that our nation will put a strong statement by saying 'yes'" he said.Regarding the possibility of holding a joint-campaign with the opposition Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), Yılmaz said, the AK Party, in this regard, has a common purpose with the MHP. They may have held some activities together before, but this time around they have not reached any decision yet.Responding to allegations that there were a significant number of undecided voters among the AK Party voter base, Yılmaz said these allegations were devoid of any truth."The poll results do not substantiate these claims. Of course, there are some undecided voters and some of them may have voted for the AK Party in the past. However, that number is very insignificant and far less compared to other parties' voter base." he said.