Criticisms against the main opposition Republican People's Party's (CHP) Ankara Metropolitan Municipality candidate, Mansur Yavaş, has been soaring within party circles since forgery allegations emerged, with the latest criticism coming from advisor to the party's chairman.
"We have already been defeated in Ankara when we nominate Yavaş as the mayoral candidate. Just like in 2014... At that time we could also win the elections but we chose the wrong person for the candidacy," Cengiz Topel Yıldırım, senior adviser to the CHP chairman told Takvim daily on Tuesday.
Pointing out that the public polls of 2009 and 2014 guaranteed Yavaş's triumph by a landslide, the same as for the upcoming elections, Yıldırım highlighted that he did not win that time and will not win this time as well. "There are no polls but only manipulation," he added.
Yavaş will run for Ankara municipality as the candidate of the Nation Alliance in the upcoming local elections on March 31, while Mehmet Özhaseki is nominated as the candidate of People's Alliance. In the 2014 local elections, the CHP transferred the former mayor of Ankara's Beypazarı district, Yavaş, from the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), and nominated him against then Ankara mayor Melih Gökçek who has been in this post since 1994. However, Gökçek defeated Yavaş in a fierce competition by garnering 44.8 percent of votes. The CHP candidate got 43.8 percent of the votes.
Underlining that Yavaş has not properly addressed the forgery allegations against him and instead insisted on being a "victim," Yıldırım underscored that Yavaş did not prefer to explain himself on pro-CHP television channels and stayed on the agenda of the public for 15 days over forgery allegations.
Criticizing the CHP administration for turning a blind eye to these allegations, Yıldırım stated that Mansur would lose the elections and submit his resignations without any repercussions, yet, he continued, the incumbent party chairman Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu's post will be inevitably put into question.
Two weeks ago, the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) called on the CHP to address the recent forgery allegations directed at Yavaş. According to a report in the Turkish daily, Sabah, Yavaş was sued for attempting to collect a $600,000 check, which he received as a trustee. It was also claimed that if Yavaş were convicted, he would not be able to serve as mayor.
