The Good Party (İP) Chairwoman Meral Akşener deleted tweets dated in 2013 responding to Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ) suspect Emre Uslu, who stated he wants to see Akşener as a presidential candidate in the 2014 elections.
"If you would declare your intention for presidency, it'd be a positive development," Uslu tweeted on July 19, 2013, responding to a chain of tweets with the İP leader Akşener.
Uslu, a renowned figure of the terrorist group who fled to the U.S. before the coup attempt, is known for his notorious pro-FETÖ propaganda and is on a wanted list due to his alleged links with the terrorist group. He is also known for his tweets implying the date of the FETÖ coup attempt on July 15, 2016. On Sept. 14, 2015, Uslu responded to a Tweet asking him when he would return to Turkey by saying July 2016: "How long do you think it will take you to visit the homeland even if it's just for a vacation? Or have you completely given up on the idea?'' a Twitter user asked Uslu, who responded by saying: "July 2016...'' His name was also mentioned in the Andrey Karlov case, the Russian ambassador to Ankara, who was assassinated on Dec. 19, 2016 by a suspected FETÖ member in Ankara. Akşener founded the new party, İP, which mostly consists of former Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) dissidents, in October 2017. Akşener was a prominent figure among MHP dissidents who heavily criticized the policies of the MHP's chairman of 20 years, Devlet Bahçeli. The intra-party debate ended when the dissidents were dismissed from the party after a heated process ended in courts. İP has not participated in any elections so far, and its performance in the upcoming elections is highly speculated. However, Akşener has already announced that she will run for president in the upcoming June 24 early parliamentary and presidential elections. Akşener has also been accused of having close ties with FETÖ by the chairman of her former party, the MHP. In fact MHP Chairman Bahçeli claimed in December 2015 that FETÖ used one of the party's candidates as a "political tool."
The MHP chairman said, "There is a candidate who joined the MHP as a political figure from the Gülen Movement." Even though Bahçeli did not name this "political tool," Akşener's lawyer, Nuri Polat, is one of 30 suspects who were arrested in April 2017 for alleged links to the terror group. Akşener was quick to dismiss claims that she was the "tool," adding that she would have "proudly acknowledged it if that were the case."