Good Party (IP) Deputy Chairperson Yavuz Ağıralioğlu, who was recently sacked by party Chairperson Meral Akşener, criticized her move, saying that members of the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ) and the pro-PKK Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) are overjoyed about it.
Akşener had dismissed Ağıralioğlu and the head of IP’s political affairs, saying that she “rearranged” the party administration to bring a new perspective to the party. Refusing to make further comments, Akşener said she does not discuss internal party issues with the press.
But Ağıralioğlu claimed no explanation was made about his dismissal.
“This is quite embarrassing. How can this be done without notification?” Ağıralioğlu told Halk TV on Monday, adding that he learned about it in the announcement made at the meeting.
He continued by claiming that his dismissal was widely welcomed by FETÖ and HDP supporters.
“FETÖ supporters are dancing with joy, PKK and HDP supporters are also euphoric,” he said, adding that the party has never endorsed him when he received criticism and chose to say his comments are his own opinion.
Previously, Ağıralioğlu had said the pro-PKK HDP is “problematic, shadowed by terrorism.”
The HDP has come under fire for its close links to the PKK, which is listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States and the European Union. Members of the party have so far declined to call the PKK a "terrorist group" and have attended PKK militants' funerals, two of whom were the suicide bombers that killed dozens of civilians in multiple bombings in Ankara.
Former Istanbul Deputy Ümit Özdağ, who later formed his own party, had resigned from IP, saying that the party "turned out to be a satellite of the CHP," meaning the main opposition Republican People's Party.
Özdağ had also claimed that the IP has deviated from the principles of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder of the Turkish republic. The mentality of the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ) now "comes instead of these principles," claimed Özdağ, referring to the group that orchestrated the July 15, 2016 defeated coup in Turkey that left 251 people dead and nearly 2,200 injured. The group was also behind an extensive infiltration of state institutions in an attempt to overthrow it.
Özdağ had openly claimed IP Istanbul Chairperson Buğra Kavuncu has links to FETÖ, saying that he was the nephew of senior FETÖ figure Enver Altaylı.
“He (Kavuncu) acted as the deputy chairperson of the Kazakhstan-Turkish businesspeople association, which is FETÖ’s largest nongovernmental organization (NGO) abroad,” Özdağ told a live broadcast in 2020. He continued by claiming that Kavuncu has refrained from making any comments about FETÖ and has served as a senior figure for their NGO for years.
“I made a warning before I joined the party and repeated my calls. Mrs. Akşener said the state had no information about it, but I say the state does not share every single bit of information,” Özdağ said.
Kavuncu joined the live broadcast through the phone and said he would file a criminal complaint against Özdağ’s claims after listening to them with “grief and anger.”
Later on, a Turkish court decided that there is no merit to the claims linking Kavuncu to FETÖ.
IP founder Vedat Yenerer had also resigned from the party in January, saying that it has been a “complete disappointment” for him.
“Our party has turned into a fan club for Meral Akşener. I have come to realize that Turkish nationalists are no longer important for the party,” Yenerer said, adding that Akşener has promoted individuals who request house arrest for PKK ringleader Abdullah Öcalan and those who say Greece does not violate Turkey’s maritime rights in the Aegean.
In the 2018 elections, Akşener gained 7.3% of the votes, while the IP garnered 9.6% of the votes in the parliamentary elections, well below expectations.
However, the IP was able to send 44 deputies to Parliament thanks to the alliance formed with the main opposition CHP.
