Turkey nationalist Chief says to step down, party resists

pulse

July 23, 2018 11:36 AM

Aksener said late Sunday she would not stand as a candidate for re-election as head of the Iyi (Good) Party when it holds an extraordinary congress next month.

Nationalist Meral Aksener, seen by some ahead of last months election as a rival to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, indicated she would step down from the leadership of her party but senior members Monday vowed to resist the move.

Former interior minister Aksener, 62, launched the party in October after she broke away from the pro-Erdogan Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) in a bid to break the mould of Turkish politics.

After a weekend meeting in the western city of Afyonkarahisar, the party agreed to hold the extraordinary congress in August.

"I will not be a candidate at the congress, I wish success to those friends who will run as a candidate," Aksener said on Twitter late Sunday.

Aksener ran as a presidential candidate against Erdogan in the June 24 elections but could manage only fourth place as the president won outright victory gaining boosted powers.

There had been high expectations of her candidacy which sought to erode the conservative-nationalist vote that Erdogan now considers his domain.

But she received only the most limited airtime, in what supporters condemned as a deliberate attempt to suppress her voice.

Her party also won more votes in legislative elections, polling 9.9 percent, than she did in the presidential polls with just 7.3 percent, causing discontent among some members.

But Good Party General Secretary and spokesman Aytun Ciray, backed by influential deputy leader Koray Aydin, appeared to cast doubt on her decision and said the party needed her.

Ciray told reporters in Ankara on Monday that party members would gather signatures to propose Aksener as a candidate at the congress.

He said that Aksener "put forward her desire" but "from the bottom tier of the party to the top tier... (they) had a different desire" to nominate Aksener as the party's candidate.

"There is no second path for us," Aydin told Fox News Turkey earlier on Monday, saying that he was not aware of Aksener's decision until it was announced.

But Aydin said: "We will support our leader until the end."

The election also left Turkey's main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) in turmoil, amid speculation that it too will soon call a congress for candidates to challenge incumbent leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu.

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