Ruling AKP lawmaker announces resignation amid local polls

ISTANBUL

The ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) has been shaken with a fresh resignation on the day of critical local polls.

AKP’s Kayseri MP Ahmet Öksüzkaya announced via Twitter that he was quitting his party only an hour after the voting ended.

“I am sadly seeing that my personal views on democracy, law and consensus do not correspond with my party’s policies,” Öksüzkaya said in a statement.

“I hope that all my friends with whom I worked with will accept my decision. I will continue to serve my country and my city as an independent,” he said.

Energy Minister Taner Yıldız reacted by saying he was saddened by the announcement.

Öksüzkaya is the tenth AKP lawmaker who has announced his resignation since the test prep row and the seventh since the damaging graft scandal.