Özel slams Keçiören mayor's resignation over alleged AKP contacts

ANKARA

Main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Özgür Özel on Feb. 10 linked Keçiören Mayor Mesut Özarslan’s resignation from the party to alleged contacts with the ruling bloc, sharply criticizing the move.

Özarslan announced his resignation on Feb. 8 in a statement shared on X. He later provided the press with what he said were insulting WhatsApp messages sent by Özel the previous night. Speaking at the CHP’s weekly meeting in parliament on Feb. 10, Özel confirmed sending the messages and read excerpts publicly.

"Now you are surrendering to those who don't believe you, to those who supposedly slander you... I understand that you are a thief and you are trying to save yourself by compromising with those who know about your thievery. Then you have found what you deserve,” Özel read from a piece of paper.

"I will never, ever have anything to do with thieves and corrupt people... This is not the era of thieves. This is not the era of the AKP. That era is ending. When our era begins, I will not forgive you even if you beg and plead."

Özel said that before reports emerged suggesting Özarslan might join the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), he had questioned the mayor about corruption allegations, which Özarslan denied. He argued that his possible transfer is related to those allegations.

Local media have reported since the weekend that Özarslan could formally join the AKP at the party’s parliamentary meeting on Feb. 11, though AKP spokesperson Ömer Çelik said on Feb. 9 that such a move was not on the party’s agenda.

Özel also referred to a request for an investigation made by AKP lawmaker Osman Gökçek against Özarslan and earlier corruption insinuations by former Keçiören Mayor Turgut Altınok, saying a possible party transfer would contradict those claims.

"If what Turgut Altınok and Osman Gökçek said is slander, then you've been caught red-handed in a politics of slander," Özel said. "If these allegations are true, you're involved in a politics so dishonorable that you threaten someone when they're dirty and then try to clean them up. Let's see, Mr. [President] Tayyip [Erdoğan], put on the badge tomorrow."

Keçiören, with a population of roughly 1 million, is the fourth most populous district in Türkiye and the second largest in Ankara.

Özarslan had previously resigned from the İYİ (Good) Party in December 2023 before joining the CHP. Campaigning alongside Ankara Mayor Mansur Yavaş, he won the Keçiören mayoralty with about 48 percent of the vote in the 2024 polls.