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New Party leader Özgür Özel has said Ankara Mayor Mansur Yavaş remains a potential presidential candidate for Türkiye’s opposition, describing him as a “very important option” if jailed Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu is unable to run.
“If he considers becoming a candidate ... he is a very important option for the nation,” Özel said in an interview with news website T24 published on Sept. 19.
The question of who will represent the opposition in the next election has remained unsettled amid legal challenges facing İmamoğlu, who was detained in March 2025 on the same day he was declared the then-main opposition Republican People’s Party’s (CHP) presidential candidate.
İmamoğlu later left the CHP and joined the New Party. He is also facing legal proceedings that could affect his eligibility to run, including cases related to his university diploma and potential political bans.
“His withdrawal could only happen by his own decision, by the decision of the nation,” Özel said. “Ekrem İmamoğlu is the presidential candidate as long as he is technically and legally able to be a candidate.”
Özel accused the government of seeking to prevent İmamoğlu from contesting the election, a claim the government has rejected in similar cases.
“We understand that they will do everything to prevent Mayor Ekrem from becoming a candidate. In that case, Mansur Yavaş’s candidacy is a very important option,” Özel said.
Özel resigned from the CHP on July 24 along with 90 lawmakers to establish the New Party after an Ankara court annulled the CHP’s 2023 leadership election over alleged irregularities. The breakaway made the New Party the largest opposition group in parliament.
Yavaş, meanwhile, remained with the CHP. Asked about Yavaş’s recent meeting with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Özel said he saw no problem with the talks.
“We meet with him regularly. Mr. Mansur’s stance so far has been extremely consistent. There is no disagreement or contradiction between us in this regard,” Özel said.
Asked whether Yavaş remained a potential presidential candidate, Özel said he did and claimed that 60 percent of the public believed the Ankara mayor could become president in the next election.
“We are managing our own process,” Özel said. “One way or another... what the nation says at the ballot box will prevail in the end.”
