AK Parti officials issue successive statements
The Yeni Parti group left the chamber when President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan took the podium during the opening of the new legislative year in the General Assembly of the Grand National Assembly of Türkiye. AK Parti officials criticized the move in separate statements.
Faruk Acar, AK Parti deputy chairman and head of communications and media, criticized the Yeni Parti group’s walkout in a statement. Acar argued that the action showed disrespect for the national will and the Grand National Assembly of Türkiye, and strongly condemned the group’s political stance.
Yayman: Parliament is not a place to flee
Hüseyin Yayman, an AK Parti deputy chairman, said leaving the General Assembly chamber was not an act of political courage but a sign of cheap politics. Yayman said the Grand National Assembly of Türkiye was a place for debate and the institution representing the national will, adding that Parliament should not be used as a tool for political calculations.
Yayman claimed that although the Yeni Parti group had a new name, it represented an old approach in terms of its politics and mindset. Saying that different views could be expressed, Yayman argued that listening to the President elected by the people in Parliament was a requirement of democratic politics.
İnan and Duran also criticize the walkout
AK Parti Secretary-General Eyyüp Kadir İnan said the General Assembly of the Grand National Assembly of Türkiye was not a stage for Özgür Özel to display his political views and personal performances. İnan said Parliament was where the national will found expression, and claimed that those who walked out during the opening had lost the public impact of anything they might say in the new legislative year.
Presidential Communications Director Burhanettin Duran said the Grand National Assembly of Türkiye was a place where different political views were discussed under the same roof and representatives spoke on behalf of the people. Duran described the Yeni Parti group’s walkout as disrespect not only toward the presidency but also toward the national will, the state tradition and parliamentary conventions.
Duran said democratic politics required not only expressing one’s own views but also tolerating different opinions and showing the maturity to listen to the President elected by the people in Parliament.
