İYİ Party unveils candidates for three Istanbul municipalities

ANKARA

İYİ (Good) Party leader Meral Akşener has revealed her party's candidates for the municipalities of Maltepe, Arnavutköy and Güngören in Istanbul ahead of the upcoming local elections.

During the party's group meeting on Nov. 15, Akşener formally nominated Ramazan Uğral for Maltepe, İsmail Yaşar for Arnavutköy and Pelin Sellitepe Turan for Güngören.

The announcement solidifies İYİ Party's departure from the 2019 local elections strategy, where they backed main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) candidates in pivotal battlegrounds.

Maltepe, a municipality currently led by CHP's Ali Kılıç since 2014, witnessed his victory again in 2019 as the sole candidate of the now-defunct opposition alliance.

In Arnavutköy, a stronghold of ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) mayors since 2009, İYİ Party faces a challenging history, with their candidate polling below 20 percent in the 2019 elections.

Güngören, where AKP's Bünyamin Demir clinched victory in 2019 against the CHP candidate, is now set to witness a renewed İYİ Party effort.

The announcement comes amid a shifting political landscape, with the newly elected leader of the CHP, Özgür Özel, expressing openness to exploring alliances with various political parties.

"We will also meet with Ms. Meral [Akşener]. We will meet with all political parties. Our doors are open, our palms are open, we are ready to shake hands," Özel declared on Nov. 7, underlining their commitment to steering clear of attitudes that "could favor the AKP."

However, since the appointment of Özel as the new CHP chair, İYİ Party officials have consistently reiterated their intention to nominate candidates independently.

İYİ Party earlier nominated economist Ümit Özlale as its candidate for İzmir, Türkiye's third-largest city.