Motivated by ‘resolution process,’ ex-CHP deputy to join AKP

ANKARA - Hürriyet Daily News

AA photo

Adıyaman lawmaker Salih Fırat, who resigned from the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) in late January, is set to join the governing Justice and Development Party (AKP) on March 19.

“The recent resolution process [for the Kurdish issue] and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s attitude toward the issue have led me to join the AK Party,” Fırat said in a statement over the weekend. Fırat is expected to join the ranks of the AKP before the ruling party’s parliamentary group meeting.

Noting that he received invitations both from the AKP and from the Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) upon his resignation from the CHP, Fırat said he had been encouraged by his close circle and voters to join the AKP.

“We feel that we are approaching a resolution following Erdoğan’s efforts for the solution and recent İmralı talks. The government should be supported during this process. I have no personal expectations. I made this decision for the benefit of the country,” Fırat said.

Fırat announced his “necessary” resignation from the CHP on Jan. 24, after CHP İzmir lawmaker Birgül Ayman Güler said she did not consider the “Turkish nation” and “Kurdish nationality” to be equals. Fırat said at the time that Güler’s statements were one of the reasons behind his decision.

Commenting on Fırat’s decision in a written statement, CHP deputy group chair Emine Ülker Tarhan said on March 18 that “Fırat’s transfer to the AKP” is not surprising for them, adding that “such a miserable transfer” is part of the AKP’s calculations to pass a constitutional amendment for a presidential system through Parliament.

CHP Deputy Chair Faruk Loğoğlu, for his part, called on Fırat to carry out “a conscientious contemplation.”
“When making this decision he should soul search regarding his voters and our party. If he didn’t, he should,” Loğoğlu said at a press conference on March 18.