An unprecedented meeting between Ankara Mayor Mansur Yavaş and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan sparked speculation about the opposition politician’s political future. In a statement on Thursday, Yavaş defended the meeting amid a barrage of rumors spreading on social media that he would defect to Erdoğan’s Justice and Development Party (AK Party).
“The only agenda of the meeting was Ankara,” Yavaş said in a statement the day after the meeting. The mayor, who represents the Republican People’s Party (CHP), said he requested the meeting with Erdoğan as part of the official welcoming protocol at the capital’s airport last month.
Yavaş, a former member of the AK Party’s ally, the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), has been touted as a potential presidential contender in the next election since he ended the lengthy reign of AK Party Mayor Melih Gökçek in the 2019 local elections. At one point, CHP leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu considered him as a potential running mate in the 2023 presidential election, which he lost to Erdoğan. For the opposition, Yavaş is a strong presidential contender with the potential to attract conservative and nationalist voters who overwhelmingly support Erdoğan and the AK Party.
