Cemil Tugay said:

For the information of my dear fellow citizens of Izmir and the public, the “Absolute Nullity” decision that our Republican People’s Party was subjected to and what happened in the following period are known to everyone. I see and understand that this process has caused great damage to our party, which was founded by Gazi Mustafa Kemal Atatürk and established our Republic. Especially the consecutive expulsion decisions taken in recent days are very worrying. Yesterday’s dismissal of our Izmir Provincial President, along with a group of provincial presidents, is a great injustice to the political will of Izmir and an unacceptable mistake. The rude disregard of the political will coming from our party’s members and voters is a harbinger of similar decisions to be taken in the coming days. It is not possible for these successive decisions to be seen as normal and accepted. Under these circumstances, I think it is inevitable for us to face the naked facts. Of course, we all have responsibilities to ensure that our party reaches a normal democratic management environment as soon as possible. I have tried to contribute to this process as much as I could with my attitude, my statements and by signing the extraordinary congress. However, I understand and see that our good faith efforts will not yield results within the time we expect, and many of our party members will continue to be targeted unfairly and unlawfully. I wholeheartedly believe that our country needs a Republican People’s Party that is far from all kinds of fiction, tutelage and manipulation, and works for the rights and welfare of our people. I will continue to be a part of this struggle throughout my life. However, “Absolute Butlan CHP” is not the umbrella of this struggle. With these convictions and thoughts, I resign from my membership in the Republican People’s Party, with great sadness and with the hope of returning one day. In the next period, I will continue to serve as the Mayor of Izmir Metropolitan Municipality independently and continue to serve our city and our people with all my strength. I respectfully present it to your information.

Derya Pınar, the mother of Mahra Melin Pınar (9), who died on March 28, 2022, after the accident she had while escaping from the attack of stray dogs in Antalya Serik on March 5, 2022, and Güneş Tutar, the mother of Murat Tutar (10), who was seriously injured in the attack of stray dogs on the street where he went out to buy bread in Erzurum’s Narman district, said the Minister of Internal Affairs Mustafa Çiftçi’s statement: “There are zero strays on the street.” He evaluated SABAH’s statement that 89 percent of stray dogs were collected in line with the “dog” target. Anne Pınar stated that they met with Minister Mustafa Çiftçi as the Safe Streets and Right to Life Defense Association (GÜSODER), which they founded after losing Mahra; He explained that not only the loss they experienced during the process, but also the targeting of some animal-loving groups, insults, threats and smear campaigns wore them out.

“WE SAW THE DETERMINATION”
Stating that they conveyed these problems to Minister Çiftçi during the meeting, Pınar said, “The interest and support of our Minister made me very happy. We saw that he was determined to achieve the goal of zero stray dogs on the streets. We left the meeting extremely satisfied.” Murat Tutar’s mother, Güneş Tutar, said, “Many dogs mauled many parts of my son. He was very seriously injured. Since that day, his psychology has deteriorated. When he sees a dog, he gets scared and runs home. He cannot move easily even inside the house on his own.” Reminding that Minister Çiftçi was the Governor of Erzurum at the time Murat was attacked, Tutar said, “After the incident, Mr. Çiftçi came to the hospital immediately. He took great care of us. He gave the necessary instructions to collect the dogs. He was very helpful. May God bless him.” Stating that the trauma he experienced also affected his child’s self-confidence, Tutar said, “He used to love taking photos. Now when I take his photo, he deletes it because he doesn’t like himself. He gets very upset because of the marks on his face. He feels bad.”

“THIS SHOULD HAVE BEEN TAKEN INTO”
Stating that he supports the decision taken by the Ministry of Internal Affairs to collect all stray dogs, Tutar said, “This issue had to be addressed. We had seen other news of attacks before. One thinks that it will not happen to oneself. But it also happened to our child. It may happen to other people tomorrow.”

ALL DOGS WERE COLLECTED IN 51 PROVINCES
Minister of Internal Affairs Mustafa Çiftçi noted that in the meeting he held with AK Party deputies yesterday, all stray animals were collected in 51 provinces with 12 metropolitan cities and Special Provincial Administrations. Stating that collection efforts continue in other provinces, Çiftçi said; “Normally, we wanted to collect them all around September-October, but in some municipalities, this work may be a little behind. Since the law gives time until 2028, some municipalities can take this job slowly. In metropolitan cities, the work is a little slow, but hopefully we will have all of them in shelters or natural habitats by the end of the year,” he said. Minister Çiftçi recently said; He announced that 89 percent of stray dogs on the streets were collected, that all of them would be collected and taken to shelters by the end of the year, and that shelter capacities were increased.

Minister of Internal Affairs Mustafa Çiftçi shared traffic data for the first 5 months of 2025 and 2026. Minister Çiftçi announced that despite the increased inspections in traffic, there have been significant decreases in violations, accidents and deaths. According to the announced data, inspections across the country increased by 7.5 percent, reaching 74 million. Despite the increase in inspections, the number of vehicles processed decreased by 16.4 percent, as the number of drivers complying with the rules increased. Thanks to traffic regulations and deterrent penalties, excessive speed violations decreased by 25 percent and drunk driving decreased by 10.3 percent. The most striking decrease was seen in the violation of scissors, with 93 percent. Stating that motorcycle accidents constitute 50 percent of all accidents, Minister Çiftçi stated that fatal accidents in this area decreased by 20.1 percent. In the overall picture, the number of accidents with death and injury decreased to 102 thousand 152. While the daily average loss of life in accidents decreased from 5.8 to 5.2, the number of deaths at the scene of the accident decreased from 575 to 504. Minister Çiftçi emphasized that this positive situation is due to drivers complying with the rules more.

The “Istanbul Doesn’t Wait” campaign, implemented by the AK Party Istanbul Provincial Directorate, reached large audiences in a short time. With the posters prepared for the campaign, ongoing investments and services in Istanbul, from urban transformation to transportation, from education to health, from youth investments to environmental projects, were shared with the public. AK Party Istanbul Provincial Chairman Abdullah Özdemir stated that the main message of the campaign is the understanding of “We did it yesterday, we are doing it today” and pointed out that investments continue in Istanbul. He stated that 994 thousand houses have been transformed since 2019, the transformation of 270 thousand houses continues and 1 million 260 thousand more houses are included in the scope of transformation. Stating that 163 schools and 3 thousand 798 classrooms have been completed within the scope of education investments, and the construction of 159 schools and 3 thousand 913 classrooms is continuing, Özdemir said that 13 hospitals with a capacity of 8 thousand 238 beds have been put into service in the field of health. Stating that 13 facilities were completed within the scope of sports investments, Özdemir stated that 35 national gardens with an area of ​​7 million 788 thousand square meters were opened within the framework of environmental investments.

CONTINUE WITH THE SAME VISION
“Istanbul is the apple of our civilization’s eye. This city cannot tolerate neglect,” said Özdemir, adding, “You can keep polemics waiting, advertisements waiting, but you cannot keep the earthquake, transportation and the future of our young people waiting. As the AK Party, we continue to work for Istanbul with all the institutions of our state, just like yesterday. The municipal vision that our President started in Istanbul continues on its way with the same determination today.”

The purification process in CHP, which started with 9 deputies and 2 mayors last week, spread to provincial mayors this week. A total of 6 former and current provincial heads whose names were involved in the question were referred to discipline. In addition, 5 provincial presidents were removed from their positions. Özgür Çelik, known for his closeness to the detained Ekrem İmamoğlu, was also among those who were referred to discipline. Asu Kaya, who made a statement in support of the prisoner Özkan Yalım, who was arrested with his girlfriend in the hotel, was dismissed from her position as the head of the women’s branch. Ayten Gülsever was appointed to replace Kaya. CHP Spokesperson Müslim Sarı, who appeared in front of the cameras after the 2.5-hour critical Central Executive Board yesterday, announced that 6 provincial presidents, 3 former and 3 current, were sent to discipline as a precaution and with a request for definitive expulsion. It was emphasized that the names in question were referred to discipline on the grounds that they were at the center of questionable allegations in the absolute nullity case. In addition to the transfers, 5 provincial presidents who drew attention with their opposition to the headquarters were dismissed from their positions along with their administrations. Meanwhile, CHP Istanbul Deputy Nimet Özdemir announced that she resigned from her party. In addition, the notarized signatures collected from 830 delegates requesting an extraordinary congress of the CHP were delivered to the headquarters yesterday.

THOSE REFERRED TO DISCIPLINARY

Erzurum Provincial Chairman Serhat Can Eş.

Bursa Provincial Chairman Nihat Yeşiltaş.

Bitlis Provincial Chairman Metin Güzelkaya.

Former Mardin Provincial Chairman Mehmet Kılıçarslan.

Former Istanbul Provincial Chairman Özgür Çelik.

Batman Provincial Chairman Hüseyin Yaşar.

DISMISSED

Gaziantep Provincial Chairman Vakkas Acar.

Adana Provincial Chairman Anıl Tanburoğlu.

Malatya Provincial Chairman Barış Yıldız.

Ankara Provincial Deputy Chairman Yüksel Işık.

Izmir Provincial Chairman Çağatay Güç.

CHP Women’s Branch President Asu Kaya.

The additional statement given by journalist Evrim Ataman, who was arrested in the ‘bribery’ operation against the CHP’s Seferihisar Municipality in Izmir last month, took advantage of effective repentance and revealed the bribery network extending to CHP Malatya Deputy Veli Ağbaba. In his statement, Ataman explained that Deputy Mayor İbrahim Gökhan Pehlivan asked the owner of the villas known as “Ionya Mansions” for a bribe of 6 million lira through him, and admitted that he sent the 500 thousand TL, which the contractor’s son sent to him as the first installment, to Veli Ağbaba’s advisor Özlem Akyılmaz, on the instructions of Pehlivan.

SENT TO AĞBABA
In the investigation carried out by MASAK upon this confession, it was determined that Rıdvan Korkmaz Budak, son of contractor Sönmez Budak, transferred 500 thousand liras to Evrim Ataman’s account on March 5, 2024, and 2 days later, Ataman sent this money to Özlem Akyılmaz, with whom he had no commercial relations and whom he did not know, and Akyılmaz transferred the money to Veli Ağbaba’s account on the same day. In the investigation, it was determined that Özlem Akyılmaz was registered with the Turkish Grand National Assembly General Secretariat Office Clerk. According to the letter sent by the Turkish Grand National Assembly to the Izmir Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office, it was also reported that Özlem Akyılmaz was the advisor of CHP’s Veli Ağbaba and that she used the phone registered in Ağbaba’s name.

6 SUSPECTS IN CUSTODY
Upon these findings, Deputy Mayor İbrahim Gökhan Pehlivan, Sönmez İnşaat’s owner Sönmez Budak, his son Rıdvan Korkmaz Budak, Veli Ağbaba’s advisor Özlem Akyılmaz, Vatan Gıda Nakliyat Hafriyat İnşaat Owner Salih Yurduseven and Öğmenler Yapı Turizm İnşaat Mühendislik company owner Rıdvan Öğmen was detained. Digital materials belonging to the suspects and various documents and data that could be the subject of the investigation were also seized for examination.

INVESTIGATION DOCUMENTS WILL BE SENT TO ANKARA
While it was stated that the detained suspects received 6 million liras of bribe in exchange for an illegal construction license, it was learned that the investigation documents against Veli Ağbaba, who was recorded to have received 500 thousand liras of bribe money through his consultant, will be separated and sent to the authorized Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office for the crime of taking bribes.