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Ankara Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Mansur Yavas resigned from the Republican People’s Party, or CHP, on Wednesday, announcing that he would continue his political career as an independent amid months of upheaval within Türkiye’s opposition.
Yavas announced his decision in a lengthy social media statement, saying it followed months of legal and political disputes that had deepened divisions within the CHP.
The resignation comes amid a major realignment within Türkiye’s opposition. A court ruling earlier this year removed Ozgur Ozel from the CHP leadership, and Ozel and 90 lawmakers later left the party to establish the New Party.
Several mayors elected under the CHP banner have also moved to the new party.
Yavas, however, had sought to remain outside the dispute between the two camps.
In a statement earlier this month, he said there was “serious anger and resentment” among supporters on both sides and that he did not believe taking sides was appropriate.
“Some decisions in politics are not made in anger or announced out of resentment. They are thought through at length, weighed with conscience, their responsibility is assumed and, in the end, they are expressed openly before the Turkish nation,” Yavas said.
“The decision I have taken today is such a decision,” he added.
Yavas specifically pointed to the political process that began on March 19 and subsequent disputes over “absolute nullity,” saying the developments had brought Turkish politics to a point he had watched with sadness.
He said his position throughout the dispute had remained unchanged.
“Whatever I said yesterday, I stand at the same point today. Nothing has changed in my thoughts,” Yavas said.
Yavas said he had repeatedly warned that months of disputes, particularly those surrounding the absolute nullity process, could lead to a deep division within the CHP and damage what he described as hope for democratic politics in Türkiye.
“If there is to be a change of government in Türkiye through democratic means, the path to this is not through the opposition consuming one another, but through its ability to stand side by side on common principles,” he said.
Yavas argued that his experience governing Ankara showed that voters from different political backgrounds could unite despite divisions at the upper levels of politics.
“We did not ask anyone where they came from or which party they voted for. We did not separate anyone from another because of their political identity. Because for us, everyone is equal,” he said.
The decision also comes two weeks after Yavas held a closed-door meeting with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the Presidential Complex on Sept. 9, a meeting that intensified speculation about the Ankara mayor’s political future.
The presidency disclosed no details about the talks.
Yavas said afterward that the meeting focused on Ankara’s metro projects, municipal financing and other planned investments, and that politics was not discussed.
He said both sides of the divided opposition had been informed about the meeting beforehand.
At the time, Turkish media reports suggested Yavas could leave the CHP and continue as an independent rather than joining either Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party (AK Party) or the New Party.
Yavas rejected those resignation claims on Sept. 10.
On Wednesday, however, he said statements made within the party had prompted him to act.
“I had previously said that if there was any discomfort within the party regarding me personally or the stance I followed, I would do what was necessary,” Yavas said.
“And because of some statements made today, I am leaving my membership in the Republican People’s Party and presenting to the public’s judgment that I will continue my political path independently,” he added.
Yavas did not identify the statements he was referring to.
Yavas said his resignation would not change his relationship with people he had worked alongside during his years in the CHP.
“I will not disregard any friend with whom I walked yesterday because of their political preference today,” he said, adding that he would remain grateful to those who had campaigned and worked with him under the CHP banner.
He also drew a distinction between becoming an independent and moving to another political party, arguing that elected officials should not carry offices won under one political mandate to another party without voters’ approval.
“Loyalty to the will of the voters is the honor of politics,” Yavas said. “Carrying that will elsewhere for personal calculations is not only a political mistake; it is a grave burden of responsibility toward the voters.”
Yavas said he would remain Ankara Metropolitan Municipality mayor and continue serving residents regardless of their political views.
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