Ankara mayor’s dramatic departure deepens the fragmentation of Turkey’s opposition ahead of the 2028 presidential election
By The Levant Files Editorial Team
Ankara Mayor Mansur Yavaş, widely regarded as a significant potential presidential contender in Turkey’s opposition, resigned from the Republican People’s Party (CHP) on Wednesday, announcing that he would continue his political career as an independent.
Yavaş announced the decision in a lengthy statement on social media on September 23, saying that he was leaving the CHP following remarks made earlier in the day by figures within the party.
“I am resigning my membership in the Republican People’s Party and will continue my political path as an independent,” Yavaş said, according to Anadolu Agency and other Turkish media.
A Public Rebuke Preceded The Break
The resignation came shortly after CHP spokesman Müslim Sarı publicly criticised Yavaş without directly naming him.
As reported by Sözcü, Sarı said that the CHP’s institutional identity stood above every individual in the party and criticised Yavaş over his relations with Özgür Özel and his absence from the CHP’s September 9 anniversary events.
Yavaş responded by recalling that he had previously said he would take the necessary action if his presence or political conduct caused discomfort within the CHP.
His statement also explained why he had chosen not to transfer to Özel’s New Party. Yavaş argued that voters cast their ballots not only for individual candidates but also for a particular political mandate, and that elected officials should therefore not carry offices won under one political banner to another party without the voters’ consent
“Loyalty to the voter’s will is the honour of politics,” Yavaş said.
The mayor said he would instead continue governing Ankara as an independent, serving residents regardless of their political affiliation.
Opposition Fragmentation Deepens
Yavaş’s departure comes amid a prolonged upheaval within Turkey’s main opposition.
The dispute has divided figures who previously operated under the CHP umbrella, leaving Yavaş attempting to maintain cooperation between competing opposition camps in Ankara.
His position became increasingly difficult after his September 9 meeting with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan at the presidential complex.
The meeting, which coincided with the CHP’s anniversary, fuelled speculation about Yavaş’s political future. Yavaş said the talks concerned Ankara’s metro network and other municipal projects and rejected suggestions that he was preparing to join Erdoğan’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP).
According to Euronews Türkçe, Yavaş said that both CHP leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu and Özgür Özel had been informed before his meeting with Erdoğan.
Eight Ankara Mayors Follow Yavaş
The political repercussions were immediate.
Sözcü and Cumhuriyet reported that the mayors of Beypazarı, Kalecik, Güdül, Polatlı, Ayaş, Şereflikoçhisar, Elmadağ and Nallıhan subsequently resigned from the CHP.
The departure of eight district mayors alongside the metropolitan mayor represents a significant restructuring of the opposition landscape in the Turkish capital.
Kılıçdaroğlu responded by highlighting Yavaş’s comments about respecting the electorate’s mandate. Sözcü quoted the CHP leader as saying that he agreed with Yavaş’s assessment on this point.
From Nationalist Politics To Ankara
Born in Beypazarı in 1955, Yavaş is a lawyer whose political career began in Turkey’s nationalist movement.
He served as the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) mayor of Beypazarı between 1999 and 2009 before eventually moving towards the CHP. He first joined the party in 2013 and stood as its candidate for Ankara.
Yavaş captured the Ankara Metropolitan Municipality in the 2019 local elections with approximately 50.9% of the vote, ending the long period in which the Turkish capital had been governed by the AKP and its predecessors.
His political position strengthened substantially in the 2024 local elections, when he was re-elected with approximately 60.4% of the vote.
The 2028 Question
Yavaş’s decision inevitably raises questions about Turkey’s next presidential election.
Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu has been jailed pending trial since March 2025, while Yavaş has repeatedly figured in opposition discussions over possible future presidential candidates.
His political profile is unusual within the broader opposition: his roots in nationalist politics coexist with his leadership of a metropolitan electorate that includes secular, social-democratic, conservative and nationalist voters.
For the moment, however, Yavaş has announced neither a new party nor a presidential candidacy.
His immediate decision is narrower but potentially consequential: Turkey’s capital will now be governed by an independent mayor who won more than 60% of the vote in the country’s most recent local elections.
With eight Ankara district mayors also leaving the CHP, Yavaş’s resignation is no longer simply an individual departure. It has become another major development in the continuing reorganisation of Turkey’s opposition ahead of 2028.