President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is expected to welcome new members into the AKP at the party's 25th anniversary event in Ankara on Aug. 14, with two sitting deputies from the İYİ Party set to join.
Ümit Dikbayır and Mehmet Mustafa Gürban are expected to receive their AKP badges from Erdoğan, according to Internet Haber.
Dikbayır was elected to parliament under the İYİ Party before being expelled from the party and later joining the CHP; he left the CHP following the May 21 absolute nullity ruling. Though he had for some time signaled loyalty to Yeni Party Chair Özgür Özel, he opted not to join the party after an alleged meeting with President Erdoğan at the presidential complex.
Gürban, the second deputy expected to change sides, announced his resignation from the İYİ Party on Aug. 13.
Izmir Mayor Cemil Tugay, who resigned from the CHP after the nullity ruling and stayed independent until now, stayed silent about the allegations of his transfer to the AKP. But, prior to the AKP’s anniversary, sources from the municipality clarified that he would not join the AKP.
