Does a Lütfü Savaş candidacy mean CHP is abandoning Hatay?

On Dec. 17, Savaş visited displaced residents at a camp in Defne, Hatay. Source

HATAY – A week before the May 2023 elections, the Republican People’s Party (CHP) held a rally in Adana. Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, then-party head and presidential candidate, was on stage with İstanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, who a day earlier dodged a stone attack in Erzurum. 

Also present was Ankara Mayor Mansur Yavaş and the party’s Mediterranean region mayors, including Adana’s Zeydan Karalar, Mersin’s Vahap Seçer and Antalya’s Muhittin Böcek. 

But Hatay’s Lütfü Savaş was missing.

“Can you see Lütfü Bey?” one CHP official asked. 

“No, they struck out his name,” another responded.