17.06.2026 20:20
It has been claimed that Rasim Arı, who was elected as Mayor from the İYİ Party in the 2024 local elections, will rejoin his former party, the AK Party, next week. Although no official statement has been made yet, this potential move, which has stirred up backstage talks, is expected to change all political balances in the region. If the claim becomes reality, Arı will have returned to the AK Party. Indeed, Arı had been a candidate from the AK Party in the March 31, 2019 elections and was elected.
It has been claimed that Nevşehir Mayor Rasim Arı, a member of the İYİ Party, is expected to join the AK Party next week. No official statement has been made yet regarding the claim, which was voiced by journalist İsmail Saymaz and has stirred political circles.
A striking claim that has energized political circles came to the agenda. Journalist İsmail Saymaz announced that Nevşehir Mayor Rasim Arı, from the İYİ Party, is expected to join the AK Party next week. The claim quickly resonated widely in political circles.
THE PROCESS FROM AK PARTY TO İYİ PARTY
Rasim Arı was elected as the Mayor of Nevşehir from the AK Party in the 2019 local elections. Arı, who left his position and later his party in 2021, joined the İYİ Party in 2022. In the 2024 local elections, he succeeded in being re-elected as the Mayor of Nevşehir as the İYİ Party candidate.
HE HAD DENIED IT PREVIOUSLY
Claims that Rasim Arı would return to the AK Party had also emerged in previous years. Arı had previously denied reports suggesting he would switch to the AK Party in statements regarding similar allegations directed at him.
EYES ON OFFICIAL STATEMENTS
The latest claim that Arı will join the AK Party has not yet been confirmed by the parties involved. However, it is thought that if the rumored transfer takes place, it will bring about a significant change in Nevşehir politics.
HE STARTED HIS POLITICAL CAREER IN THE AK PARTY
Rasim Arı wearing the AK Party badge again actually signifies a return. This is because Mayor Arı started his political career in 2001 as the Organization Head of the AK Party Maltepe Youth Branch. He began his political life in this role. In 2002, he was appointed as an advisor to the then Minister of Finance, Kemal Unakıtan, and continued his bureaucratic career successively as an advisor to State Ministers Güldal Akşit and Nimet Çubukçu. In 2007, he applied to become a candidate for the Nevşehir parliamentary seat from the AK Party, but was not nominated.
In 2011, Arı was appointed to the position of ministerial advisor in the Ministry of Youth and Sports, and in 2015, he was assigned as the Head of the Sports Services Department. He left this position in 2018 to apply as a candidate for the Nevşehir mayoralty. On November 24, 2018, he was announced as the AK Party candidate for mayor of Nevşehir and was elected mayor with 51.5% of the vote in the March 31, 2019 elections.
On January 29, 2021, he resigned from his position citing health reasons. A year later, on January 18, 2022, he resigned from the AK Party. On March 24, 2023, he joined the İYİ Party along with his wife. He won the 2024 local elections as the İYİ Party candidate, according to official results, with 52% of the vote, and became the Mayor of Nevşehir.