Tensions are growing within the AK Party regarding Mehmet Nuri Ersoy.

Chief Advisor to the President, Oktay Saral, had harshly criticized Minister of Culture and Tourism, Mehmet Nuri Ersoy, over the Cultural Road Festival.

“Has your heart never been bizarre!?

Criticizing the organization of the Cultural Road Festival at a time when 12 soldiers were martyred and children died in Gaza, Saral made the following statement:

While children are still dying in Gaza , while mothers are sending their children to their graves without being able to hold them in their arms, while the blood of our 12 martyrs and brave men we laid to rest for our homeland has not yet dried, while their mothers' tears have not dried. While they were setting up stages in Trabzon under the name of "Culture Road Festival" and organizing entertainment with songs and dances, were your hearts not at all torn? Was your conscience not aching?

How could you laugh when the heart of this nation was aching? Is the pain of the mothers whose tears have not dried up and the families of martyrs so worthless in your eyes? What a profound insensitivity, what a profound disconnect from the soul of the nation!

While the children of this nation are dying, what was expected of you was not music or entertainment, but a dignified stance! While our nation's heart is bleeding, the lights shining on the stage will remain a dark stain on our consciences! And you should know that our people, witnessing this insensitivity, are indignant.

Gültekin first tweeted, then deleted

Reacting to Saral's statement, AKP's 27th term MP Selim Gültekin shared a photo of Saral visiting Ersoy and wrote, "You're the one who visited Mr. Baklan in his office when you had a short break recently, and you're the one who tweeted. Tell me who made you write this tweet." However, Gültekin later deleted the tweet.

Metin Külünk: It is causing great reactions among our people

Support for Oktay Saral came from former AKP MPs Metin Külünk and Mehmet Metiner . Criticizing Culture and Tourism Minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy and the Culture Road Festival from the X account, Külünk described the festivals as "pleasure." Külünk made the following statement:

For several years, our Ministry of Culture and Tourism has been implementing a project called the Cultural Road Festival . I find this project very important and appropriate. This project, which brings municipal events that claim "The poor also have the right to have fun; we can compensate for this with public concerts" into the ministry's hands and also includes some figures who have made hostile statements against our President, the government, and even the state itself, is provoking strong public reactions.

Our nation, which found Amedspor’s social media post significant in terms of timing when the first news about our 12 martyrs came, condemned it and expected the same sensitivity in the concert events of the Culture Road Festival, which continued from city to city.

Having fun, relaxing, and nourishing one's soul are all part of being healthy, all for good health. But this breaks the business context and draws a huge backlash.

Apart from those who benefit from this, there's no one defending it. Instead of directly supporting cultural organizations that carry out extensive cultural studies and projects, and even upsetting those who want to preserve cultural heritage by saying, "Cultural activities were restricted first within the scope of the savings circulars," what's the reason for throwing exorbitant amounts of money at them?

This extravagance and the appetite for making money for those who insult our President and our state must be stopped immediately before things get out of hand.”

On the other hand, former AKP MP Mehmet Metiner supported Saral, saying, "My brave brother! I'm so glad I have you!"