Ankara Metropolitan Mayor Mansur Yavaş speaks in Saraçhane

Here are the highlights from the statement made by Ankara Metropolitan Mayor Mansur Yavaş:

We are here to protect the will of Istanbul; as the CHP, we have never left this country ownerless, and we never will. We are here to uphold our Constitution and ensure its implementation.

We are here so that everyone can exercise this right. We are here to defend the rights of Ekrem İmamoğlu and to protect the votes of the millions who voted for him. We are here so that İsmail Saymaz can continue to practice journalism.

We are here so that the rights of the lieutenants are not violated and they can serve as commanders in the heroic Turkish army.

The support of our people is our greatest strength in this struggle, because we are not a handful of people, we are millions, and we will raise our voices, becoming more numerous every day than the day before.

Those who remain silent in the face of lawlessness become partners in oppression. These developments concern the entire society. We will not be among the 'silent devils' who remain quiet in the face of injustice.

I am addressing the police officers; our young brothers and sisters here are present to seek their rights, please show sensitivity in this regard.

The detention of Mayor Ekrem, an administrator representing a democratically elected will, at the crack of dawn, destroys the sense of justice.

Mr. Ümit Özdağ is still being held in prison without an indictment being prepared; greetings to him from here. Can Atalay is still in prison. These two examples alone are indicators of how far we have drifted from the rule of law.

These lawless acts also deeply shake the economy. The reason for this is lawlessness!

While their own ministers are not investigated and are instead appointed as ambassadors, it has become a necessity, not a choice, for the entire opposition to stand side by side against these lawless acts.

We are not in a struggle for seats; we are in a struggle to rebuild the country. Our goal is to establish a government committed to the rule of law.

We will go to the ballot box on March 23, and we will show our reaction against the mentality that disregards the will of the people. True justice is possible only with a real and impartial judiciary.

The presidential government system has been tried and it has failed; polls show that this system must be abandoned. We will pull the country out of the dark vortex it is in, all together. We will never lose hope.

Do not worry at all, Mayor Ekrem will also join us as soon as possible, and we will carry Turkey to the place it deserves together. Believe in this; the Turkish nation has done this before. It created a country out of nothing.

Everything will be very beautiful, and we will be together in much more beautiful days.

News Source: 12punto