Breaking News: İmamoğlu lashes out at Kılıçdaroğlu! 'I call him an internal malevolent trustee, he takes orders from Erdoğan'

Following the absolute nullity ruling in the ongoing case regarding the 38th Ordinary Congress of the CHP, which Özgür Özel had won, Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu was installed as the CHP Chairman.

While the debates over the absolute nullity ruling continue, striking statements came from CHP's presidential candidate and Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (İBB) Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, who is currently imprisoned in Silivri Prison.

In an interview with Murat Sabuncu from T24, İmamoğlu said the following about Kılıçdaroğlu: “I call him an 'internal malevolent trustee'... Erdoğan, from whom he takes orders and whose every command he rushes to fulfill, wants to bury the Republic, democracy, and justice in concrete. The extras and the trustee have no importance. As long as God grants me life and the nation provides support, I will continue my struggle. What matters is the future of the Republic and the trust placed in us.”

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-What did you feel when you heard the absolute nullity ruling?

I felt several emotions at once... Like everyone else, I first felt anger. I was angry that the will expressed by millions at the ballot box along with my party was being attacked. I felt sorrow that political engineering, rather than law and justice, was circulating in the courtrooms. For those who have forgotten how to feel shame, there was also shame in my sentiment. I felt shame on behalf of those who shamelessly interfered with the will of the Republican People's Party, the hope for democracy in this country, the conscience of millions who went to the polls, and the nation's right to decide through a court ruling, as well as those who paved the way for them under the guise of law.

Absolute nullity is a major reckoning established between the will of the nation and the government that uses state power.

The nation says "change," they bring the judiciary into play. The nation points to the ballot box, they point to the court corridors. The nation wants a hopeful future, they are calculating how to protect their seats. That is why they want to turn history and truth upside down with a court ruling. They are trying to reverse the will for change. However, they will not be able to render the will that founded the Republic null and void with a few signatures. They will not be able to erase the memory of this nation. They will not be able to hold the future of 86 million hostage in palace corridors. What I truly felt, however, was resolve and determination.

That day, I decided once again: We will not take a step back. We will not bow down. We will not remain silent.

They will not be able to teach us defeat!

-What did you think when you saw the party's door broken down by police and the interior being intervened with plastic bullets and tear gas? What did you experience while watching those moments on television in your cell?

That day was a very difficult day for everyone who could protect their heart, soul, and humanity, both inside and outside... We spent our years at our headquarters. I came from the district presidency, from the district mayoralty. For years, we worked without seeing our children. We always entered our headquarters with enthusiasm. It is our home, our land, our sanctuary. I am sure all my Republican People's Party friends will understand these words of mine very well: They entered our sanctuary with police!

What was broken into was not just a building, but a memory, a belief, a struggle, and a need for democracy. It is also the home of this country's multi-party democratic history, the hope for change through elections, and the labor and faith of millions of people.

The malevolent ones trying to destroy that door from the inside and outside are saying this: "It didn't happen through the ballot box, now we will take it over by force."

One of the things that hurt me the most was this: Inside the building were young people, women, elderly comrades, and citizens who came from all four corners of the city to protect democracy and the national will. The image of a country entering its most deep-rooted party with gas, plastic bullets, and police force is not normal for any democratic society. This image is only worthy of regimes of fear. And with those images, it was seen once again that the country we live in has long since ceased to be a state of law.

They want to see a frightened nation before them. They want to see people who are cowed, silent, and retreating. But surrender is not in the nature of this nation. Look, the people of this country have seen coups, bans, and oppression. But every time, they knew how to stand back up.

One thing those images made me think was this: I thought, "It means we are on the right path." If they are attacking us with such frenzy, we are on the right path. Governments only become this harsh when their fear of losing grows. Those who lose the love of the nation take refuge in brute force. But there is one thing they forget: The state belongs to the nation. There is no power greater than the will of the nation, and no matter what they do, they will not be able to break the hopes of this country's youth, people's belief in democracy, and desire for change.

-Does the absolute nullity ruling and police intervention make you think that the regime in Turkey has entered a new phase?

The regime change in Turkey did not actually start today. One of the breaking points was 2017. The constitutional amendment brought before the nation was put into effect through a controversial referendum where unsealed votes were deemed valid by the Supreme Election Council (YSK). That day, the law experienced one of its first major moments of bending and twisting.

Then in 2019, the Istanbul elections were canceled. The nation had gone to the polls and made its decision. But they did not like the nation's decision. By canceling the election in a way that fits neither law nor logic, they actually said: "If the nation makes the wrong decision, we do not recognize that decision."

What did the nation do? It gave a stronger answer. It protected democracy more strongly.

After that, it moved to another phase. The mentality that realized it could not defeat its opponent at the ballot box began to turn the law into an apparatus for political operations. Discrediting campaigns were carried out. Judicial processes were put into play. Attempts were made to design politics by condemning people to dungeons.

What is happening today with the absolute nullity ruling and police interventions is a continuation of this chain. Because now the issue is not just winning an election; it is eliminating the meaning of the election. But no order established against the will of the nation has been permanent, and it will not be from now on either.

-How do you evaluate the stance taken by Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, your former chairman?

There is no democracy in a management mentality that is carried to the head of the Republican People's Party not by the will of the delegates, but by an operation established by the palace through the judiciary. Whoever does this, its name is clear: Political trusteeship.

Trying to harvest the authority that the nation did not give at the ballot box from court corridors is neither politically, nor conscientiously, nor morally legitimate.

I call him an "internal malevolent trustee." Because those who could not destroy this party from the outside now want to take it over from the inside. Am I wrong? Not at all!

But I want everyone to know this: The Republican People's Party is not a structure that can be seized by the palace's legal engineering. This party is a resistance party founded by Gazi Mustafa Kemal Atatürk on national sovereignty.

The headquarters of the Republican People's Party is not that building until justice is served and the will of the delegates is revealed. The CHP's headquarters is now the squares where all our party members carry their spirit and heart.

Now let them sit and look at the empty walls. Let them watch those who resist the coup.

-Did you really utter the sentence "He wants to bury me in concrete"?

Erdoğan, from whom he takes orders and whose every command he rushes to fulfill, wants to bury the Republic, democracy, and justice in concrete. The extras and the trustee have no importance. Neither the four walls where I am in my freest state nor the four walls where the trustee is trapped have any importance. As long as God grants me life and the nation provides support, I will continue my struggle. What matters is the future of the Republic and the trust placed in us. We will protect it, we will win.

-Should the struggle continue within the CHP, or should a new party be founded? Does the crisis experienced by the center-left in Turkey now require a new political language and a new organizational model?

"We will either find a way or make a way." That way is the CHP under the Chairmanship of my fellow traveler Mr. Özgür Özel, as mandated by the law, our delegates, and the national will. However, if the law is violated, and the will of our delegates and the nation is ignored, every path we walk with the nation is legitimate and strong. The opposition is not experiencing a crisis; Erdoğan is staging a coup against the opposition. This nation has no neck to bow to anyone. With the language, spirit, and will of the nation, we will make that way and run to power.

-If a new party is founded, would it be more of a "democracy front" or a leader-centered movement?

All democrats in Turkey need to unite. A path that covers Turkey's east-west, north-south, rural-urban is necessary. The nation shows the way, parties draw the path, leaders walk the path. A movement that draws its strength from the nation, has a staff that will respond to Turkey's needs, and walks the path with strong leadership can carry Turkey to the future. This is the essence of the "change movement" we started with our Chairman Mr. Özgür Özel. "The only thing that doesn't change is change itself." We will move forward by uniting with all of Turkey's democrats, we will win, and we will bring our nation to change. I agree with our Chairman's assessment that "May 24 is a milestone." This date is a milestone where those who unite in the alliance of nullity, those who support the suffocation of the political arena through court rulings, and those who play the middle ground in a period where black and white are so clearly separated, are separated from those who stand by the democracy front, the Turkey alliance, the national will, and free elections. Those who set out in their white shirts against all pressures took steps in May under heavy rain and hail for a free Turkey and a free future. On this path, we are all together as those who believe in Turkey, the nation, and free, fair, and peaceful days.

-What could be the ideological axis of such a new formation: Social democracy, center-right opening, democracy alliance, or a more populist line?

We are the children of Atatürk, who did not fight for positions and ranks in occupied Istanbul, but crossed to Anatolia to defend the homeland. We will walk the path opened by Atatürk until we take our last breath. We are working for the Republic, freedoms, the rule of law, a strong economy, rational diplomacy, a real social state, a development move from east to west, national agriculture, domestic industry, a strong army, and the defense industry. We will continue to work for our goals and advance on the path opened by Atatürk under all conditions. Against those who ignore the nation and its will when they seize power, who demonize every social demand and need for freedom, and those who long for a controlled opposition that serves their agendas, we want freedom for everyone, democracy, justice, and prosperity for everyone.

-Do you think the debate on "post-CHP opposition" has started in Turkey?

It is not a debate; on the contrary, the coup accompanied by police against the CHP on May 23, following May 21, has drawn the path for the opposition to start a mobilization regarding ending the tyrannical regime through full cooperation in the upcoming election and ensuring ballot and election security. This path should not be an election alliance; it should be an alliance for the existence of the election and the security of the ballot box! The issue is above parties.

-The MHP Chairman is giving a roadmap to the CHP until the congress date. How do you respond to this?

Only our party members determine the roadmap of the Republican People's Party. Neither the words of power centers nor those who act as the government's trustees and prevent our congress have any value regarding our party. The law already mandates the congress. The law of the Republic of Turkey has been razed to the ground. Those who have the heart for it protect the state's law, do not refrain from their words, and do not take a step back. Today, there is only one obstacle standing in front of Turkey's future. If they are uncomfortable with this obstacle, let them come out and put their hands under the stone as we have been doing for years. If they don't have the courage and strength, let them get off the nation's agenda. Our nation and our party will already do what is necessary. Mixed, unclear, and useless words have no meaning in a government environment that has reached the stage of ending democracy in Turkey.

-Under these conditions, is a difficult path also being entered for the solution of the Kurdish issue? Although Pervin Buldan from the Imrali Delegation said that legislative work would begin after the holiday.

I am very sad... I am truly very sad. The goal of a terror-free and Democratic Turkey, the nation's hope for a peaceful and tranquil Turkey, is being destroyed by Erdoğan himself. I welcome Mr. Pervin Buldan and her efforts with great respect. However, the head of this country is doing everything he can to sabotage such an important process for the fate of the nation. He is trying to destroy the hope for peace that the nation and politics have built stitch by stitch with sledgehammers he brings down on the nation's head.

Let's prepare, let us also support it, and let's pass the law. But after democracy is lost, after the law is trampled underfoot, will this nation not ask which peace, which tranquility, which law? All eyes see, but tongues are silent. Erdoğan is still acting with the mentality of "may the Kurd not see his mother." In fact, at the same time, he is walking with the mentality of "may the Turk not see the light of day." I am saying it clearly: He is calculating to continue the process until the elections, win the elections with all kinds of lawlessness, end the process, and get back into the blood of this nation's children!

The government, which deceives its nation by stating that it has been deceived many times, unfortunately continues to deceive our nation without hesitation for the sake of its seat in this historical process!

Steps taken without giving the nation the trust it needs and without resolving the question marks are pregnant with greater harm to our country. The society is in a state of great distrust. I am saying these things truly from the heart, it falls to all of us to give our people the trust they need. And that trust comes from defending the nation's rights to the end. There is only one obstacle before us for our nation to embrace each other fully. On these lands, both the halay and the horon are danced upright. One stands upright, one walks upright. Let us all stand upright together, let us walk upright. Let us not allow those who try to deceive this nation.

-Do you think the issue experienced today is really an internal matter of the CHP or a larger breaking point regarding the future of electoral democracy in Turkey?

What internal matter of the CHP? This is a palace coup!

What is happening in Turkey today is directly related to the future of electoral democracy. You hold an election, they don't recognize it. You hold a congress, they don't recognize it. They appoint that trustee to the head of our party with an Appellate Court ruling. The YSK, on the other hand, denies itself. Look, this stance of the YSK is a very great threat. It is an attempt to drive the final nail into the coffin prepared by those who completely destroy democracy.

This is a very heavy breaking point. The process that started with unsealed votes in 2017 continued with the cancellation of the Istanbul elections in 2019. Today, we have moved to a phase where the opposition is being redesigned directly with state power. Every coup puts heavier practices before us.

That is why I reject the idea that this is an internal CHP debate. This issue is a matter of whether the nation's right to change the government through the ballot box can be protected in Turkey. Those who claim otherwise, especially if they are representatives of institutional politics, carry a perspective that renders their own reasons for existence meaningless.

They do not recognize the law. They do not open the way for the congress. Because they know they will lose. They have taken Erdoğan's judicial arms behind them, and they are having a coup staged against our party as if it were a great skill.

There is no internal CHP debate. There is a palace coup and the palace's puppets."

With the reflection of the interview in the press, İmamoğlu also made a simultaneous statement through his lawyers on his social media account.

In his statement, İmamoğlu included the following expressions:

“My dear nation,

You know the coup plotter, the liar, the opportunist, and the cowards very well.

You recognize them by their eyes. You recognize them by their words. You recognize them by their behaviors.

And most importantly, you recognize them by their flight from the ballot box.

They want you to be afraid, they want you to be silent, they want you to consent, they want you to give up on protecting democracy.

But now is not the time to surrender; it is the time to walk with hope, courage, perseverance, and determination.

You are the strong ones, your will is what is essential.

The future is in your hands.

Our guide is the nation.”

News Source: 12punto