Breaking News: Özgür Özel speaks in Saraçhane: 'We have no presidential candidate other than İmamoğlu'

Republican People's Party (CHP) Chairman Özgür Özel canceled his party's group meeting today and traveled to Istanbul.

In the morning, Özel went to the Çağlayan Courthouse for the trial of Victory Party leader Ümit Özdağ, and subsequently visited DEM Party Istanbul MP Sırrı Süreyya Önder, who is undergoing treatment at a hospital, to receive information about his health status.

Özel's next stop was Saraçhane. 

Our Chairman Özgür Özel is making a press statement following his visit to the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality. https://t.co/HWha4RDH29

— CHP ???? (@herkesicinCHP) April 29, 2025

The highlights from Özel's speech are as follows:

"We are in Saraçhane. We are in the place where, when Istanbulites were asked for the first time after 25 years, they said, 'Let the person I elected govern,' instead of those appointed by Mr. Tayyip. At that time, Ekrem İmamoğlu's opponent was the last Prime Minister of the Republic of Turkey and the Speaker of Parliament. In other words, if Mr. Tayyip could not be a candidate himself, he put forward the most ambitious candidate he could against Mr. Ekrem. They lost the election. They could not digest it and had it cancelled. The 13,000-vote margin increased to 806,000 forty-five days later."

Sir, those who said, 'We will deliver the Ottoman slap in June,' received a democratic slap, but unfortunately, they did not learn their lesson. For 5 years, while the best services were being attempted in Istanbul, they acted with indigestion; there were days when they rented a bus, like filming a commercial, and made smoke come out from behind it, claiming IETT buses were old and catching fire.

"THERE WAS NO END TO THE INDIGESTION THEY DISPLAYED FOR 5 YEARS"

It was as if they had renewed them and we had swapped them for old ones. There were days they jammed stones into escalators. There were days they did everything they could to sabotage the most appreciated services. They seized millions of liras collected for solidarity during the pandemic before they could reach the poor and those in need. There was no end to the indigestion they displayed for 5 years. Finally, when they appeared before the nation, this time they put forward a name they claimed knew urban planning best, a minister, but the Istanbulite gave the duty back to Ekrem İmamoğlu with a margin of over 1 million 100,000 votes. They said, 'We are pleased with you, we are satisfied with you.' For 5 years, more than 300 inspectors examined everything almost 7 days a week, 24 hours a day, and found nothing, but 37 files found from previous terms were seized by Süleyman Soylu just as they were about to be sent to the prosecutor's office.

"It was said, 'We have taken the authority, we have taken over.' All the corruption of the old era was covered up. At the end of such a process, the nation gave the duty once again a year ago, saying, 'The CHP municipality, the Republican People's Party group, the mayors, and Metropolitan Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu served well, served honestly.' They could not digest this either, and this time they assigned a mobile guillotine to the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office from a political office, one they had previously used to slaughter justice by traveling from court to court at the Çağlayan Courthouse."

If you appoint a deputy minister as a chief prosecutor, that person is an official assigned to implement the party's instructions here. Since October 5th, they have been in a state of major attack. Ultimately, they have carried out a two-pronged coup against the elected mayor of the Republican People's Party, the presidential candidate to be. On March 19, with a 4-day detention period, they brought him before a judge on the very day of the primary election, the hour when the ballot boxes were to be set up. At the hour when the votes were to be counted, as the ballot boxes were being opened, the iron bars of the Silivri dungeon closed upon him.

"HE SAYS 'WE ARE AFRAID...'"

We have an Italian mafia-style communication. While Mayor Ekrem is applying for candidacy for the primary, he is also applying to Istanbul University for the cancellation of his diploma. And he says, 'Be quick. This document is being submitted everywhere, including the YSK.' So it is clear that he is targeting one person. He is canceling the diplomas of countless people, but his intention is clear. He should not be a presidential candidate. An operation 4 days before the primary, before a judge on the morning of the primary, and the door of the Silivri dungeon closes as the ballot boxes are opened.

What more can he do? How much more clearly can he explain it in plain Turkish? He says: 'We are afraid. I received instructions, we will not make him a candidate. We will cancel his diploma, we will do this, we will do that.' Of course, there is a word stronger than this, and that is the word of the nation. 15.5 million people came out and stood behind their candidate. All calculations were ruined. In this square, in Saraçhane, for the first time in world political history, the same person spoke in the same square at the same hour for 7 consecutive days, and hundreds of thousands, 500 thousands, 1 millions listened here, and the unity in this square repelled the coup attempted here. Since that day, we have both the moral superiority and the energy of the majority. Because we are in the right.

'THE TRUSTEE THEY TRIED TO BRING HAS BEEN LEFT DISAPPOINTED'

This nation looks into your eyes and distinguishes between those who tell the truth and those who lie. This nation looks into your eyes and distinguishes between the righteous and the unjust. It distinguishes between the moral and the immoral. Do you not see the people of Istanbul? You tried to break the will you could not defeat through the judiciary. That is why they stand behind Ekrem İmamoğlu. They stand behind our bureaucrat friends at the İBB, behind our district mayors, and they will continue to do so.

First, the perception he tried to create was repelled. The trustee he tried to bring was left disappointed. Then, the false witnesses—what were they? They told a lot of lies based on the secret testimonies of three pieces of wood called oak, spruce, and plane tree. They served these up, but what does the court expect, what does justice expect? To prove that these slanders and allegations are not slanders, they must be supported by concrete evidence. They could not find that evidence because it does not exist.

Because a person judges others by their own nature. They sent them off saying, 'Go look, Akın, they did something.' They set out with slanders, but found no proof. When that happened, they produced false witnesses from their crony contractors, but there is no 'I saw it, I gave it, he took it' here. There is only 'I heard.' And the public said to that hearsay, 'I have heard these lies many times,' and did not believe it. This time, by putting pressure on our friends inside, as I have explained many times before. They tell female detainees, 'Look, the screen will turn off soon; if I leave, you will neither see me nor your child for 10 years,' or they take them to a place under the guise of a doctor's examination and say, 'Look, you have children; if you want to see them, go home from here, but give the statement I want.'

'NOW THEY HAVE SET SAIL FOR A SECOND WAVE'

They kept those who resisted inside and released those who surrendered, but they achieved no results. Now they have set sail for a second wave. The purpose of this second wave is to supposedly collapse an institution like the İBB, make it dysfunctional, and disrupt services. Well, this is such a deep-rooted institution, and Mayor Ekrem manages this place not based on someone's loyalty or by saying 'you are from this sect, you are from that community,' but with staff we hired by asking, 'Are you qualified or not?' regardless of their views. You take the secretary-general, a new one comes in their place. You take their deputy, a new one comes in their place. In this building, in this institution, everyone's work is defined by merit. If they get sick, the work continues; if they resign and leave, it continues. Everyone has a backup, and there is a backup for the backup. You cannot prevent Istanbul from being governed from this building.

That he is not under arrest and is at the head of his duty is a requirement of conscience, morality, and reason. In the second part of the operation, our friends have now been taken from the Vatan Security Directorate to the Çağlayan Courthouse. We are following that process. But the questions asked, you all saw. Here, the question asked to only the private secretary, Ms. Kadriye, a sister of ours who worked tirelessly with tears in her eyes for her friends and her mayor during my 7-day visit here: 'A vehicle entered and exited the İpsala Border Gate with your car in 2021-2022. Could bribe money be being transported?' 

"I CHALLENGE YOU ONCE AGAIN..."

Kadriye Hanım's response: "I bought the vehicle in December 2023." Look, it is written there. It is written on the line above. It says, "Vehicle registered to her in December 2023." The vehicle was released in 2021, after Kadriye Hanım. Then they say: "Kadriye Hanım sent 1,130,000 TL with someone, under someone's instructions." She says: "The account is my own account. I sent the money myself. Because I bought a vehicle. The account is mine, the money sent is to the people I bought the car from, and the date is the date written above. I made the transfer on the date I gave in the answer to the question you just asked. I bought the vehicle on December 23. I sent the money on December 23." 

The Kadriye Hanım they refer to as "Oh, is that so? Is that so?" is currently waiting in custody at the Çağlayan Courthouse, friends. And this time, last time there were three pieces of wood named Oak, Spruce, and Plane. This time there are three animals named Eagle, Falcon, and Kite. False witnesses, for slander. Those who could not get results from the wood have made animals secret witnesses. We will see what slander Eagle, Falcon, and Kite have made. How much has the correct answer given to this convinced the nation? I challenge you once again. We want a live broadcast on TRT. Come on, let your well-prepared prosecutor ask on TRT. "Did you transport money in 2021? I bought that car in 2023." What will Hatice Hanım think while watching this from Konya? What will Uncle Ahmet say while watching in Kayseri? Will he say, "Well done, Mr. Tayyip"? He will say, "Shame on you." These are people who believe in God, perform their worship, know their vote as their honor, and use it as such. I swear, if they voted for you, may our hands be broken. They will say, "Is this done?" We will overcome this process full of slander once again. 

"UNTIL YESTERDAY WE WERE HURT, NOW WE ARE ANGRY..."

I came here today for a visit of solidarity, to ask after them, and to tell our friends who are saddened for the friends inside, "This too shall pass, because we are the ones who are right." If bribes were being exchanged in this building, if injustices were happening in this building, if corruption were taking place in this building, would everyone leaving be sent off with tears, and would everyone arriving be welcomed with hugs? There is merit, honesty, friendship, and love in this building. When we came to this building, there was different food for the employees and different food for the mayors. They used to say, "I can cook you entrecote." 

Mayor Ekrem said: "There is no such thing, from now on we will eat whatever everyone else is eating." The security guards of this building, both those who worked here before and those who work here now, say: "What kind of people are these CHP members? Everyone who comes and goes shakes our hands and asks how we are. They ask, 'Do you have any problems?' They spend the day with us, they chat with us. No one used to look at our faces." These AK Party administrators are the kind of men who eat their meals in restaurants while making the police eat rations. Wherever a Republican People's Party member eats, their police, driver, and bodyguard eat there too. I consider it a disgrace to explain these things to the nation, but you have become so ugly that we will tell this nation about your simplest details, your simplest details, your most wretched arrogance, and your nouveau riche behavior one by one. We were sad about what was done until yesterday. We had faith, we had determination. We had the self-confidence of being right. Now that you have started to deal with children and women in this second wave, we are angry, we are angry.

THE DETENTION OF MURAT ONGUN'S WIFE

One is questioned for their duty, accounts for it like a lion, and is tried. But a woman is not persecuted because she is someone's wife, and a child is not persecuted because they are someone's offspring. This is not called psychological warfare or anything. This is called condescension, this is called greed, this is called lack of character. If you think you will upset our psychology by dealing with children and women, you have a long wait. 

We are waiting too, but not to seek revenge. Because in our traditions, customs, and culture, both friendship and enmity require honor. We do not dishonorably target families. That was what FETÖ, which you nurtured, was doing, and you were doing it against them as well. They targeted your children and offspring. They intruded into your private lives. And then you targeted their children. 'Should they eat tree bark? Let them eat bark. Why? Because their father is a FETÖ member.' Their child... You evicted pregnant women, 8-month pregnant women, from their housing. You deprived them of the opportunity to give birth using state facilities. You didn't even give them a green card for months. You abandoned them to not being able to get medicine, you abandoned them to death. Just because those you were once as close to as flesh and bone staged a coup against you, you made their newborn babies unable to get breast milk or formula. You made them eat rice flour. You told them to eat tree bark. You are people of such morality. That is why history will prove us right. Because we are good people, and against a malicious mind like yours that targets children and babies, we are always protected by the morality of this society, what we call Anatolian wisdom. 

"IF WE LEAVE THIS BUILDING, WE WILL GOVERN TURKEY"

The assurance for our children, our spouses, and our friends inside is the morality of the people in Anatolia. We have words for those who have not received their share of this morality, but we still have no revenge to take from their children or spouses. This does not exist in our customs. I do not know if it exists in the customs of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) members. They are turning a blind eye to this. They should question whether it exists in their customs. It is clear that the cadres managing the AK Party have left their customs and traditions at home. It is already clear what the FETÖ members did to them and us in the past, and what they did to the FETÖ members' infants in their cradles after the coup.

We will govern Istanbul in the best way from this building. If we leave this building, we will leave our place to people we trust as much as we trust ourselves, and we will go to govern Turkey, friends. If we leave this building, we will go to govern Turkey. This is also Tayyip Erdoğan's misery. He will suffer this misery even more. If he does not want to suffer more, he will bring the ballot box before us. The nation will make its decision.

THE QUESTION: "İMAMOĞLU AS PRIME MINISTER, YAVAŞ AS PRESIDENT?"

First of all, it is like this: two children said the pillar of the mosque built by Mimar Sinan was crooked. Mimar Sinan asked for a rope the length of two minarets and had them pull it for hours until the children said, "Okay, it's fixed." I thank them for that. In a 2-hour and 10-minute speech, we said this repeatedly: one, our A, B, C, and Z plan is Ekrem İmamoğlu's presidential candidacy, period. Two: after this point, not even I, but not even Ekrem İmamoğlu himself can give up his presidential candidacy. Because he has the will of 15.5 million people behind him. İmamoğlu is no longer my candidate, nor Özgür President's, nor the CHP members'; he is Turkey's candidate. He cannot give it up himself. 

Despite this being discussed repeatedly, the question is: What happens if the day comes and he cannot be a candidate? If they do not let him be a candidate, the election will be won with 70%, and the number of deputies we elect will be 400, which will change the constitution. We will immediately have the power to change the constitution. In that case, both Ekrem İmamoğlu will emerge, and the constitution will change rapidly. The head of the executive will cease to be the president and will become the prime minister. And Ekrem İmamoğlu will become the prime minister. Ekrem İmamoğlu is our candidate for the head of the government. His current title is our presidential candidate. The moment we transition to a strengthened parliamentary system, he is our prime ministerial candidate. He will govern this country with his ministers. We have no presidential candidate other than Ekrem İmamoğlu. However, if one day Ekrem İmamoğlu comes, becomes a candidate, and is elected president, he himself will already return to a strengthened parliamentary system. When executive powers pass to the prime minister, he will become the prime minister. Then he will become an impartial president. In this process, whoever provided the most significant contributions to Ekrem İmamoğlu, with his place in the nation's heart, there will also be an impartial president... 

They ask me: "You..." As the chairman, I would like to win this victory, go down in history, and then rest... Who will be the president? For example, if Mr. Mansur, who has managed this process well until today, continues from here on, perhaps he will be the impartial president. This is something else, but wherever the head of the state and the head of the executive is, our candidate for that position is Ekrem İmamoğlu. We have said this 100 times. There are those who watched yesterday's broadcast, but for example, my esteemed editor brother at CNN was told by someone from the 2-hour and 10-minute broadcast: "Put this part in." They are supposedly going to create a rift from there. I mean, think about it, even though I said 10 times in 2 hours and 10 minutes, "Our A, B, C plan is İmamoğlu, our candidate is İmamoğlu, even he cannot give up his candidacy," without seeing this, like this...

"WERE WE SUPPOSED TO DISTRIBUTE MESIR PASTE WHILE OUR FRIENDS WERE INSIDE?"

Ladies and gentlemen, they say Özgür Özel has canceled the Manisa and İzmir rallies. Do some actual journalism. It wasn't a rally in Manisa; we weren't going to distribute mesir paste. Should we be distributing mesir paste while our friends are being taken into custody? The one in İzmir was an opening ceremony for a treatment plant. Is it the time to open a treatment plant while our friends are in the second wave of detentions? He met with Ekrem İmamoğlu. Who else is he supposed to meet with? If we don't evaluate this second wave with Mayor Ekrem, who should we evaluate it with? Then they say by evening that he changed the candidate. For God's sake, have some fear of God! I mean, if you really made this much disinformation by mistake, then include this statement there and say, 'I am publishing this out of respect for the right of reply.' Because journalistic ethics require this. What does it mean to say, 'He canceled the Manisa and İzmir rallies'? I believe that continuing ordinary programs during such extraordinary processes is extremely wrong, and we will follow the situation of our friends until they appear before the judge today and their status is determined. 

CALL FOR THE BAŞAKŞEHİR RALLY

Tomorrow, we will all meet together at the night rally on Wednesday at 20:30 to talk about Kanal Istanbul. To all of Turkey... Kanal Istanbul... What were they saying? 'The AK Party has given up on Kanal Istanbul.' We published the video yesterday. It's flying over Istanbul, pat-pat-pat-pat. 'Sir, this bridge is 800 meters, that bridge is 600 meters, this is like this, the canal will enter here, exit here.' And ours is looking at which one to give more to the Qataris. Tomorrow at 20:30 in Başakşehir, we invite you all to our rally where we will once again expose both Kanal Istanbul and the true intentions of these operations, and at the same time, stand up for our Mayor Ekrem, our mayors, our detained council members, and our detained bureaucrats, friends.

RESPONSE TO DEVLET BAHÇELİ

Let me say this to Mr. Devlet. There are people in his staff with very valuable state experience. They should ask friends who know a little bit about these protection issues. For example, let Mr. Devlet ask or say this: President Erdoğan's team performs the same taping procedures. Most recently, on March 7, he came to an iftar program at the Eurasia Center, the Eurasia Meeting Center, the Exhibition Center. All the cameras on the floor where he would rest were taped, and all the cameras where he had iftar were taped. When they came to us, they asked, 'Should we do taping?' I said, 'Come, sit at the device. Whether you stop it, play it, or delete it. Let the presidential protection team do whatever they want.' We sat them at the device. Now, if it is necessary to tape an iftar program, and today's president does it, how can you criminalize this standard precaution taken by the next president's protection team as required by their training? At first, when I was eating, I was new, I was a novice. 

"THERE IS A MEDIA THAT CURRENTLY DECLARES EVERYONE WHO MEETS WITH MR. EKREM A TRAITOR"

Even though a protection order had been issued many times before, I had rejected it. Now we are under mandatory protection. While I'm having soup, I look and the camera across from me is taped. I ask, 'Why is this taped?' They say, 'It has to be that way, sir.' They say, 'An inappropriate image might come out of here. You might spill something on yourself, or something else. Social media... Our duty is to protect your reputation as well.' I said, 'Okay.' That is the requirement of the training they received, that is the requirement of their duty. Erdoğan stumbled and fell while walking. They don't want that footage to be served. That is also the duty of that team. Or Mr. Ekrem went and held a meeting. Think about this today, friends: there is a media in Turkey that currently declares everyone who meets with Mr. Ekrem a traitor. 

Look, today there is a website where these claims by Akın Gürlek are published. I won't advertise it now. There is a site where they put all kinds of disgraceful claims out in front. I won't mention it and increase its ratings; you all know it. Look, Erdoğan calls every businessman or politician who used to meet with him and now meets with İmamoğlu a 'traitor.' 'Traitor! This one is a traitor, committing treason.' Well, of course, it closes under these conditions. You are not governing the state like a state; you are governing it like a criminal organization. We are using the same methods that the current president uses out of necessity. We are taping over cameras for the same reasons that he tapes over cameras. Whatever necessity drives the current president to do these things, we are applying them for the same necessity for the next president. Do you have anything to say about it? 

The nation will decide. Yes, the nation will decide at the ballot box who the next president will be. If they don't decide... The boss is the nation. We believe that the nation will choose us. The worst part is that they also believe the nation will choose us. That is why they are setting up all kinds of filth, mud, and conspiracies. They are creating filth, throwing mud, and setting up conspiracies.

News Source: 12punto