Historic rally by CHP in Edirne: Özgür Özel's message of 'continuing the struggle'!

The 76th of the 'Protecting the National Will' rallies, organized by the CHP with the demand for the release of the imprisoned Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality Mayor and presidential candidate Ekrem İmamoğlu and for early elections, was held in Edirne.

CHP Chairman Özgür Özel delivered important messages in his speech at the rally. Giving a message to continue the struggle, Özel stated, "Until the short straw gets its due from the long straw, until this nation gets its due from the 'tall man,' until this nation takes the trust back from this dark order and gives it to the people's party, we will continue the struggle."

Highlights from Özel's speech are as follows:

"We love Edirne very much; we love the people of Edirne and our relatives very much. Today, we are here for the 76th time to object to injustice and unfairness, to stand behind those we have elected; to protect the Republic, the ballot box we won with the Republic entrusted to us by Gazi Mustafa Kemal, and the right to vote and be elected. Will we protect those we have elected? Will we protect our presidential candidate? Then, those who love me, follow me; those who love Mayor Ekrem, follow us.

Today, we are guests of our Mayor Filiz, whom we entrusted to you in the elections, whom you entrusted Edirne to, who came with the vote of one in every two Edirne residents, and who is now raising satisfaction levels much higher in all polls. I entrusted her to you in this square. Mayor Filiz has been in office for 20 months.

"IT DOES NOT WORK BY HAVING THE PRO-GOVERNMENT PRESS PRINT LIES"

Of course, as the Republican People's Party, we are struggling with all our might and sincerity within our means. On one hand, as the children of this city, we are making every possible contribution to this city. But on the other hand, those who ask for votes from this city when the election approaches, those who turn their faces here during elections; they turn their backs once they get the authority and go to Ankara.

This does not work by having the pro-government press print false headlines or by writing this and that. If the words you spoke were backed by substance, if there were room for criticism, if there were a deficiency here rather than success, would this square be packed to the brim like this?

But on the other hand; Edirne's share from the industry is not a percentage, but three per thousand. Its share from Turkey's exports is not a percentage, but two per thousand. You go to other cities; three percent, seven percent, eleven percent are being discussed; here it is two per thousand. There is not a single firm exporting over 100 million dollars. There is not a single Edirne firm among the top thousand exporting companies.

When this is the case, do the youth of this city stay in this city? No. Unfortunately, the youth have packed their suitcases in their minds, packed their suitcases in their hearts, and are leaving this city to make a living. The city is shrinking, the city is aging. And unfortunately, the Republic of Turkey collects 26 billion liras in taxes from here annually and provides 10 billion liras in services. Those who take that 16 billion liras are hesitant to give even a teaspoonful to Edirne.

Look, the Halkalı-Kapıkule High-Speed Train. They pushed it back every time; it was supposed to be finished last year in 2024, now they say 2028. The Edirne-Lalapaşa international road. They say, 'All districts in Turkey now have dual carriageways'; we have an international road, but it is not a dual carriageway. The Keşan-Enez road; it progressed one and a half kilometers in two and a half years, collapsed in two days, and became a disaster.

"SUPPOSEDLY THESE PEOPLE ARE CONSERVATIVE"

Edirne is a unique city that served as the capital of the Ottoman Empire. 5 million tourists come to this city every year. But they were ruining the Selimiye Mosque, the apple of our Edirne's eye, the legacy of Koca Sinan. Applications were made, it was stopped, a new one was made. A series of incompetence, a series of bad intentions. Supposedly these people are conservative. You cannot preserve the work of Koca Sinan, and you play with people's emotions by saying, 'I am a conservative politician.' Shame on you, shame on you.

These are not people who have truly embraced or internalized any of the beauty accumulated by either the Ottoman Empire or the Republic. The Republican People's Party has established a bond of affection with its past, its history, the Seljuks, the Ottomans, and the Republic. If there is something to be protected today, if there is a value to be preserved; whether it is a building, a mosque, a bridge, or human values, it is the job of big-hearted democrats to preserve them, it is the job of democrats.

"WE WILL PROTECT THIS COUNTRY"

As the Turkey Alliance; of course, Turkey's lion-hearted social democrats, conservative democrats, nationalist democrats, socialist democrats, liberal democrats, Kurdish democrats, Alevis, Sunnis. Whoever their origin, belief, or ethnicity may be; as long as they are a child of the Republic of Turkey, as long as they are a citizen within these borders, under the Red Flag with the Crescent and Star, a child of Gazi Mustafa Kemal; those democrats are ours. We are the Turkey Alliance, we will protect this country.

These are the 'we did it and it happened' types. These are the ones who say, 'I will give it to a pro-government contractor, I don't care if they ruin the historical monument.' These are the ones who chase perception operations; who try to deceive the nation with perception, not facts. They are the ones who show what they haven't done as done, who show what doesn't exist as existing. The best answer to them is from Koca Sinan, from Mimar Sinan. And where? In Edirne. Where? In Selimiye. Selimiye was finished, Koca Sinan was standing in front of it with those beside him when a small child came. 'Oh,' he said, 'The mosque's minaret is crooked.' He asks the child: 'Which one is crooked?'

Look, Koca Sinan had finished Selimiye. He stood in front of it. A small child, a kid came; 'Oh,' he said, 'The minaret is crooked.' 'Which one is crooked?' he asked. 'The one on this side is crooked.' 'Which way is it crooked?' 'It's crooked this way.' He said: 'Bring a big rope, and bring a hundred laborers. Let's pull the minaret!' They pull, the child watches. 'Is it fixed?' 'A little.' 'Is it fixed?' 'A little.' By having them pull it, he supposedly straightens the minaret. He says to the child: 'Is it done?' The child says: 'It is done, uncle.' The child leaves. They say to Sinan: 'Are you crazy, are you mad? Can a minaret be pulled with a rope to this side just because of a child's word?'

He says: 'If that child is left with a doubt in his mind, if that child sees this minaret as crooked, if that child tells someone when he sees it, and that person tells another, all that effort goes to waste,' he says. We will be at the throats of those who do these things to the work of Koca Sinan, who values the word of that one child; who does not trade truth for lies, and who does not surrender to lies or wrongs. I swear, I swear.

"TODAY IS THE DARK DAY FOR THE RICE PRODUCER"

Thrace is the cradle of abundance, but the irrigation infrastructure has not been completed. Now they want to transport the water of the Meriç River to the organized industrial zone. The farmer is already miserable, and now they are facing the threat of drought. The yield loss in sunflowers in Edirne and Thrace has exceeded 50%. I read it, I read it from the study of the Chambers of Agriculture; it has exceeded 50 percent. Rice production in İpsala has been ruined due to drought. The Soil Products Office (TMO) is not buying; rice that was 27 liras a month ago has fallen to 20 liras. Because they pulled the office out from behind the producer.

We are warning from here: The Soil Products Office exists for days like this. It used to be written; 'The Office is the friend of the farmer on a dark day.' Now is the dark day for the farmer, for the rice producer. Today is the dark day for İpsala. The Office will appear and stand behind the farmer. There is no other way.

On the other hand, drought insurance. They say, 'Get it done, let's get it done, let's go to TARSİM, let's pay the money.' They count the money with such pleasure while taking it, they throw it in the drawer. They count the money with pleasure while doing TARSİM, right? They throw it in the drawer. Then a drought happens, wheat has fallen to 60-70 kilos per decare. 'I made a loss,' he says, and goes to get money from TARSİM. 'You didn't harvest 60 kilos, you harvested 150 kilos,' they say. 'My brother, will you know better than me? Come and look, I harvested 60 kilos,' he says. 'I look at the average, you harvested 150 kilos,' they say. Those who take the money with pleasure, give it with trembling hands, right?

"THE GOVERNMENT THAT TAKES NO PRECAUTIONS NOW BLAMES THE MUNICIPALITIES"

When we come, I will personally stand against those who both double the state's contribution and cheat the farmer like a cunning merchant. TARSİM will not deceive any of you while writing, drawing, or paying. TARSİM will be a friend to the farmer; if it isn't, this brother of yours will be its enemy. I promise you.

Drinking water is sounding the alarm. Occupancy in the Kayalı Dam has fallen to 6 percent. The government that takes no precautions now blames the municipalities. Pollution in Gala Lake and the Ergene River still continues. Our deputy says; former Minister of Water Affairs Veysel Eroğlu used to say, 'I will swim in the Ergene.' He says it would be good if you mention that. I said; this joke has been made many times, but we are ashamed to say it, they are not ashamed of not keeping their word. What more can I say about this Ergene?

There is a big problem in education. They have not built new schools to replace those demolished for earthquake concerns and reinforcement purposes. I told this square, this packed square that we couldn't fit into, what Mayor Filiz has done; there was a huge applause even from the very back.

"ERDOĞAN DOES NOT LIKE THE POOR"

When I asked in a square for the first time months ago, 'Does Erdoğan love you?', you all shouted together: 'No!' I said, 'Why?'; someone from there said, 'We are poor, he doesn't like the poor.' I have been asking since that day; now this is an expression that all of Turkey has seen by living it. All of Turkey is repeating this: Erdoğan does not like the poor, Erdoğan likes the rich.

The official poverty figure is 97 thousand liras. Türk-İş calculates it officially; if 97 thousand liras are not entering a household, those below it are poor. Now, let those in the square with an income of more than 97 thousand liras raise their hands. Look, three or five people are showing it honestly, some are pointing to the person next to them. This square is Turkey's largest choir, and it sings its most pathetic song.

As for the 'From where to where' song that Erdoğan sings when he takes the microphone; let those know-it-all deputies of Edirne, those AK Party administrators of Edirne not accompany it... See this pathetic song in Edirne, hear the voice of this nation, my brother!

The AK Party has been in power for 23 years. What did they say when they came? 'Give me the authority, I will manage the country like a company,' he said. God is my witness, he did exactly that. God is my witness, he did exactly what he said. Do you know how? He announces a cabinet; in the cabinet he announced, the Minister of National Education has a chain of private schools, the Minister of Health has a chain of private hospitals, the Minister of Tourism has a chain of hotels, tourism companies... He is managing Turkey exactly like a company, isn't he?

Do you know the name of the company? There are those who know: KADAŞ. The Dark Order Joint Stock Company. Tayyip Erdoğan's, the AK Party's Dark Order Joint Stock Company. This KADAŞ is truly a record-breaker; it wins medal after medal. Look, KADAŞ takes the tax from you, it does favors for others. But during the era of this KADAŞ, Turkey is number one in Europe in high inflation, number one in poverty, number one in unemployment, number one in income and tax injustice, number one in high interest rates.

These are the dark medals of the AK Party's dark order. No one says 'well done' to you just because you were first in these. We will get rid of this government, which has made this nation miserable and has hung the 'five-in-one' dark medal around the nation's neck and loaded it onto the nation's back, in the first election together!

"A MINIMUM WAGE EARNER IS AFRAID TO EAT A PORTION OF LIVER"

In the past, those who were not well-off would attach a quarter gold coin, those who were well-off would attach a full gold coin, and those who were well-off or the wedding hosts would attach a 'five-in-one' gold coin. Do you remember? We have a lot of 'five-in-one' at our immigrant weddings. At the end of 23 years, this AK Party has attached the 'five-in-one' to the citizen's neck: Highest inflation, greatest poverty, greatest unemployment, worst tax system, and highest interest rate!

I am reminding all farmers here: Wheat producers, in the past, when you sold 1 kilo of wheat, you could buy 1 liter of diesel. Is that right? 1 liter for 1 liter. Now, how many kilos of wheat do you sell to buy 1 liter of diesel? 6 kilos. You sell 6 kilos of wheat, you buy 1 liter of diesel. In the past, before the AK Party came, 1 kilo of wheat bought 1 liter of diesel. When the AK Party came, 6 kilos of wheat buy 1 liter of diesel. There is no calculation to be made on top of this.

If you insist on a calculation, I will do it from the place he is most angry about. Does the gold calculation ever fail? It never fails. When the AK Party came, before this dark order of the AK Party, in that triple coalition they didn't like, the lowest pension was buying 8 quarter gold coins. Today, a quarter gold coin is 11 thousand liras. The lowest pension is 16 thousand 800 liras; 1.5 quarter gold coins. Go and ask tomorrow. Ask for the gold price in 2002, put in the lowest pension; 8 quarter gold coins. Today you buy 1.5 quarter gold coins. Retirees should think about this: The salary that bought 8 quarter gold coins before the AK Party has fallen to 1.5 quarter gold coins. A minimum wage earner was buying 7 quarter gold coins, it fell to 2 quarters.

Edirne liver... Last year a portion was 240 liras. Now it has become 400 liras. Last year, when you calculated it against the minimum wage, one minimum wage was buying 92 portions of liver, this year one minimum wage buys 55 portions of liver. There is no holding onto these. In the liver calculation, from 92 to 55; there is a loss of 37 portions in one year. Today, a minimum wage earner is afraid to eat a portion of liver.

That is why, can this AK Party come and fill this square today? Are they coming to you? Are they asking how you are? Are they mixing with the people? They do politics in cool halls in summer and warm halls in winter. They hold meetings not with the nation, but with their own appointees. They are running away from the street, from the square. That is why I am calling out from here; from Edirne, from the frontier city of the Ottomans, from the apple of the eye of the Republic, from the bosom of Gazi Mustafa Kemal's fellow citizens: The AK Party is now the party of the halls; the Republican People's Party is the party of the squares, the street, the nation, the people!"

"WE HAVE TO STAND TOGETHER AS ALL THE RIGHTEOUS"

Can a hall party ever defeat the party of the street? Can the party of the halls defeat the party of the nation in Edirne? Can it defeat the party of the people? Believe me, we are right. The moral superiority is with us, the psychological superiority is with us. The energy of the squares, the energy of the majority is with us. We will win, we will win, we will win!

House rent in the country has become 25-30 thousand liras, the hunger threshold is 30 thousand liras. The pension is 16 thousand, the minimum wage is 22 thousand liras. Retirees in Ankara are in miserable hotels; 200, 300, 400 liras a night, half of the salary they receive goes to the hotel, with the rest they buy simit, dry bread, sometimes soup... They are trying to hold onto life by putting moldy cheese between bread, between stale bread.

From here, from Edirne, I swear to you: We will end this dark order, we will get rid of this shame. If we do not hold those who have done this betrayal to the retiree who has worked for years, shed the sweat of their brow, shed the light of their eyes, whose hands have become calloused, whose elbows have worn out; those who deem this misery worthy, those who do this injustice, accountable at the ballot box, we are cowards!

"UNTIL THE SHORT STRAW GETS ITS DUE FROM THE LONG STRAW..."

Until the short straw gets its due from the long straw, until this nation gets its due from the 'tall man,' until this nation takes the trust back from this dark order and gives it to the people's party; until the retiree smiles, until the worker and the farmer smile, until the tradesman is saved from this misery, we will continue the struggle, we will continue the struggle!

Intense emotions were mixed in Edirne. One says 'government resign,' one says 'either all together or none of us,' another 'Erdoğan resign'... Let me say this, let me say my only emotion, it is this: Everyone in this square is right. There is a picture of Mayor Ekrem in this square; he is our most victimized one, Mayor Ekrem is right. Our 16 mayors are inside just because we are winning elections, they are all right. The retiree he has dragged is right, the laborer is right. The wheat, rice producer, sunflower producer is right. The tradesman is right.

But we have to stand together as all the righteous. What do we say to those who sit at home, watching us on their television, not taking off their pajamas? If you sit at home and wait, they will come to your door too, they will seize your property too, they will take away your child's future too. In this country, the farmer will not be saved without the worker, the tradesman will not be saved without the retiree, no one will be saved without the villager. There is no salvation alone, either all together or none of us!"

İMAMOĞLU SPOKE FROM SİLİVRİ

Before CHP leader Özel took the podium at the rally, a letter from İmamoğlu, who is imprisoned in Silivri Prison, was read. İmamoğlu included the following lines in his letter.

"Hello Edirne. Hello my beautiful frontier city. Sincere, smiling, big-hearted, brave people of Edirne. Hello.

Dear ladies, esteemed gentlemen, dear youth, my dear children. Welcome. I embrace each of you with longing. I missed you very much.

I wholeheartedly thank my very precious Mayor Filiz Gencan, who looks after Edirne, the host of Selimiye, the capital of the Ottoman Empire, like the apple of her eye, and works with all her might to serve Edirne, for all her efforts. I express my gratitude to our very valuable provincial chairman Yücel Balkanlı and our entire organization in his person for their brave and strong struggle on the path of democracy and justice. As Republican People's Party members, we are going through very difficult days. We are not people who will be discouraged or tired by the pressures, conspiracies, and threats of the government, or who will let their smiling faces fade. But untimely young losses hurt us very much. It pains us deeply. We carry the very deep pain of losing our Şehzadeler Mayor, our dear sister Gülşah Durbay, who was precious to everyone. May her soul rest in peace. May her place be heaven. May God have mercy on her.

It is our debt to work with all our might to build the free world, the strong, fair, and happy Turkey that Gülşah Durbay and our dear brother Ferdi Zeyrek, whom we sent off to eternity at a young age like her, dreamed of.

May God not embarrass us before our loved ones, before our nation.

Dear people of Edirne.

Edirne is a border city, and we, as a nation, would give our lives without blinking to protect our borders.

But let it not be forgotten that it is not enough to protect our external borders to protect our Republic, the legacy of Atatürk, to this sacred homeland.

We are also obliged to protect the internal borders that determine the framework of our political and social life.

For example, in these lands, no one, no power should be able to cross the boundaries of the law. No one, no power should be able to cross the boundaries of democracy.

Because if the boundaries of law, democracy, and the rights and freedoms of the citizen are violated within the country, the country's external borders are also endangered. Today, our country is at a very critical, very vital threshold. Either this government will drag the country into a deeper collapse, into much greater crises and disasters, or we will establish a humane, fair order based on common sense and common interests, which knows its place before the citizen and is respectful of the boundaries of law and democracy. Our nation's decision and will are crystal clear. This government has exceeded the nation's limits of tolerance. Our nation is counting the days to go to the ballot box as soon as possible and to put an end to this unjust regime established for the benefit of a handful of people.

We will build a Turkey together where no crime goes unpunished, but where not even one person is unjustly imprisoned or convicted, and where laws are applied equally to everyone.

Today, the human rights violation decisions given by the European Court of Human Rights and the Constitutional Court, especially regarding Can Atalay, Selahattin Demirtaş, Tayfun Kahraman, and Osman Kavala, are being implemented in a completely arbitrary manner.

We will build a Turkey together where the government completely withdraws its hand from the judiciary and justice is not shaped according to political calculations. We will not do to anyone what has been done to us. My brothers and sisters. No one is greater than you, the citizen. No power is superior to the national will. Our nation is the sole owner of this country, of this state, and whatever it says, that happens. The day will come when this sacred nation will go to the ballot box and say justice first, freedom first. Everything will be very beautiful. Stay healthy. Ekrem İmamoğlu, Silivri dungeon."

News Source: 12punto