CHP Leader Özel's 'legitimacy' criticism of Erdoğan: If you look for it overseas...

The CHP held its 58th 'Defending the National Will' rally in Istanbul's Küçükçekmece district on the 194th day of the detention of its Presidential Candidate and Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (İBB) Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu in Silivri.

At the rally, İmamoğlu's message was read first, followed by remarks from CHP Chairman Özgür Özel.

In his statement, Özel criticized AKP Chairman and President Erdoğan's visit to America and made striking comments regarding the 'legitimacy' agenda.

CHP'S NEW ADDRESS IS KÜÇÜKÇEKMECE

CHP Chairman Özgür Özel, who protested the opening meeting of the New Legislative Year in the Turkish Grand National Assembly (TBMM) due to legitimacy debates, had called citizens to the Küçükçekmece rally with the words, "The nation is enough for us! Our guarantee is neither the prosecutor nor the judge; our guarantee is the nation, the squares!"

ÖZGÜR ÖZEL: TURKEY IS HERE

CHP Chairman Özgür Özel, who protested the opening meeting of the New Legislative Year in the TBMM due to legitimacy debates, began addressing citizens in the square filled by tens of thousands.

Starting his speech by saying, "We are in Küçükçekmece, the beautiful district of Istanbul, in the Cennet neighborhood that reflects the blue of the Marmara like a mirror and embraces those coming from the Balkans in Sefaköy, where joy grows, and in Halkalı where labor grows, and in Küçükçekmece which embraces us today," Özel continued:

"Tonight in this square, there are retirees, laborers, young people, women, social democrats, conservative democrats, nationalist democrats, Kurdish democrats, socialist democrats, unions, and associations; today, Turkey is here! I am glad you are here!"

Drawing attention to economic hardships by telling the citizens filling the square, "Erdoğan does not love you because you are poor," Özel said, "Shall I tell you my common point with Erdoğan? I don't like the poor either. That is why, unlike him, we will not abandon the poor; we will save the nation from poverty."

ÖZEL ANNOUNCED 'WE PROMISE'

Reacting to the AKP government over the economic hardships imposed on citizens, Özel recalled the phrase "Take your mother and go" used by President Erdoğan during his time as Prime Minister. Özel continued his speech by saying, "I promise you that a president will come to lead this country who does not say to the farmer, 'Take your mother and go,' like this last one, but who says, 'You are the master of the nation,' like the first one":

"Yesterday, the official poverty line rose to 91,000 liras. I ask this square, let the camera take a look. Let those in this square with an income below 91,000 liras raise their hands. This square is full of tens of thousands who earn less than 91,000 liras and are officially poor. So, why are we poor? Because those who govern the country make their choices not in favor of you, the retiree, the laborer, the tradesman, the farmer, or the youth, but in favor of the rich.

When we ask for money, they say there is none, they say there are no resources. Just look at the 160 billion dollars they spent for the March 19 coup; they spent exactly 150 times the raise given to retirees on the March 19 coup. They have unfortunately spent exactly 120 times the employer support needed to make the minimum wage 30,000 liras, and exactly 100 times the support paid to farmers, for the March 19 coup from March 19 until today. But when it comes to the 'Forty Thieves,' they don't pay taxes, the tax debts of crony companies are wiped out, but when it comes to the citizen, the tax collectors become lions.

Look, 100 liras of tax is collected in Turkey, 66 liras of which are indirect taxes; that is, a factory owner and the guard at the gate pay the same tax. On what? On electricity, water, bread, natural gas, and their child's school expenses, they pay the same tax. 66%. 23% of the tax in Turkey is the tax deducted from your salaries. Does that make 89%? The remaining 11% is the tax collected from those who make a profit, from winning companies, and from holdings.

Think about it, in a country where 100 liras of tax is to be collected, 89 of it will be paid by the poor, and 11% will be paid by the rich. Down with such a system. We will tear down this system. We will change this system. We will establish a fair tax system. We will collect much from those who earn much, little from those who earn little, and no tax at all from those who earn nothing. We promise."

"IF YOU LOOK FOR LEGITIMACY OVERSEAS, YOU WILL BE DEVASTATED"

Continuing his criticisms of the government by recalling the Trump meeting, which Erdoğan described as going "beyond extraordinary," following the citizens' chants of "Government resign," Özel said, "If you look for legitimacy overseas, in America, from Trump, you will end up devastated like this in Küçükçekmece."

Özel stated, "He had a gift package made while going to Trump; he is buying 225 Boeings with your and my money, and buying liquefied gas from America at an exorbitant price. Because Trump wants it, he is increasing taxes on Chinese goods and zeroing out taxes on American goods. What happens when you zero them out? The producers of almonds, rice, and walnuts in Turkey are devastated. He is removing taxes on American whiskey and automobiles, meaning he is giving up the tax he would collect from them, but he does not give up a single penny of the tax he will collect from you. When it comes to Trump, there is money; when it comes to the citizen, there is none!"

"FOR THEM, IT IS ALL ABOUT PLEASING TRUMP"

Saying, "I ask Erdoğan here," Özel addressed President Erdoğan as follows:

"You went and came back, you gave whatever Trump wanted. So, what did you get from America that would benefit the citizen? What did he get? He got nothing! What did he get? He got legitimacy on paper! The man who is supposed to be America's ambassador in Turkey (Tom Barrack) says, 'It never occurred to us, Trump is a genius. This Erdoğan has no legitimacy, Trump will give him legitimacy, and he will get whatever he wants in return.' By God, it happened exactly as they said!"

"Furthermore, Erdoğan said on a television channel, 'Trump could not end the Gaza war.' The US Secretary of State says, 'They wait at our door, they beg for a 5-minute meeting. And this week, Erdoğan is coming for a meeting,' belittling Erdoğan. Unfortunately, in this country, when these things are said to the President of this country, it hurts us, but these people don't care! Because for them, it is all about 'clinging to power, pleasing Trump'."

ÖZEL'S WARNING TO THE AKP REGARDING GAZA

Touching upon the Gaza Plan, which US President Donald Trump reached an agreement on with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Özel also warned the government that supports the plan, saying:

"We want the oppression and genocide in Palestine to end, we want humanitarian aid to end, we want Gazans to stay in Gaza; however, we are watching this plan, which the Americans made by sitting down with England just like 100 years ago without asking the Palestinians, with all our attention, saying yes to the end of bloodshed, but as the late Izetbegovic said, 'This is not a fair peace, but even the worst peace is better than war'."

"However, problems in Gaza will not be solved by the plan the US-UK made there without asking the Palestinians, by putting Tony Blair, who approved the invasion of Iraq, in charge, by giving the United Nations only the task of distributing humanitarian aid, and by establishing a peace council and putting Trump in charge of it!"

"We are keeping our eyes wide open and looking at these things, and we are warning the government. In the Palestinian issue, we are not within the borders drawn by Trump, but in pursuit of the friendship Bülent Ecevit drew with Yasser Arafat."

İMAMOĞLU ADDRESSED CITIZENS IN THE SQUARE FROM HIS CELL IN SİLİVRİ

CHP Istanbul Provincial Chairman Özgür Çelik read the letter of the detained Presidential Candidate and İBB Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu.

From his cell in the Marmara Prison in Silivri, İmamoğlu addressed the citizens gathered at Fevzi Çakmak Square with the following words:

“I have been away from you for exactly 194 days. But my heart and my mind are always with you. I see that you still love and support me and my friends just as you did on the first day. May God not let us shame you before them. Thank you, long live. Since 2019, we have been demonstrating a populist and action-oriented administration both in the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality and in our Küçükçekmece municipality. On one hand, we are allocating an unprecedented budget to ensure social justice, and on the other, we are making record-level investments in subways, infrastructure, and the environment. We have done a lot for Küçükçekmece as well. We have brought Küçükçekmece to the value it deserves with the subway lines we opened, nurseries, life valleys, and our fair and fast urban transformation projects. We have worked with all our might to be worthy of your will and to provide you with fast and high-quality service.”

“THE GOVERNMENT IS CONDUCTING POLITICS BY IGNORING THE WILL OF THE NATION AND TURNING ITS BACK ON THE NATION”

“Even though we have been deprived of our freedoms, our friends outside continue to work with the same understanding. I congratulate our Küçükçekmece Mayor Kemal Çebi, who continues to expand his services, and all his colleagues. For us, politics is, above all, an effort to be worthy of this noble nation. This government, however, conducts politics by ignoring the will of the nation and turning its back on the nation. This is the Republic of Turkey. It is the legacy of Gazi Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. Here, politics cannot be conducted against the nation, and governance cannot be done against the nation. Here, sovereignty belongs only and only to the nation. A handful of people who forget this fact are causing great crises in our country and making our nation pay heavy prices. The ultimate goal of the dark political project they have implemented through the judiciary is to make the regime, where all powers are in the hands of only one person and one party, permanent.”

“WE ARE AT A VERY CRITICAL TURNING POINT IN OUR HISTORY”

Touching upon the legitimacy debates, İmamoğlu stated in his letter, "Either we will use our democratic right as a nation and say 'we are the source of legitimacy,' or we will sacrifice this noble homeland to the dark bargains of those who seek legitimacy from overseas," and expressed the following:

“We are at a very critical turning point in our history where every word we say and every step we take will determine our future. Either we will join hands and protect our republic, democracy, rights, and freedoms, or we will lose many generations in deep darkness. Either we will use our democratic right as a nation and say 'we are the source of legitimacy,' or we will sacrifice this noble homeland to the dark bargains of those who seek legitimacy from overseas. On one side, there is a government that ignores the nation's right and authority to make decisions through political operations, and on the other, there are those who derive their power and legitimacy from the national will under all circumstances. On one side, there is the voice and will of tens of millions who fill the squares to protect their bread, rights, freedoms, future, and country, growing in waves day by day; on the other, there are those who are afraid to face the citizens and run away, those who cannot go out to the streets or the markets.”

“OUR PLACE AND OUR SIDE ARE CLEAR”

“Our place and our side are clear. Whatever we have said since the first day, we are saying the same thing again: As long as Turkey is not a state of law and justice does not prevail in every field of life, there is no peace for any of us. Because if there is no rule of law, if there is no fair politics, fair competition, and fair sharing, there is no common future for us. If there is no justice, there is no happiness, no prosperity, and no abundance. Therefore, in these squares where those who say 'legitimacy is derived from the nation' gather, we will always say the same motto: For everyone, everywhere; justice first, freedom first. We will not take a step back to make Turkey a country of abundance, prosperity, and happy people. We will pay whatever price is necessary, but this noble nation will definitely attain justice and definitely attain freedom. Everything will be very beautiful. Ekrem İmamoğlu. Silivri Dungeon.”

News Source: 12punto