He had said 'I am offering a state to the Kurds': Özgür Özel clarifies those much-discussed remarks

The repercussions of the call made by Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) Chairman Devlet Bahçeli for Abdullah Öcalan, the leader of the terrorist organization PKK, to "come and speak in Parliament" continue.

Republican People's Party (CHP) Chairman Özgür Özel, immediately after Bahçeli's headline-grabbing call, "Mr. Devlet has raised the stakes. I am raising the stakes, Mr. Devlet; I, too, am offering a state to the Kurds. I am offering all Kurds who do not feel they fully belong to be the owners of the Republic of Turkey state." he said.

Appearing as a guest on journalist Fatih Altaylı's YouTube channel, CHP leader Özgür Özel made statements regarding the current agenda.

BAHÇELİ'S ÖCALAN CALL: ERDOĞAN IS AWARE

Özel evaluated the call made by MHP leader Bahçeli for terrorist leader Öcalan.

Stating that Bahçeli is acting as a spokesperson, Özel drew attention to the silence of AKP Chairman and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, saying, "I do not believe such a move was made without Erdoğan's knowledge or without reaching a consensus with Öcalan," he said.

"WE MUST MAKE THE KURDS FEEL THIS TOO"

Özel also clarified his much-discussed 'I am raising the stakes. I am offering a state to the Kurds' remarks.

Özel stated, "Am I saying to the Kurds, 'I am promising you land, I am promising you a state'? I am saying, 'Be owners of the Republic of Turkey just as much as Özgür Özel, Devlet Bahçeli, and Tayyip Erdoğan are; feel this way.' If I say, 'The Republic of Turkey is my state,' it is not because it gave me land. I feel it because it treats me equally. I am saying we must make the Kurds feel this too."

Highlights from Özgür Özel's statements are as follows:

"It is clear that Mr. Devlet is acting as a spokesperson for a project that has been understood.

However, the spokesperson should now fall silent, and the actual owner of the issue needs to speak. Tayyip Erdoğan is not saying anything.

I do not believe that such a move was made without Erdoğan's knowledge or without reaching a consensus with Öcalan.

There is a second possibility. AKP's Kurdish deputies were saying, 'We cannot go to the region. The people have disconnected from us.'

Perhaps Mr. Tayyip told Mr. Devlet, 'I am going to do something.' Bahçeli might have sabotaged the process by saying the most impossible thing first, as if he were supporting it; we don't know. If that is the case, this is another tactic. But for all of this, Erdoğan needs to come out and explain his true intentions without fear, instead of enjoying the comfort of putting Mr. Devlet forward.

We are saying this: The TBMM (Grand National Assembly of Turkey) must be the focal point. No political party should be excluded. All parties must gather around a table.

Secondly, there is a need for a social consensus here. Everyone needs to be involved in this. Because if this problem is solved, Turkey's path will be wide open. 

Our third position is that we have countless martyrs and veterans... We must not be involved in anything that would prevent us from looking them in the eye. The most valuable consent in this matter is the consent of the families of the martyrs and the veterans.

We are in favor of as much transparency as possible. When we want to do all of these things at once, it is very clear that the method is not the one Mr. Devlet is suggesting. 

The podium he mentioned for Öcalan is actually his own podium. DEM and the MHP are using the same podium. He says, 'Let him come and speak from this podium.' He is also tying the right to hope to that. This cannot be.

EXPLANATION OF RAISING THE STAKES

Raising the stakes is not just a gambling term. It entered gambling later. What I really need to say is this: the issue I call raising the stakes cannot be achieved by saying to someone you called a 'baby-killing terrorist' until yesterday, 'Come and speak from this podium.'

Forget a period, there isn't even a comma in my sentence. I am saying, 'I am promising democracy to all Kurds who do not feel they belong to Turkey. I am promising them the Republic of Turkey.'

Am I saying to the Kurds, 'I am promising you land, I am promising you a state'? I am saying, 'Be owners of the Republic of Turkey just as much as Özgür Özel, Devlet Bahçeli, or Tayyip Erdoğan; feel this way.'

If I say the Republic of Turkey is my state, it is not because it gives me land. I feel it because it treats me equally. I am saying we must make the Kurds feel this as well.

My proposal for the issue of 'Why does the Kurdish question exist? Why did it give birth to terrorism and why can it not be solved?' is world-standard democracy, the elimination of rights violations, and the full recognition of human rights. I think we are not making the Kurds feel this.'

News Source: 12punto