İmamoğlu speaks in Saraçhane: The era of one-man tutelage has ended as of today

Ekrem İmamoğlu, who was re-elected as the Mayor of Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (İBB), met with tens of thousands of citizens who packed Saraçhane following his second statement at the CHP Istanbul Provincial Headquarters.

Greeting the enthusiastic crowd from the top of the campaign bus alongside CHP Istanbul Provincial Chair Özgür Çelik, İmamoğlu was accompanied by his wife Dr. Dilek Kaya İmamoğlu, his sons Selim and Semih, and his daughter Beren İmamoğlu.

At the request of the citizens, İmamoğlu took off his jacket and rolled up his shirt sleeves, saying in summary in his speech:

“16 MILLION ISTANBULITES WON; CONGRATULATIONS”

“My big family, I came out here this evening with my very valuable Provincial Chair Özgür Çelik, and with my dear family, my wife and children. And I have a huge Istanbulite family. I came to meet you, to embrace you. Hello Istanbul; 16 million won. 16 million Istanbulites won; congratulations. There is no loser in this election. Where we are, there is no 'other'...

May it be auspicious for Istanbul, for all our people. May it be auspicious for the tiny children on the front lines of this city. May it be auspicious for the brilliant youth of this city, with whom we will run toward hope for the country together. May it be auspicious for the women of this city, the mothers of this city, the gentlemen of this city, and the retirees.

May it be auspicious for the 16 million people who add value to this city, for the diversity of this city, for all the people of this city, for the beliefs of this city, for the ancient culture of this city, for the ancient languages of this city, for every ancient emotion of this city. May it be auspicious for the dear people of this city, for its diversity, for every member of this city, of this nation, for every belief; for its Alevis, Ja'faris, Shafi'is, for all its sects…

May it be auspicious for the Kurds of this city, for the Circassians of this city, for the people of every ethnic origin in this city. May it be auspicious for the beliefs of this city; for its Christians, Jews, Armenians, and Syriacs.”

“THE NATION'S MONEY NOW BELONGS TO THE NATION”

“We are in the blessed month of Ramadan. In our faith, in our history, from the Ottoman Empire to the Republic, there is no discrimination between people. This city is a legacy to us from Fatih Sultan Mehmet. With this election, we have pushed aside many evils that have held this city under pressure since 2019. 

We pushed aside waste. We pushed aside the squandering of this city's money. Abundance has come to the city's budget, abundance. A new culture has begun in this city.

The nation's money now belongs to the nation. This city is also a legacy to us from Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. We started this success together, with that powerful democracy journey that began 5 years ago. Together, we represented the understanding of goodness, beauty, and being one with the people.”

SPECIAL THANKS TO ÖZGÜR ÖZEL AND ÖZGÜR ÇELİK

“I would like to thank my Chairman, Mr. Özgür Özel, who added value to this success and who, by designing this journey in the most powerful way together, paved the way for us to achieve a strong success in Istanbul. On his behalf, I thank the entire top management and representatives of the party, the deputies, the Central Executive Board, and our Party Assembly members.

I thank our Provincial Chair Özgür Çelik, who coordinated our strong party organization, which worked in an organized manner to ensure that not a single vote of ours was compromised today with a tremendous organization in Istanbul. On behalf of my dear Chair, I thank our party administrators, district chairs, and candidates.

At the same time, I thank the tens of thousands of volunteers of Istanbul. And besides the veteran, long-suffering Istanbul Volunteers, there is also a strong Istanbul alliance that worked and ran at the forefront in this success. I thank the 16 million Istanbulites who internalized this election, who realized that it was the people's alliance, and who formed this alliance at the ballot box and shared it here. I offer my heartfelt gratitude.”

“WHAT MESSAGE DID THE PEOPLE GIVE US?”

“After finishing this election, I think about this: What message did the people give us? What messages did the people give to our rivals running in the election, to the government, to the President? We understood this. You, as Istanbul, said to us in Istanbul; the era of waste is over.

It has closed permanently. The era of savings and abundance has begun. The era in which the nation's money is given to the nation has begun in Istanbul. Partisanship is over, it is over. There is no partisanship, there is merit, there is justice. There is solidarity-based, populist municipalism. And this voter said, 'This understanding will continue to win, my brother.

The era in which equal and fair service reaches every Istanbulite will continue. Our municipalism approach, which brings years of breakthroughs to Istanbul with its actions, is the one. Our nation said, increase your speed, continue on the road. And not as they say, full speed in reverse… How? Full speed ahead. That is, the era of developmental municipalism has begun, they said.”

“THE CANAL IS FINISHED, ISTANBUL WILL LIVE”

“The historic message Istanbul gave this evening, just as it gave it to us, it also gave to government officials. The instruction given is: He who serves Istanbul, my brother, the elected will respect the elected. Is that right? The elected cannot persecute the elected, cannot impose, cannot establish tutelage. Is that right? What did you say?

No canal, there is Istanbul. The canal is finished, Istanbul will live. And it said that it is not about ignoring elected administrators, but working with them. It said there is consultation with them. There is no uncontrolled power of audit; there is a brave, fair struggle, it said.

It said there is no blocking solutions by changing the structure of institutions belonging to the municipality, like UKOME. It said there is joint work, a common table for every problem of the Istanbulite. Istanbul said this evening, 'Mr. President, sign the Sefaköy-Beylikdüzü metro line, for which you have withheld your signature for 18 months. Let Istanbul receive that service immediately. Don't block it, mind your own business,' it said. Isn't that so?

It said, 'Sign for the facilities to be built to protect the health, greenery, and sea of this city, don't keep it waiting.' What more should the Istanbulite say? You gave every message, we will see, will they take it or not? I hope they do.”

“THE NATION GIVES ORDERS, ONE PERSON DOES NOT”

“The nation said today, I am on the side of peace. I am on the side of tranquility. I am on the side of democracy. I am on the side of justice. Istanbul has given its message. Istanbul has put an end to this business. From now on, everyone knows very well what they need to do. This is the kind of era we want. We want it to be in favor of our citizens. The nation says, I am giving the order, the order.

The nation gives orders, one person does not. The nation gives orders, gives instructions. One person does not give instructions. Administrators receive instructions from the nation. The era of one-man tutelage has ended as of today.

Republic and democracy have said full speed ahead as of today. We said the nation always wins. Do you know what happened today? The nation won, the nation. The nation will continue to win. It will run toward much better works, much better days. Tomorrow morning, we are setting sail together. Tomorrow we are waking up to a bright, beautiful spring day.”

“BEYOĞLU IS WITH US; BAYRAMPAŞA, BEYKOZ. ÇATALCA, SİLİVRİ, ÇEKMEKÖY, EYÜPSULTAN, SANCAKTEPE, TUZLA, ŞİLE, ÜSKÜDAR”

“We had 14 district municipalities, you know. I won't name them. But now Beyoğlu is with us; Bayrampaşa, Beykoz. Çatalca, Silivri, Çekmeköy, Eyüpsultan, Sancaktepe, Tuzla, Şile, Üsküdar. There are districts where the competition is still ongoing.

Here; in Fatih, in Gaziosmanpaşa, in Pendik, there are districts where the competition is ongoing. Together with my Provincial Chair, we will go to the headquarters, to the Provincial Presidency, and we will follow it until morning. But let me say this: Tomorrow morning, whoever is elected, all 39 are equal for this brother of yours, equal.

We did not do the discrimination they did, and we will not. We respect those who are elected. We accept whoever comes out of the ballot box as an order. We are lovers of democracy. We are the Turkish youth with full faith in democracy. I rolled up my sleeves. I got my energy from you. Shall I tell you something? Not even an atomic ant, no one can pass us on this 5-year journey.”

“I THANK MY WIFE, MY CHILDREN, MY MOTHER, MY FATHER WHO ENDURED MY HARDSHIPS, IN THE PRESENCE OF YOU ALL”

“I thank my wife and children who endured my hardships during this process, in the presence of you all. I thank my mother and father who are not here, and all my relatives. Because I saw them very little during this service period. Because in our understanding, politics is not a place for spouses, friends, or relatives; it has not been, and it will not be.

I promise you all. I love you all very much. May God protect you. May all your prayers and all your beautiful wishes come true during the month of Ramadan. And hopefully, after this holiday, let's meet on a beautiful holiday, on Eid al-Fitr.

Let us all experience the spirituality of this city together. Let us experience its national holidays. Let us experience its religious holidays. Let us be one. Let us be together. May God not disrupt our unity, our togetherness, our harmony. Finally, shall we make the slogan of this election together? They say full speed in reverse, and we say, full speed ahead.”

News Source: 12punto