Özgür Özel addresses Erdoğan: The day will come when the 'shoebox' files are opened

There was a large turnout of citizens at the rally held on Demokrasi Street in Sancaktepe's Sarıgazi neighborhood.

CHP continues its ‘The Nation Protects Its Will’ rallies.

CHP Istanbul Provincial Chair Özgür Çelik read Ekrem İmamoğlu's message.

CHP Istanbul Provincial Chair Özgür Çelik is reading Ekrem İmamoğlu's message. İmamoğlu's message to Sancaktepe is as follows:

“Dear Sancaktepe residents, my fellow citizens whose hearts beat with love for justice and the country; you know very well what has changed in Istanbul since 2019. When an honest and fair administration that respects people and cares for the city it lives in took office, Istanbul made great progress in every field. We made investments of a scale never before seen in Istanbul's history. Istanbulites met with real service and correct implementation. Istanbul set out on a path to becoming a city where justice and freedom take root and grow stronger. We received the reward for all these efforts in the 2024 elections. Not only in Istanbul, but all over the country, our nation gave very strong support to the Republican People's Party's populist and action-oriented municipalism. Our nation named the new government it wanted to run the country that day. Since that day, March 31, 2024, Turkey has been paying the price for what a government that has lost the support of the nation has done to survive despite the nation. As the government goes outside the law, economic, political, administrative, and legal crises deepen even further. Everyone is becoming poorer and more insecure. Our country is losing power and reputation in the world.”

“THOSE WHO ARE SUSPECT IN THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NATION ARE THOSE IN POWER”

“Dear fellow citizens; the treatment meted out to my valuable fellow mayors, Zeydan Karalar, Muhittin Böcek, Abdurrahman Tutdere, Ahmet Şahin, and Tunç Soyer, to whom citizens entrusted their cities, is a new example of the government's attempts to usurp the national will. In these investigations, which are completely constructed for political purposes, lack a legal basis, and are carried out with a thousand injustices and acts of tyranny, we do not have to clear ourselves. Those who really need to clear themselves are those who make the judiciary work by instruction, and those who dream of creating a country without opposition by hiding behind slanders and secret witnesses. It is not us, but those who declared us guilty while not even an indictment could be produced for months, and those who arrested us for no reason, who must clear themselves. Those who are suspect in the conscience of the nation are those in power. Those who try to make our nation bow down with pressure, tyranny, and black propaganda will never succeed. This nation has not bowed down to the seven great powers; will it bow down to those who run from the ballot box and thieves of the national will? Of course, we will not bow down.”

“THOSE WHO HAVE NO CONCERN OTHER THAN MAINTAINING THEIR OWN POWER…”

“Those who rely not on the will of the nation, but on the power of the state they have seized, will lose again. Because you are in front of them, the nation is there. Those who have no concern other than maintaining their own power will be defeated by the conscience of the nation and the brotherhood of 86 million. We will win. Those who say ‘For everyone, everywhere, justice first, freedom first’ will win. In a country where injustice runs rampant in every area of life, and rights and freedoms are not under guarantee, no one can be sure of their future. Our cause is to ensure justice first, and freedom first, for everyone living in this country, everywhere. The social unity and integrity that we will build on the foundation of justice and freedom is the cure for all our troubles and the guarantee of our future. From my cell, behind iron bars, walls, and barbed wire, I have only one demand for myself and my country: ‘For everyone, everywhere, justice first, freedom first.’ Stay well. Ekrem İmamoğlu.”

"WE WILL GET MAYOR EKREM BACK, WE WILL WIN"

Highlights from CHP Chairman Özgür Özel's speech are as follows:

“After the seven days and seven nights of great resistance that we resisted against the March 19 coup, after Saraçhane, after crossing the bridge and opening up to Anatolia with 2 million 200 thousand people from Maltepe, after the great rallies and meetings we held here on a Wednesday and in a beautiful city of Anatolia on a weekend, today Sancaktepe called us. It called us not to a rally, but to action. This place is as full as the eye can see. I am addressing Turkey from here. This side is Atatürk Neighborhood, this side is İnönü Neighborhood, this street is Democracy Street. The badge of honor of our party's history. As the Republican People's Party, as Turkey, we cannot be proud enough of those who founded the Republic, brought the multi-party regime, and brought democracy and the ballot box to Turkey. On this side, up to the last point of Democracy Street, and on this side, in an area where the rally was not actually planned, there is just as much again. Those who cannot fit on either side are holding another rally in the side street there. Today, there is undoubtedly the nation itself in this square. Workers struggling to make a living on minimum wage are here. Retirees crushed below the hunger threshold are here. Our young people who have lost hope for the future but are holding on to the hope of a change in government are here. All democrats in Sancaktepe; social democrats, conservative democrats, nationalist democrats, liberal democrats, socialist democrats, Kurdish democrats, they are all here in this square, shoulder to shoulder, side by side. We have been fighting for justice and democracy for 112 days. For 112 days, we have been using our right to resist a coup. Those against us are afraid of the nation. They are afraid of the ballot box. They are afraid of the squares and the streets. They cannot go out on the street. They cannot go to the market. They cannot ask how you are. They cannot prevent the country's bad course, and when it comes to being held accountable, they run away from you in every direction. Here we are; the righteous, the strong, those who have a voice, and those who run to these squares with hearts like lions, we are addressing them. You cannot run from this nation. You cannot continue this coup. You cannot keep our candidate captive. We will get Mayor Ekrem back, we will take the government. The nation will win, the people will win, we will win. ‘President İmamoğlu.’ Good for all of you. Health to your hands, your labor, your heart, and your tongue. I was with Mayor Ekrem around 16:30 this evening. He said: ‘Beylikdüzü is the same to me as Sancaktepe. Many greetings from me to Sancaktepe.’ ‘They love me very much there. That Democracy Street will be full this evening, Chairman,’ he said. He is watching now. Let me say this. That street is full as you said, Mayor Ekrem. But there is another rally square in the back.”

“EIGHT NURSERIES AND EACH ONE VALUABLE PROJECTS HAVE COME TO LIFE”

“We are in a young district that is 17 years old and became a district in 2008. The AK Party won here three times. We did not hold a grudge against Sancaktepe for three terms. We worked, we looked for the mistake in ourselves. Then we appeared before Sancaktepe with a bright, young candidate who was our district chair. We said, ‘We can manage better.’ We said, ‘We will manage honestly.’ We said, ‘We will work, we will make Sancaktepe smile.’ The nation turned its face to us in this election. Those who considered Sancaktepe their own fortress in the past saw that Sancaktepe is not the fortress of the government. Fortress politics is over. Now this place is the fortress of the nation. Here is our Mayor Alper, who won the election in the March 31 elections. I thank you all. I thank you for the trust you showed him, for the votes, for believing in him. I came when Mayor Alper was a candidate too. Then he insisted a lot, I came. I attended the groundbreaking ceremony of 15 projects. After me, Mayor Ekrem and I laid the foundations of 20 projects together here. A total of 60 projects are ongoing. 60 projects were started, 35 of them were completed. I thank this hardworking mayor in the presence of all of you, especially because I see that eight nurseries, three neighborhood houses, and projects and works, each more valuable than the other, are coming to life one by one. And of course, what do we always say? We say, ‘This party is the father's house.’ We say, ‘We always keep the door of the father's house open. The father's house is open to everyone. Everyone who loves Atatürk has a share in this house. We say its title deed is registered to Gazi Mustafa Kemal Atatürk.’ There are those who brew the tea of this father's house and keep its chimney smoking. I thank all our organization, in the person of our young district chair, in the person of Emre, for those who carry wood so that the chimney of this father's house smokes. I thank you all for your efforts.”

“WE CANNOT DIGEST SUCH NEGLIGENCE”

“Beautiful people of Sancaktepe, our excitement is high, our energy is high. But the state of the country is not bright at all. Especially the news we received in the past few days… I was watching you on the screen while I was coming here a little while ago. Our provincial chair unfurled our glorious flag here. You held a moment of silence for our 12 martyrs, you sang our National Anthem. I also wish God's mercy upon our martyrs and offer my condolences to our nation and their families. However, we cannot digest such negligence. As the Republican People's Party, thinking about our 19 soldiers being put into a cave and 12 of them losing their lives due to methane gas; while our army has unmanned vehicles and robots in its inventory, while measurement devices should have gone there much earlier, while our children should have had gas masks and oxygen tanks, thinking that some of these were neglected, no precautions were taken, and we lost 12 lions for nothing, I cannot digest this. We never accept this great negligence at a point where a methane gas measurement detector is only 1,100 liras. The Republican People's Party will investigate this to the end. We promise our nation. We will definitely hold those who disregard the lives of the Mehmetçik accountable.”

“THE ECONOMY IS DRAGGING TOWARDS THE BOTTOM DAY BY DAY”

“Unfortunately, our economy is dragging towards the bottom day by day in the hands of this incompetent government. We have 13.5 million unemployed, the worst situation in the last 10 years. And unfortunately, the number of our young people who are described as NEET (not in education, employment, or training) has reached 4.5 million. While these figures are far below this in Europe and Europe is worried about this, in Turkey, we have young people who look at their mother's and father's palms, look for pocket money from them, are past the age, have no job, and are not in school. Today, while working with our friends in Silivri for a long time, while talking with Mayor Ekrem, we talked about how important it is to walk this path for this party to come to power as soon as possible, not for the freedom of our friends, not for ourselves, but for the poor of this country, for its unemployed, for its young people who are tired of bans, tired of poverty, and tired of unemployment. From here, we promise all the young people of Turkey, regardless of their views, sect, belief, or ethnicity: We will save you from these bans, from this corruption, and from all the negatives in this Turkey that the AK Party came saying ‘I will remove’ and made much worse. The next period of the Republic will be a Republic that embraces its youth and moves to the future with its youth, just as it was a century ago. We promise you.”

“ERDOĞAN DESERVED THIS”

“We say Erdoğan is afraid of the streets, afraid of the squares. Of course he is afraid. But he deserved this too. Why did he deserve it? On March 18, Mayor Ekrem is sitting at an iftar table. We learn from both the prepared indictment and the documents the university sent to the court that they are telling the business school to ‘Cancel this diploma immediately,’ the diploma that Mayor Ekrem applied for when he was 18 years old, which Istanbul University called for by placing an ad 35 years ago, and which he received 31 years ago. They say, ‘This diploma can be given to the YSK.’ A university diploma is needed for only one thing. If you are going to be a Presidential Candidate, the YSK then asks you for a university diploma. This prosecutor is obsessed, he will not make Mayor Ekrem a Presidential Candidate. But the university's business school tries 15 times, they don't cancel it. They pressure the dean, he resigns, he still doesn't cancel it. This time, they gather the university's board of directors, who have no authority and did not give the diploma. They cancel the diploma from there and then try to file a lawsuit and bring a political ban on Mayor Ekrem. When this incident happened, the year was 1990. When this incident happened, these were the years when Turkey was trying to get rid of the shame of political bans on Süleyman Demirel, Bülent Ecevit, and Necmettin Erbakan, which the September 12 coup plotter Kenan Evren had imposed. The political ban on them was lifted, and afterwards, each of them became Prime Minister and served this country. But we have reached the year 2025, and they are trying to bring a political ban on the 18-year-old Ekrem İmamoğlu of 1990. That is why this struggle is a struggle for democracy. 35 years after the political bans brought by the September 12 coup plotters were lifted, those who bring a political ban on the 18-year-old Ekrem are more unhinged and more coup-plotting than the September 12ers, and have received less of a share from democracy. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan can no longer pour water on Kenan Pasha's hands. If Kenan Evren were alive today, he would say to Erdoğan; ‘I congratulate you, the horn has surpassed the ear,’ he would say. The horn has surpassed the ear.”

“WE KNOW VERY WELL THAT ERDOĞAN WATCHES OPPOSITION CHANNELS”

“Now we know that Mr. Erdoğan watches opposition channels, dissident channels a lot in the evenings. He blacked out SÖZCÜ TV this evening, but Tele1 and Halk TV are open. Whichever one he is watching from, I am addressing Mr. Erdoğan: Look, if you attack Mayor Ekrem's diploma, which he earned with the sweat of his brow, if you question his diploma, he has hundreds of friends he could be with. But you don't have a single university friend you can play backgammon with. I am truly addressing Mr. Erdoğan from here: If he sits down tomorrow morning with a friend he went to university with, drinks a Turkish coffee, drinks a morning pleasure coffee, and shares a photo, I won't say anything. But he doesn't have a university friend to drink coffee with. And he attacks our diploma. Then young people come out of Sancaktepe and call out to his diploma. What do they say? (Diplomless Erdoğan.) Now Mr. Erdoğan, after all the evil you have done, I guess we are switching to stereo broadcast regarding your diploma with those on Democracy Street in Sancaktepe, close to 100 thousand in total. We are on stereo broadcast. Go ahead. We are starting from here. I promise you, we will take back that diploma that our Mayor Ekrem earned with the sweat of his brow, and we will send this diplomless person at our head away, friends. I promise.”

“150 BILLION DOLLARS GONE, OUR MONEY BECAME PAPER”

“Now the bill for carrying out this March 19 coup has become quite clear. 150 billion dollars of ours is gone. And they spent this just to get rid of Mayor Ekrem. This is such an amount of money that we go from square to square and say that the minimum wage should be 30 thousand 250 liras. It is exactly 120 times the employer support share needed for this. It is exactly 150 times the raise they gave to retirees. Erdoğan, it is 1.5 times the burden that the destruction created by the February 6 earthquake brought to the economy. This is a coup that took 70 thousand liras each from the pockets of 86 million, you heard it right, 70 thousand liras from each of our pockets. This is a coup that stole 10 quarter gold coins from the pockets of each of us, for example, hundreds of citizens listening to us in this side street. As this money did not come as a raise to salaries; because of this money, because of the loss of this money, price hikes are coming to products, new taxes are coming. There are heavy interest burdens. While they cannot find money for the service we cannot see or receive, they find money for the coup. If they had not used this 6 trillion liras to stage a coup against Mayor Ekrem, and had spent this money in the right place, on you, on Sancaktepe, on the retiree here, on the minimum wage earner, for example, if it were given to our 13 million unemployed, we could have tied a salary of 40 thousand liras to everyone who is unemployed today. We could have tied a salary of 83 thousand liras to 6 million poor families, not as charity. We could have erased all the debts of 2.3 million farmers and given twice the amount of their debts as a grant. We could have given 2.5 million in non-refundable grants to each of our 2.2 million tradesmen. Not a loan, we could have given a grant. We could have given 73 thousand liras each to our 1.7 million students as a university scholarship, not 3 thousand liras. But those who took this money from your kitchen, from your wallet, and spent this money on the coup made the dollar 40 liras. Today, those who made the dollar 40 liras, when the first Presidential Government System came, the dollar was 3.2 liras, they said ‘1 dollar = 1 lira will be.’ Today 1 dollar has become 40 liras. Our money has become paper. But if you say there is someone who will save the money from becoming paper, save poverty from being destiny, save young people from unemployment, save this country once again after 100 years and develop it once again, the name of that someone is…. The one who will save this country after a century is again Turkey's first party, the Republican People's Party. And while making this country power, the name of our Presidential Candidate who will make this nation the crown of the head, who will make faces smile, not the one who says to the farmer ‘Take your mother and go’ like the last President, but the one who says ‘The farmer, the villager is the master of the nation,’ is Ekrem İmamoğlu. We brought a lot of love here with him today, young people see that it is getting dark. They are warning me with their phone lights. They say, ‘We are ready to provide the most magnificent footage of Istanbul ever taken via drone, let us shoot the clip for Mayor Ekrem, my hero, my lion, from Sancaktepe too.’ I love this drone very much, it also has a very capable operator. This time go as far as possible, let's take us all in one shot like this. Let Mayor Ekrem watch it on live broadcast. Shall my hero, my lion come? Let's see.”

“WE ARE DEFEATING ERDOĞAN'S CANDIDATES ONE BY ONE”

“We thank this wonderful choir. We heard this from a Maçka native, the late Volkan Konak, and we heard it because a Maçka native wanted it so. Our Beylikdüzü Mayor is watching from the hospital in Izmir. He is also a Maçka native. We are sending him a heartfelt applause from here. We are waiting for Mehmet Murat Çalık to join us as soon as possible. Unfortunately, there are heroes who were not in Silivri last night but are in Silivri this evening. One is the valuable Mayor of our Adana Metropolitan Municipality, Zeydan Karalar. ‘Mayor like Adana’ Mayor Zeydan. Our Antalya Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Muhittin Böcek is in Antalya. Adıyaman's hero child in the earthquake, Abdurrahman Tutdere, is under house arrest. They all have one sin; defeating the AK Party, defeating Tayyip Erdoğan. But Erdoğan should know that we have defeated Erdoğan four times with Mayor Ekrem. We were not defeated. We have been defeating Erdoğan's candidates one by one for two elections. Erdoğan mentioned the past by saying ‘I haven't lost an election for 23 years.’ Today he says ‘We won this election, we won that election for 23 years.’ But he is no longer invincible. We defeated him on March 31 and made him the second party. In all polls, the Republican People's Party is Turkey's first party. Ekrem İmamoğlu defeated Erdoğan and Erdoğan's candidates once in Beylikdüzü and three times in Istanbul. But Erdoğan could not defeat Mayor Ekrem even once. If there is an invincible one, it is Mayor Ekrem. That's why he is afraid, let him be afraid. We will come, we will defeat him again, we will win.”

“YOU ARE THE ONE WHO PROTECTS YOUR THIEF”

“Those who made our friends face all kinds of slander, turned to Aziz İhsan Aktaş, whom they defined as ‘a crime organization leader,’ and this time they made slander against Adana through a partner and against our various municipalities. We took out the numbers. This slanderer, whom they call a confessor, is now enjoying himself at his home, at his summer house. Supposedly he is this crime organization leader, but he is outside, those they slandered are inside. He received 388 tenders; he received 300 from AKP members and 88 from us. Whereas 65 percent of the municipalities are ours. But he received 77 percent of the tenders from the AK Party. Today Erdoğan came out at the group meeting and said ‘Let the one who commits corruption be far away, the one who commits theft is not one of us.’ Erdoğan, if the one who commits theft is to be far away, you need to be far away from this country. Shamelessly, without embarrassment, he came out today and talks about baklava boxes to the Republican People's Party. I saw the baklava box, I took action immediately. I assigned two inspectors. I said ‘No concessions,’ ‘We will do what is necessary.’ I have no tolerance for the baklava box. But you have a criminal record with shoeboxes. When money was coming out of the ministers' houses with shoeboxes on December 17-25, while your friends were saying ‘Let's send these to the Supreme Court,’ you are the one who did not give them, who even defended your thieves, who did not send them to the Supreme Court, who cut off the head of the Prime Minister who wanted to send them to the Supreme Court and said ‘I would cut off the arm of my brother if he committed theft.’ You are the one who protects your thief. You are the one who disgraced this state with a shoebox, who robbed this nation, Erdoğan. I say this with great self-confidence from here. Whoever commits theft, takes bribes, or causes damage to the state has no place in the Republican People's Party. But we do not have a single friend whom we will sacrifice or abandon to your slanderers. Know this as such. If there is someone who does wrong, they will pay the price. But you, who protect your thief, who protect the shoeboxes, who scolded your son who said ‘Daddy, daddy, I couldn't zero the money,’ this nation has not forgotten you. The day will come when we will open those files. We will judge both those ministers and those who remained silent about it in the Supreme Court. I swear.”

“WE HAVE NO PROBLEM WITH THOSE WHO WERE MEMBERS OF THE AKP IN THE PAST, OR THOSE WHO VOTED”

“I would like to say something from here. Let me start from the side street first. Then I will come one by one. Now there is such a situation, beautiful people of Sancaktepe. When we say ‘The day will come, the wheel will turn, the AKP will be held accountable to the people,’ Mr. Tayyip is happy. He says ‘Oh, very good, oh good.’ ‘In the past,’ now it has fallen a lot with resignations, but ‘we had 12.5 million members. If they say this in the squares, the nation will be scared. Despite poverty, despite unemployment, despite all the injustices they have suffered, they will be scared and vote for us.’ That is why I am addressing the AK Party members and MHP members in Sancaktepe with great sincerity from here. They registered you so that ‘my grandchild gets a job.’ They registered you to give social assistance. Sometimes the son-in-law wanted it, you gave it. Sometimes you couldn't break the neighbor's heart. Sometimes you were deceived by the young people who came to the door. You registered with the AK Party. You voted. Maybe you voted with your own consent so that it would be good. You couldn't think of these days. We have no problem with those who voted for the AK Party in the past, with those who were members of the AK Party in the past. They will see this bad management one day, they will turn back from them, just as they elected Mayor Alper with 50 percent in Sancaktepe. Just as there are a world of AK Party members and MHP members who vote for Mayor Ekrem. Since they are in difficulty, we will work for them too, we will get votes from them too. We will be the remedy for the poor and unemployed of the AK Party member too. Since we founded this Republic together. We will save this country together once again. Let no one be afraid of membership or voting in the past. Only and only thieves, shameless people, dishonorable people should be afraid. We will hold them accountable, we have no problem with the nation. Now, let's all make a strong welcome applause together for those who voted for other parties in the past but are fed up, feel the knife at the bone, are tired, and have decided to change this government from this square. This is the voice of hope, this is the voice of change. This is the voice of Erdoğan's departure, Mayor Ekrem's arrival.”

“PUBLIC PROSECUTORS, DESERVE YOUR NAME”?

“Now, look, there is a very honorable man here, the jimmy jib operator. He has been standing patiently for an hour. And in his hand is the name of a great dishonorable person. Come closer, look what it says? ‘Yeliz.’ You know Ahmet Hamdi Çamlı, the closest person to Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. The driver who drove his car in the Istanbul Metropolitan election campaign. You know, Mr. Tayyip comes out of a Mercedes, greeting like this. The man driving the car in that photo. Mr. Tayyip made him a member of parliament. In fact, dear Chairman Müsavat said something beautiful today. You know, the Roman Emperor Caligula, he had a horse. He loved it very much. He was putting gold saddles on it. He was feeding it in silver bowls. One day the Roman Emperor got upset, he said for his horse ‘I will put this into the Parliament, I will make it sit in the Parliament.’ This is accepted as the highest point of power corruption in world history. But Mr. Müsavat said ‘His situation is worse than this. Let the Grand National Assembly of Turkey not pay a salary to this stallion anymore, enough,’ he said. Now that dishonorable person says ‘1923 is a bloody coup.’ I was not having anyone booed in the square. But there was one exception, I was allowing it. He found his trouble, didn't he? Now I won't have anyone booed either, but since it came from within you, boo this dishonorable person. He deserved it, the dishonorable one. We gave the order yesterday. Our 81 provincial chairs, all our members of parliament are filing criminal complaints with the Public Prosecutor's Offices about this Yeliz. Let's see who will be the first prosecutor to deserve the Republic in their title? All of Turkey will see. It is Atatürk's instruction. He says ‘Public Prosecutors are the pearls of the Republic.’ ‘Public Prosecutors are the ones who will seek the rights of the poor, the needy, the destitute of this country,’ he says. ‘We entrusted this Republic to the prosecutors of the Republic,’ he says. Now this lunatic codenamed Yeliz called the Republic a ‘bloody coup.’ Public Prosecutors who carry the Republic in your name, deserve your name, deserve the value Atatürk gave you, deserve the salary this nation gives you. Let me see you.”

“TO THIS NATION, 99 PERCENT OF WHICH IS FILLED WITH LOVE FOR ATATÜRK…”

“Dear Sancaktepe residents, let those who know Yeliz's story raise a hand. It's pretty good, but there are also those who don't know. Now let's say why this man called Ahmet Hamdi Çamlı is called Yeliz. The constitutional amendment that casts a shadow on the regime is being discussed in the Parliament. There is an account, its name; Yeliz. He put a woman's picture there. Photos, images from inside the Parliament. Cursing, apocalypse to the CHP and opposition parties. While looking for who it is, this incompetent, base person touched the wrong place on the screen. The camera turned, Ahmet Hamdi Çamlı with his disgusting mustache. The dishonorable person who hides his name and uses a codename called Yeliz. I am addressing Tayyip Erdoğan, who did not teach this Ahmet Hamdi Çamlı a lesson, did not expel him from the party, did not refer him to discipline, and Ömer Çelik, who says ‘The Republic is the apple of our eye’ without even mentioning his name: By pretending, by remaining silent about this man's rudeness, you are saying to this nation, 99 percent of which is filled with love for Atatürk, ‘That is our true face, that is our view, we are all Yeliz, we are all like that. Actually, we are not lovers of the Republic, of Atatürk; we are friends of someone like him.’ Shame on all of you.”

“COME FACE ME, LET THE NATION DECIDE”

“On one hand, every part of our country is a place of fire, we hear rightful but also surprising invitations saying ‘Let's strengthen the internal front. Let's be together. Let's keep Turkey together.’ Of course, let's be together, of course, let's be strong, but do you see what we have been experiencing since March 19? Think of a country where you will put the Presidential Candidate, whom 15.5 million people nominated, in Silivri on the day he is elected. It won't be enough, you will deal with his child, his father. You will gather all his friends, all his circle. You will throw brilliant mayors, municipal council members, bureaucrats into prison with slanders just to break the arm and wing of Istanbul Metropolitan and those districts. It won't be enough, you will go to the private secretaries. It won't be enough, this morning you will take 10 innocent, guiltless official drivers, you will subject them to persecution too. And then you will turn around and say, ‘Come on, we are all in the same boat, let's be together. Let's keep Turkey strong.’ Of course, we also support a Turkey without terrorism for Turkey to be strong. However, we insistently underline the 3Ts. Turkey without terrorism, okay. But it's not enough. We want a Turkey without terrorism and democratic. We want trial without arrest. We want live broadcast from TRT. We have been saying this for months. For months. Finally, yesterday Mr. Bahçeli said that the trial was prolonged, the indictment was weakened, and they also accepted the live broadcast. Today Erdoğan said ‘He said it well.’ Then, challenge accepted. We had submitted our law proposal on May 9. It doesn't happen by saying ‘Let's broadcast from TRT.’ We want these trials to be broadcast fully, completely, and transparently by TRT from one channel from beginning to end, without missing anything, giving the defense as much as it gives the prosecutor, broadcasting the defenses live from the mouths of our friends, and by allocating frequency to all televisions that want to make live broadcasts. Because I trust my mayors, my friends. Erdoğan, if you trust your prosecutor, come face me, let the nation decide.”

“ERDOĞAN, I WILL NOT LET YOU SIT THERE WITH 29 PERCENT OF THE VOTE”

“Mayor Emre, if I had known, I would have come this Wednesday evening and held this rally, and I would have come next Wednesday and held a rally on this side too. We of course know the energy of Sancaktepe. We know its dynamism. We know the very faithful, very determined young people of all ages here, but whose hearts are fluttering. We hear Sancaktepe in this struggle, we have incredible respect for Sancaktepe. Glad you exist. Today, while I was in prison, Erdoğan spoke outside. He said ‘I came with 52 percent of the vote, I won't leave for three more years.’ Actually, he couldn't pass the first round, he got 52 percent of the valid votes in the second round, he was elected. But he says ‘I won't leave for three more years.’ The nation says ‘Leave,’ he says ‘I stuck to the seat, I won't leave.’ I am addressing Erdoğan from here: You are not 52 percent, you are 29 percent. I will not let you sit there with 29 percent. I will not let you sit there with 29 percent. You cannot sit there with 29. You cannot sit there with 29 percent of the vote. Look Erdoğan, Sancaktepe, the Sancaktepe you say ‘I won three times,’ the Sancaktepe you say ‘My fortress,’ is groaning. Saying ‘Tayyip resign.’ Sancaktepe is no longer in your hand, behind you. Istanbul is not. Anatolia is not. There is no one behind you anymore. But this nation is after its independence, after its future, together with the Republican People's Party, which founded the Republic. Behind you are three prosecutors, three judges, three secret witnesses, and plenty of slanderers. You cannot sit there by relying on them. You cannot sit there with 29 percent of the vote. Look, I am announcing from here. Bring that ballot box on Sunday, November 2, leave our candidate. But you are afraid, you are having his pictures taken down, his posters taken down, you are cutting his voice from the metro. But I challenge you. Whether Mayor Ekrem is inside or outside, even if you keep him inside, bring the ballot box on November 2, you will be defeated by Mayor Ekrem's passport photo. You will be defeated by Mayor Ekrem's passport photo.”

“YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO ROLL THIS COUNTRY OFF THE CLIFF”

“Since the boss is the nation, since the beginning and end of everything is the vote to be taken from the nation. Since this is what democracy is. You cannot run from us, from the nation, from the voter, from the ballot box. You said something, we said something. You stepped on the gas, we stepped on the gas. You didn't stop, we didn't stop. You no longer have the right to roll this country off the cliff. Stop. Stop the disaster. Let the nation decide. Challenge accepted. After this time, new arrests, new operations, prolonged trials; will never serve any purpose other than making the nation poorer, cutting Turkey off from the world, and dragging this country into a disaster. For this, we are making a clear call for November 2. And look, what is this square saying to you, Erdoğan? Oh Erdoğan, bring the ballot box, leave my candidate. I want the ballot box in front of me, my candidate by my side. I love you all very much, glad you exist. We love you all very much, glad you exist. We are not few at all, we are not demoralized at all, we are never the ones who lose. While he wakes up from his sleep every evening with the sound of these squares, while he goes to sleep every evening, while on one hand this square makes him lose his sleep, Mayor Ekrem and our friends are comfortable in their cells, seven stories above the ground. He is in that palace but seven stories below the ground out of fear. We are right, we are strong, we will win. To win a job, you need moral superiority. And that is in this square. You need psychological superiority. That is in this square. You need majority energy. That is in this square. In us, in all of us. Are you ready to roll up your sleeves for an election to be held on November 2, to walk to power, to continue the campaign if they run from the election, to carry out the longest, most determined, most stubborn election campaign in the country's history if necessary? Are you ready? Are you ready? Are you ready? Then let's walk together, friends.”

CHP Chairman Özgür Özel:
You are the one who disgraced the state with a shoebox, who robbed the nation, Erdoğanhttps://t.co/vi0izcmkuj pic.twitter.com/DsVXU1q2Cn

— 12punto (@12puntocomtr) July 9, 2025

News Source: 12punto