Ümit Özdağ draws comparison between Ekrem İmamoğlu and Melih Gökçek: 'I am not vouching for İmamoğlu'

Özdağ commented on the detention of Ekrem İmamoğlu, the CHP's presidential candidate. "People ask me, 'Are you vouching for Ekrem İmamoğlu?' No, I am not. I don't know whether the charges are false or true. But what I do know is this: in a Turkey where you have not put Melih Gökçek on trial, prosecuting Ekrem İmamoğlu is not credible. I also know he would not have been arrested had he not declared his presidential candidacy. That means there is a political fight going on," Özdağ said.

Recounting his own time in prison, Özdağ said: "I spent about 5 months inside. I had seen that many MPs at a Grand National Assembly plenary session, and then I encountered that many MPs again in Silivri. Silivri was hit by a terrifying wave of MPs after 19 March."

"ARTICLE 10 OF THE CONSTITUTION HAS BEEN SUSPENDED"

Claiming that an "enemy criminal law" is being applied against opponents in Turkey, Özdağ said: "Article 10 of the Constitution has been suspended. Article 10 of the Constitution states that citizens of the Republic of Turkey are equal before the law regardless of their political views, sect, religion, or race. That is no longer the case. Some are equal, some are not. Enemy criminal law is applied to some, while the law is softened and applied leniently to others."

"I KNOW HE WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN ARRESTED HAD HE NOT RUN"

Stating that the ongoing prosecutions on Turkey's agenda lack credibility in the eyes of the public, Özdağ said: "People ask me, 'Are you vouching for Ekrem İmamoğlu?' No, I am not. I don't know whether the charges are false or true. But what I do know is this: in a Turkey where you have not put Melih Gökçek on trial, prosecuting Ekrem İmamoğlu is not credible. I also know he would not have been arrested had he not declared his presidential candidacy. That means there is a political fight going on. Concepts like 'instrumentalization of the judiciary' and 'independent judiciary' no longer explain the situation. The only concept that can explain it is 'enemy criminal law.' There are even those who say that is insufficient, arguing: 'In enemy criminal law there is still some law. Here, even that is absent.'"

"YOU CANNOT RIG AN ELECTION"

Emphasizing that the ruling party's vote share is declining, Özdağ said: "The application of enemy criminal law is not sustainable. There will eventually be an election and this government will go. 'They'll win through electoral tricks' and so on… You can pull electoral tricks when you're 1 or 3 percent behind, but you cannot rig an election when you're 10 or 15 percent behind. We have entered such a period."

"THE MAN IS DYING IN THERE"

Expressing that the arrests of politicians are generating public anger and that the government has taken no steps to reduce tensions, Özdağ made the following remarks:

"There is of course another dimension — it is creating a terrible sense of grievance and anger in society. Yet anger is not a healthy thing. It creates a desire for revenge, and that too is not healthy. What the government needs to do is return to a politics that eliminates these feelings of revenge. But on the contrary, they insist on pursuing a policy that intensifies the desire for revenge and deepens the sense of grievance. Reducing tensions would be so easy. If they release the Mayor of Beylikdüzü, there will certainly be a drop in tensions. The man is dying in there. Ayşe Barım has lost 30 kilos. She has a problem with her brain and a problem with her heart. She reportedly collapses and faints in her cell repeatedly. If she were to fall and faint and die on the way down, there would be no explanation for it. Unfortunately, we continue to live in an environment where, with each passing day, the pressure is confirmed and the message 'this is how it will continue' is reaffirmed — but the struggle continues as well."

News Source: 12punto