Candid remarks from Özgür Özel regarding Kılıçdaroğlu: I have no resentment, but...

CHP Chairman Özgür Özel, regarding the postponement to September 8 of the lawsuit filed for the cancellation of the CHP's 38th Ordinary and 21st Extraordinary Congresses, said, "September 8 will not be like June 30. There is a situation right now where people see the social justification; they see that what is happening here is not just an attack on me or Ekrem İmamoğlu, but that the party is under attack from all sides. I think that after this, it will not be like June 30, and people will see how the reasonable segment of society views this." When asked, "Do you have any resentment toward the 7th Chairman of the CHP, Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu?" Özel replied, "Personally, I have no resentment, but the party's history, its memory, and the party's members do have resentment."

CHP Chairman Özgür Özel answered questions from journalist Ünsal Ünlü. Özel gave the following response to a question regarding the controversy over a caricature in Leman Magazine:

"We are extremely determined not to conduct politics according to others. We have our own political understanding, and we will proceed based on that. Let me remind you of something; after I became the new chairman, you know there was a terrorist attack and we had martyred soldiers. In one of my very first statements, they put a paper in front of me, a joint statement with the AKP. I said, 'Wait a minute,' and made this statement: 'My brother, how can you force these people to fight terrorists in the snow and cold, so unprotected?' This initially drew a reaction, but later, when the same thing happened again, the other opposition parties started to act with me. Because this rote behavior in politics needs to be broken now."

"There is a very clear stance in the Leman caricature story as well. First of all, what is drawn there is not a picture of Prophet Muhammad. I know that depicting Prophet Muhammad is forbidden in religion. But when you look at the caricature, you can already see that it is not such a thing. It is done through the spirits of two people who were killed, who took their names from the names of prophets born in those lands, and who are people of the same lands. They have wings. These people are not going to put wings on the Prophet, surely. They are two innocent people killed in Israel's attack, from both sides. But Erdoğan wants me to go as he says. Let's go by the rote behavior of society. That will not happen."

"There, Muawiyah leans into the ear of the camel's owner and says, 'Go tell Ali that Muawiyah has 15 thousand men who cannot distinguish a female camel from a male one, and who even call a male camel female because he wants it so.' Erdoğan wants me to do this right now. He wants me to stand by him, saying that the Prophet was attacked here. Hz. Ali did not 'watch his step,' and Erdoğan is implying that I should watch my step. We will not 'watch our step' just because he says so. Let him do what he knows. We have to stand by the truth here. No one would allow an insult to the Prophet anyway, but there is no such thing here. And we will continue to say that there isn't."

When asked about the postponement of the lawsuit filed for the cancellation of the CHP's 38th Ordinary and 21st Extraordinary Congresses to September 8, Özel replied:

"September 8 will not be like June 30. There is a situation right now where people see the social justification; they see that what is happening here is not just an attack on me or Ekrem İmamoğlu, but that the party is under attack from all sides. I think that after this, it will not be like June 30, and people will see how the reasonable segment of society views this. And there will be a concentration there. This lawsuit is extremely meaningless from its foundation. I don't see even a one-in-a-thousand chance of a trustee being appointed here. I have said this many times before. But regarding an attack on us, the society's stance here is also extremely clear."

Özel also answered the question, "Do you have any resentment toward the 7th Chairman of the CHP, Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu?" by saying, "Personally, I have no resentment, but the party's history, its memory, and the party's members do have resentment." CHP leader Özel also responded to the question, "Will the disciplinary process against 10 deputies proceed?" as follows:

"No. I will not take any steps regarding those friends. We have primaries ahead for every election. As chairman, I will also enter those primaries from Manisa. Those friends will also enter, and that election will take place. If they can explain themselves and if what they have done is appreciated by the members, they will continue their political path. There is no problem from my perspective. But if the members have not forgotten what they did, if they have not forgotten their stance toward the party, then the delegates and members will make that decision. There is nothing that requires me to do anything."

When asked about President Erdoğan's statements, Özel said, "When Erdoğan couldn't gain anything from harshness, he started to become rude. Is a political rival addressed by their first name? I have never called him 'Recep,' and I never will, but I am a person at peace with names, and what we are fighting for is freedom anyway. All this harshness from Erdoğan stems from desperation. He is hoping for help from this." Regarding the rallies, Özel stated, "We have held 30 rallies so far, Amasya will be the 31st, and there are calls for rallies from 46 more provinces. We will continue as scheduled."