BREAKING NEWS... Özgür Özel speaks in Saraçhane: Repeats boycott call... Announces record turnout for primary!

Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IMM) Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu was arrested by the court he was brought before after being detained on the morning of March 19.

The Saraçhane rallies, which began following İmamoğlu's arrest, are continuing without slowing down. Hundreds of thousands of citizens gathered in Saraçhane following the calls and came together to support İmamoğlu.

Following the speech by Ekrem İmamoğlu's wife, Dilek İmamoğlu, in Saraçhane, Özgür Özel spoke.

Here are Özel's statements

Despite all kinds of obstacles, you are coming here with determination and rebellion against the one-man regime. I am glad you are here. Today is actually a day of grief. They have taken our companion, our President Ekrem, away from us. We are in rebellion.

However, there is faith in this square, not grief; there is hope. We trust only you for the future of Turkey. They have imprisoned our presidential candidate.

I will announce the results of the election we held for you. I have a warning; let them listen carefully. We are recording the television channels that do not broadcast this while more than 1 million people have gathered in one of the world's most important metropolises in a primary that will go down in world history. It is clear where the pro-government media is fed from.

Mainstream media, you will earn money from us, you will earn your product from us, but you will serve the palace. That is not how it works. From this night on, anyone who gets their ratings from here but serves the palace will be identified, and anyone who buys whatever business they are doing is a dishonorable person.

Together, we will use our power that comes from consumption. A boycott is coming for those who do not see this square. Either you will see us, or you will see the bottom. Are we ready not to bow down to them, not to make them kneel?

The turnout rate of our members to the ballot box is 1 million 653 thousand people.

The total number of votes in the solidarity ballot boxes reached 13 million 211 thousand.

More than 2,600 ballot boxes have not yet been opened.

The number of votes cast for Mr. Ekrem is over 14 million 850 thousand.

These figures have made an early election inevitable.

Today is not the end of a 5-day togetherness, but the first day. From today on, these tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, are going together, shoulder to shoulder, to save Anatolia, to save Rumelia, to save the Republic.

Mr. Erdoğan, these young people, who have seen no other government than you since their childhood, who have suffered poverty, who have suffered hardship, whose clothing you have interfered with, whose choices you have interfered with, are calling out to you. They say, 'We are not afraid.' They also say to you, 'Come and face us.' Here, the youth are shouting 'Coward Erdoğan.' Our candidate is a prisoner in your dungeons. But we are challenging you from this square. If you are not going to release my candidate İmamoğlu out of fear, we are ready for the election where he competes against you. We are all Ekrem İmamoğlu individually. There are over 1 million Ekrem İmamoğlus in this square.

The fear of İmamoğlu is making this country poorer and more insecure.

We are facing an insatiable government. But we will destroy the reign of these plunderers.

On the day Erdoğan said the biggest turnip is in the saddlebag, that is, on January 29, a secret witness gave a statement.

"The government, which sees that Ekrem İmamoğlu, the mayor of Istanbul, one of the world's most well-known metropolises, who has been elected three times in a row, has been put inside because they could not defeat him, which sees that a 31-year-old diploma has been cancelled, which makes everyone think that there is no security of documents, will wake the world up to such a Monday morning. Mehmet Şimşek is supposedly struggling to keep from resigning. He is saying, 'I am digging with a needle, they are closing it with a shovel.' Mr. Mehmet, if you don't resign, I will be offended. What does it matter if you resign or not? They have burned 26 billion of the 42.8 billion dollars that Mr. Mehmet accumulated in two years in three days. The follower of supposedly rational policies has eaten and finished 60 percent of the 42 billion he collected in three nights out of fear of İmamoğlu. Whether you resign or pledge allegiance to Mr. Tayyip, it doesn't matter."

News Source: 12punto