CHP leader Özgür Özel spoke in Karaman... He mentioned that unfinished project: 'It will be finished in 80 thousand years'

The "Protecting the National Will" meetings, initiated following the arrest of the elected Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IMM) Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu and his colleagues through a government plot disguised as a judicial process—whom Republican People's Party (CHP) Chairman Özgür Özel has declared as his presidential candidate for the upcoming first general elections—stopped in Karaman this week for the Turkey leg of the tour.

KARAMAN RESIDENTS INVITE THE GOVERNMENT TO RESIGN

Citizens filling Karaman's Aktekke Square chanted slogans in favor of İmamoğlu and other imprisoned mayors, who have been held in a 12-square-meter cell in Silivri for 350 days, and invited the government to resign.

The letter sent by İmamoğlu from Silivri to Karaman was shared with the public by CHP Karaman Provincial Chairman Ahmet Recai Evcen.

İMAMOĞLU: THOSE WHO TALK BIG ABOUT 'THE BIGGEST RADISH' AND 'OCTOPUS ARMS'...

In the letter read by Evcen, İmamoğlu stated the following:

“Beautiful people of Karaman, my dear citizens; hello. Distinguished ladies, esteemed gentlemen, brave youth, my dear children; I greet each of you with respect, love, and longing, and I embrace you from my heart. I wish that the blessed month of Ramadan, which fills our hearts with love, patience, and tolerance, and comes with its abundance and virtue, brings blessings to your homes and your work.

I express my gratitude to my provincial chairman, Ahmet Recai Evcen, who represents the strong and indomitable will of our organization and is the reason we are together today, and through him, to our entire organization. I have been away from you for a year, in a dungeon in Silivri. In this one year, those who talked big about 'the biggest radish' and 'octopus arms' prepared a so-called indictment with blackmail, slander, and secret witnesses. Now, they are starting the so-called hearings of this so-called indictment.”

“THEY ALSO AVOIDED BROADCASTING THE TRIAL LIVE; BECAUSE THEY ARE VERY AFRAID”

“As if it weren't enough that they prevented us from making our voices heard by the nation, they also avoided broadcasting the trial live. Because they are very afraid. Since we are not the ones who should actually be on trial, they do not want these hearings to take place in front of the nation's eyes. They called it a 'criminal organization,' they called it 'corruption,' they called it 'terrorism,' they called it 'espionage.' They couldn't convince anyone.

In all the cases I have been tried in before, they changed the judges; they exiled the judges who did what the law required and listened to the voice of their conscience. The investigations they constructed with slander and blackmail could not tarnish me or my fellow travelers. Our nation never paid any attention to their words. On the contrary; in the face of these great injustices, millions of our citizens, just like you, have been gathering in the squares for nearly a year. These squares demand only one thing: Justice!”

“JUSTICE IS OUR CHARACTER AS A NATION”

“Because justice is our character as a nation. As free citizens of this great country, we are all seeking justice. Real justice. For us, justice is not just a legal matter. Pursuing justice for everyone and everywhere is a matter of honor for us. Justice is the guarantee of a happy and peaceful life where we will live together in brotherhood.

We accept justice as the foundation of abundance, prosperity, and looking to the future with confidence. This is our greatest expectation from the state. It is for the state to be fair. We will ensure justice for everyone. We will ensure justice in the courtrooms. We will ensure justice in the income we earn and the taxes the citizen pays. We will make justice prevail in education, health, and on the streets.”

“WE WILL JOIN HANDS FOR DEMOCRACY, THE REPUBLIC, JUSTICE, AND FREEDOM”

“Everyone will benefit fairly from the blessings of our country and the opportunities of our state. There will be justice in every area of our nation's life. Our fundamental rights, freedoms, and security will be under the protection of justice. We will fight for the victory of common sense and our common values, not for an individual, a group, or a party.

We will join hands for democracy and the Republic, for justice and freedom. We will join hands for peace and brotherhood, for prosperity and abundance. Without departing from that unerring compass in our nation's soul, from justice, we will reach a free, happy, and prosperous Turkey. Those who say 'justice first, freedom first, for everyone, everywhere' will win. Everything will be very beautiful. Ekrem İmamoğlu. Silivri Dungeon.”

ALL EYES ON THE MESSAGES TO BE GIVEN BY ÖZGÜR ÖZEL

The Karaman meeting continues with the speech of CHP Chairman Özgür Özel.

Highlights from Özel's speech are as follows:

Hello to the beautiful people of Karaman, to Ermenek, to Sarıveliler, to the capital of Turkish, to the grandchildren of Karamanoğlu Mehmet Bey. We came to resist the plots. We came to embrace Karaman. When we said we would enter Karaman, they said, 'That is the AKP's fortress.' But seeing this square today, seeing the people of Karaman who do not fit into the square, I am glad we came to Karaman. Karaman is no one's fortress; it is the nation's fortress.

Greetings to the brave children of Karaman who got up from their villages and districts in this cold and gave us the biggest rally in Karaman's history. Unfortunately, we haven't been able to win Karaman for the last 30 years, but we looked for the fault in ourselves. From now on, we will work harder and win both Karaman and Turkey. Karaman elected an MHP mayor; we wish him and the municipal council members success. This is a requirement of democracy, but if you appoint a trustee when you lose, that is not democracy.

Gazi Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the most beloved of this country, removed the occupation over the country, saved the homeland, and just as he was about to take the lead, they asked him what he would do. He said: We established an Assembly. The nation elects the Assembly, and we do whatever the nation says. He could have been a sultan or a king if he wanted to.

After that, Western Front Commander İsmet Pasha took over the duty from him. He attached importance to the multi-party regime. On May 14, 1950, they went to the ballot box. The nation decided and said, 'Let the Democrat Party govern us for a while, let the Pasha rest a bit.' They said to İsmet Pasha, 'You won't hand over the power to them, will you?' But in the letter he wrote to his son Erdal, he said, 'This is my greatest defeat, but at the same time, it is my greatest victory.' When we lose, we never play dirty, we never act dishonorably, we do not attempt to stage a coup against those elected, and we do not try to put them in jail. This is what democracy is. This is what fills this square today. This square has come today for the right to vote and be elected.

ÖZGÜR ÖZEL'S AIRPORT CALCULATION IN KARAMAN: IT WILL BE FINISHED IN 80 THOUSAND YEARS

Honestly, what the AKP has not done in this Karaman is unbelievable. It has turned into old Kemal Sunal movies. They make you say, 'This is too much.'

*Erdoğan does not like the poor, he likes the rich. I, on the other hand, do not like the nation to be poor. We will come to power, we will end poverty. Unlike Erdoğan, three-quarters of the retirees in the country will not be those receiving the lowest salary. When it comes to rent for retirees, there is none for them. The bonus is 4 thousand TL. It's easy to talk while sitting there. Come here and talk in -4 degree weather. The soup doesn't boil with a 20 thousand lira salary.

They promised an airport in 2016. The projected cost is 1.6 billion liras. How much money did they set aside? One thousand liras. One thousand liras! Then every year one thousand liras, 2 thousand liras... They gave a very big raise this year, they put 20 thousand liras in the budget item called Karaman Airport. My friends did the math; if they put money in every year like this year, the Karaman Airport will be finished in 80 thousand years. In 80 thousand years! The man is going to build an airport, there is a cost of 1.6 billion, and he puts in the amount of one minimum wage in a year. And they haven't moved a single pebble yet.

We are following the Sertavul Tunnels. We see it as very important for the Karaman economy, for the regional economy, and for speeding up access to the Mersin Port; we expect it to be finished as soon as possible. The Bozkır-Hadim-Adiller road has not been built for 24 years. For this road, they only put 10 thousand liras, half a minimum wage, into the budget. So, let the people of Bozkır, Hadim, and Adiller know that they have no intention of building that road this year either; they have not allocated any funds.

We know the problems of Karaman. We know the solutions to all the troubles of our Karaman. We are working for this, and we promise here. In Karaman, both the faces of the people of Karaman will smile, the face of Karaman will change, and Karaman will once again shine brightly in Turkey, in this Central Anatolia, as a wonderful place that is as cute as it used to be, as beautiful as it used to be, and as rich as it used to be, which Turkey pays attention to and wants to see, and where civil servants want to be appointed. It will shine brightly!

News Source: 12punto