Özgür Özel pointed to those two names: 'They cannot look each other in the face'

Visiting the Parliamentary Correspondents Association as part of the January 10 Working Journalists Day, CHP leader Özgür Özel and the party delegation made comprehensive statements regarding the country's current issues. During the visit, the working conditions of journalists, the point reached by press freedom in Turkey, and recent developments were addressed.

Stating that 2025 has been a difficult year for both journalists and the country, Özel said, "2025 has been a difficult year for Turkey, for democracy, and for journalists. We have experienced a process where I followed the status of many journalists while they were in custody, visited them in prison when they were arrested, and sometimes conveyed my get-well wishes after their release. The process is becoming increasingly difficult for those who want to do accurate and impartial journalism," he expressed.

In his statements, Özel also touched upon his party's media policies, emphasizing that if the CHP comes to power, it will aim for pluralism, independence, and freedom in the media. "We are continuing our efforts to create a media environment where no one can seize the press again and where there will be no cartelization," he said.

Addressing the CHP's protest of not leaving the Parliament, which brought the inadequacy of retirement pensions to the agenda in recent days, Özel stated that this action was born out of a social need: "This action is not something we designed, but a movement that emerged as a result of great anger towards retirement pensions. There has been increasing participation in retiree rallies since the local elections. There is the greatest anger I have ever seen in the eyes of retirees. We are on the verge of a social explosion. The Parliament should have intervened in this issue. We took action to prevent the Parliament from closing and to draw attention to this problem."

Emphasizing that retirees have withdrawn their support from the government, Özel revealed the scale of the reactions with the words, "Retirees no longer even say hello to the ruling party, let alone vote for them." He stated that the CHP's policies aimed at solving the problems of retirees are finding a response in society and that more retirees are supporting their party every day.

Evaluating the holiday bonus, Özel included the following remarks: "Our approach to the holiday bonus has been that it should be a minimum wage since the first day. Considering the gap between retirement pensions, all retirees should be given a bonus at the level of the minimum wage, regardless of their pension. With the bonuses currently given, it is not possible to buy even a leg of a sacrificial animal, let alone buy the animal itself."

BEHIND THE SCENES OF DRUG AND MATCH-FIXING OPERATIONS

Answering questions about current operations, Özel said that the proportion of those who think some recent operations have political motives has increased. "After 9 months of propaganda, the indictment was announced and we were proven right. Neither the great corruption nor the imaginary figures became real. After the indictment, the rate of those who concluded that this was political rose to 60 percent. The two people who could not look each other in the face were Akın Gürlek and Tayyip Erdoğan," he said.

Özel argued that operations were organized against very different segments of society to break the perception that the operations were directed at the CHP. "There are problems such as drugs, match-fixing, and illegal betting in Turkey, but the reason for the growth of these problems is not the CHP. Those who have been governing the country for 23 years have led to this picture. They are chasing mosquitoes in the swamp they created themselves; the real goal is to manipulate public opinion," he assessed.

Regarding relations with opposition parties and acting together, Özel said: "We are in contact with all parties for cooperation around many themes, especially election security. Other opposition parties also support the actions we carry out in the General Assembly. Each party acts in its own unique area and shows solidarity. The opposition does not have a problem with coming together; the real problem is the ruling bloc's inability to come together."