Here are the 'political remarks' Bahçeli made to Özel: 'Unhinged, foolish, rotten'

The meeting between MHP Chairman Devlet Bahçeli and CHP leader Özgür Özel at the opening of the new legislative year of the Turkish Grand National Assembly (TBMM) became a major topic of discussion. In parliament, Devlet Bahçeli told Özel, "I hope we are not hurting each other. Don't be upset! Sometimes there are things we have to say for political reasons." Following this conversation, the remarks Devlet Bahçeli made about Özgür Özel in the past have once again become a subject of public interest.

Don't leave your news choices to an algorithm - decide for yourself what you read. Add 12punto to your preferred sources!

Here are the 'political remarks' Bahçeli made to Özel: 'Unhinged, foolish, rotten'

The opening of the Turkish Grand National Assembly was marked by MHP Chairman Devlet Bahçeli’s insult toward CHP Chairman Özgür Özeland his subsequent greeting of Özel, claiming it was "political."

MHP leader Devlet Bahçeli, during yesterday's MHP parliamentary group meeting, called CHP leader Özgür Özel "rotten" for attending the hearing of the murder case of former Ülkü Ocakları Chairman Sinan Ateş.

Bahçeli stated,"For the CHP Chairman to rant and rave at courthouse doors with a handful of MHP enemies, swaying like a sinking ship, is, in a word, shameless. Özgür Özel, I am speaking to you; your claims are as rotten as you are. The wet wood you step on, the minibus with flat tires you ride, and the slanderous acrobatics you are a prisoner to will not take you anywhere." he said.

Attending the new legislative year reception held at the TBMM on the same day, MHP leader Bahçeli greeted the CHP leader, Özgür Özel, and shook his hand.

Bahçeli told Özel, "I hope we are not hurting each other, don't be upset; sometimes there are things we have to say for political reasons, as a necessity of politics." Özel replied to Bahçeli, "Our friends like Celal (Adan) Bey know our feelings. What matters is not to lack respect or affection while stating what one believes to be true. I offer my respects." he replied.

So, what were the words Bahçeli said to Özel "for political reasons"?

CHP'S 'TIPITIP' GROUP DEPUTY CHAIRMAN

Özgür Özel had said, "We are building an election army," before the June 24, 2018, elections, while he was the CHP Group Deputy Chairman. Responding to this statement, Bahçeli called him "the chatty and loose group deputy chairman of the CHP" and then insulted him by calling him "the Tipitip group deputy chairman of the CHP."

CHP leader Özgür Özel, made the statement in November 2023 that "Kurds are less equal," to which Bahçeliresponded by saying, "This ignoble claim is entirely a slander." Özel, stating that a claim cannot be ignoble, remarked, "It seems they are trying to call me ignoble. Our lineage is in Thessaloniki, where Atatürk was born, and in Macedonia, with statesmen who served the Ottoman Empire," he assessed.

'UNHINGED'

In his parliamentary group meeting on December 26, 2023, Bahçeli directed the following toward Özgür Özel:"Özgür Özel has become unhinged, buried himself in nonsense, and with his foolish politics, has begun to saw off the branch he is sitting on." he stated.

Targeting Özel with insulting remarks again during his group meeting on June 11, 2024, Bahçeli said:"Mr. Özgür says we want a fight. We have no such intention. If we were to fight, Mr. Özgür should rest easy; he is neither in our weight class nor of our stature. Our issue is not with the tongs, but with the hands that hold them." he said.

Finally, responding to CHP Chairman Özgür Özel's call for early elections in November 2025, Bahçeli said, "It is nothing but a mental blackout." Reacting to the inflation calculation made by Özel, Bahçeli said in a statement last month, "The nonsensical promise of this individual, who says 'we will bring the ballot box and come to power,' is nothing more than the price of a 1-liter bottle of rakı dropping to 140 liras."

News Source: 12punto