Kılıçdaroğlu: I was forced to enter the election with daggers in my back

The Republican People's Party's (CHP) 38th Ordinary Congress began at 10:00 AM.

On the first day of the congress, the chairman will be elected, and on the second day, members of the Party Assembly and the High Disciplinary Board will be chosen.

Minutes before the congress, İlhan Cihaner withdrew his candidacy. Thus, Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, Özgür Özel, and Örsan Kunter Öymen will compete for the chairmanship.

The official opening of the congress was made with a short welcome speech by Chairman Kılıçdaroğlu. "We have completed our 100th year. The name of the person who founded our party is written in golden letters in political history. That person is Gazi Mustafa Kemal Atatürk."

At the end of his speech, Kılıçdaroğlu announced İmamoğlu for the chairmanship of the council. During this time, chants of "Change" were heard in the hall. After İmamoğlu's speech, Kılıçdaroğlu returned to the podium.

Highlights from Kılıçdaroğlu's statements are as follows:

"My dear comrades; this year is our party's centennial. In our hundred-year history, we have not given up; we have resisted. We are experiencing a history that no other party in Turkey has been fortunate enough to have. The truth that has kept the CHP alive for a hundred years is that we are a party founded by the Kuvâ-yi Milliye (National Forces) on the battlefields. We are a party that fights so that none of our children go to bed hungry. We are a party that respects everyone's identity and lifestyle.

Our congresses are congresses where all kinds of ideas are discussed freely. We come from a tradition that sees discussions not as a weakness, but as vitality. Their congresses, on the other hand, are not newsworthy. Let me express three basic points. One; it is the organizations that carry the burden of the party. Therefore, the organizations are the cornerstones of our party. Two; no one can ever challenge the authority, power, and spirit of solidarity of the organization. Three; no one, including myself, can see themselves above the party. My dear organization; I know I have saddened you from time to time, but I have never done anything to shame you."

7 FINDINGS REGARDING TURKEY

I will present the picture the country is in to your attention in 7 points;

1. Under the conditions we are in today, the constitution has been effectively suspended.

2. The palace state is facing multiple organ failure.

3. Spreading and deepening poverty, and making millions dependent on aid, has become the Palace's policy. Poverty has, in a sense, been accepted and transformed into a sustainable culture. They have brought Turkey to such a point that illegal enrichment has become something watched with admiration.

4. Turkey has effectively turned into a semi-open prison.

5. Doing all kinds of tricks and fraud to stay in power has become the Palace's policy. Even in Palestine, which has turned into a sea of blood, Turkey's word carries no weight.

7. Turkey has been turned into a refugee warehouse as a result of wrong foreign policies in exchange for money.

These 7 points are one side of the picture. The moral and political legitimacy of the Palace must now be questioned.

The other side of this picture shows the duty given to us, the CHP members. We have to bring true democracy to this country and solve the existing problems. Of course, while all this is happening, we will never fall into despair. We will direct history with our hope. Atatürk says, "There are no hopeless situations, there are hopeless people." I have never lost my hope. No one in this hall has the authority or the right to lose their hope.

"I WAS FORCED TO ENTER THE ELECTION WITH DAGGERS IN MY BACK"

The necessity imposed on us by history. 6 leaders sat down. I partially explained this picture and said to them; There is no democracy in the country. It has become a bundle of problems. We, the 6 leaders, have to fulfill the responsibility that history has brought upon us.

I explained it at length. 6 parties came together. We sat down and worked on how to govern the country. We prepared a joint memorandum and shared it with our people. We worked for a strengthened parliamentary system. When it came to choosing the presidential candidacy, there were departures from the table and returns to the table. I was forced to enter the election with daggers in my back. We saw the fire and the betrayal. Despite the lies and deception, and despite millions of refugees, we worked; we did not give up, we did not collapse, we did not bow down.

"THOSE WHO VOICE THE DISCOURSE OF CHANGE WERE THE ONES WHO HAD NOT CHANGED FOR A LONG TIME"

The election ended, and before we could even catch our breath, discourses of change began. Those who voiced the discourse of change were the ones who had not changed for a long time; my first job after the election was to change them. The CHP could not go beyond Sivas. We could not enter Diyarbakır, Hakkari, or Mardin. Today, we have elected deputies. What change are you talking about?

They say, 'The CHP shifted to the right.' They don't know what the right or the left is. I say it very clearly and very plainly. The CHP is the party of the people.

We started to produce politics through social identities. Some of our friends are perhaps not even aware of social identities. I ask those who say we shifted to the right; who went to the paper collectors? This brother of yours. We organized subcontracted workers first in Erzurum and then in various provinces. Is this right-wing or left-wing? Apartment staff, which political party turned to the problems of apartment staff? We decided together how we organized them and listened to them. Those who go to houses and offices for cleaning. Thousands of people. Does it come to your mind to ask who took care of them? We put their problems on the table. Thousands of seasonal workers, I went both before and after the election. I listened to their troubles, then I sent our women's branches. A young girl gave me a note saying, 'Save me from this life.' Now she is studying at a very beautiful school. We will solve their problems.

I did not sit at the table of the corrupt; we sat at the same table with them. They got to know us, and we got to know them. Working in Çankaya is not very important; you will work in Sincan, in Pursaklar, in Mardin. I have traveled every step of Turkey's geography, and I will continue to travel.

'The CHP shifted to the right,' they say. They don't know what the right or the left is! I say it very clearly and plainly; the CHP is the party of the people.

To be a companion of Bay Kemal, you must be loyal. You will not stab Bay Kemal in the back."

News Source: 12punto