Özgür Özel calls for a rally at a rally: "If there is no improvement in the minimum wage by the end of the month"

Speaking during his visit to the Çerkezköy Municipality, Özel said, “When I last left here, I told the mayor, ‘I will come at the first opportunity.’ Today, with the wheat rally taking place, we planned the whole day for this side. We came to wish our mayor well. From the entrance, our district has welcomed us by saying ‘Welcome to the city of labor.’ As the mayor said, this place, along with Çorlu, is one of the two locomotive districts of Tekirdağ in terms of industry.”

"If the minimum wage does not increase, we will hold a rally"

Stating that they will hold a ‘we cannot make ends meet rally’ if no improvement is made to the minimum wage, Özel said, “Towards the end of the month, if there is no improvement in the minimum wage, we are thinking of holding a ‘We Cannot Make Ends Meet rally’ on that issue in Kocaeli. Of course, there is a problem with the minimum wage. The minimum wage has reached a point where it is too low for the receiver and too high for the giver. Small tradesmen and SMEs are having difficulty paying the minimum wage. The receiver is also struggling to make ends meet; they are at the hunger threshold. That is why our colleagues responsible for the economy will meet with the Minister of Treasury and Finance this week. There is talk in the public from time to time, ‘Is CHP going to help the AK Party with the economy?’ We denied that in no uncertain terms yesterday. We have no intention of taking on a burden for which we have no responsibility in order to clear up a 22-year wreck, but our entire issue is to stand up for the real victims of the crisis. That is why we are proposing a tax reform. In other words, for the retiree, the employee, and the farmer to receive their due, the 68 percent indirect taxes must be eliminated. Instead, there is a need for a system where those who earn more pay more, those who earn less pay less, and those who do not earn are not crushed under the tax burden.”

“WE WILL HAVE AN INITIATIVE THIS WEEK"

Özel stated, “68 percent indirect tax means this: out of every one hundred liras of tax collected in Turkey, the factory owner and the factory guard pay the same tax. There are taxes deducted from the salaries of all of us, all of you, on electricity, water, telephone, milk, and ground meat, which account for 21 percent. Only 11 percent is tax taken from the earner. In the USA, this is 92 to 8. That is, 92 percent is paid by the earner, and 8 percent is indirect taxes. The remaining 92 percent is tax taken directly from earnings. In Turkey, it is 68. The issue with 68 percent indirect tax is this: it means an unfair tax. It means that tax morality has disappeared. While the top 5 percent of the population owns half of the assets and the top 20 percent owns almost 80 percent of the assets, only 10 percent of them pay the tax. There is no acceptable side to this. We must fight this seriously. We will have such an initiative this week.”

CHP Chairman Özgür Özel then met with wheat-producing farmers in Tekirdağ. The farmers organized a convoy with their tractors before the rally. Before the rally, Özel sat in a tractor seat and joined the farmers' convoy.

Farmers who suffered losses as a result of the policies implemented in agriculture came together with Özgür Özel in Tekirdağ today to defend their rights and voice their demands.

Before the wheat rally attended by Republican People's Party (CHP) Chairman Özgür Özel, farmers organized a convoy with their tractors.

Özel joined the farmers' convoy and greeted the citizens. Özel then moved to the platform set up for the rally.

Meeting with the farmers before the convoy, Özel said,  “We were in Rize when we heard these prices. There was a rebellion in Rize; we were holding a tea rally. We went to Adana. The first wheat is harvested there. There was a rebellion there too. At that time, when the price came here, the harvest would slowly begin here… We heard the great complaint and rebellion here. You gave such a price for wheat, but you need to provide support; the TMO must definitely do this. We came to make your voice heard. We will fight for you to get your rights.”

Speaking at the rally after the convoy, CHP leader Özgür Özel addressed the producers as follows:

"WE WILL ESTABLISH THE GOVERNMENT OF THE PEASANTS"

“You came, you were together, you stood shoulder to shoulder. You made your voice heard by all of Turkey and the world. 47 years later, you made Gazi Mustafa Kemal Atatürk’s party the first party. We had said, 'Give us strength on March 31, we will not forget you.' We said we would make the voices of the retirees who have to make ends meet with 10 thousand liras, the workers whose minimum wage is not increased, and the farmers whose products do not make money and who cannot get their rights heard. After the power and support you gave us on March 31, we never fell into the drunkenness of victory. We said, “This is not a victory.” We said this is a duty, a task. Our mayors will do their jobs, we will work very hard, and we will once again establish the CHP government in this country, the government of the peasants whom Gazi Mustafa Kemal Atatürk called the ‘masters of the nation.’”

News Source: 12punto