Message from Özgür Özel to 'Bahçeli' and 'Akşener': 'To call it ignorance...'

CHP leader Özgür Özel answered questions from members of the press in his hometown of Manisa, where he is spending the Ramadan Feast.

Özel stated the following:

'BALLOT BOX' REACTION TO BAHÇELİ

"I cannot bring myself to call it ignorance; I would like to believe it was a slip of the tongue to say that this country was not founded at the ballot box. If any country in the world was founded by the ballot box, it is this country. To say that a country saved by a leader who prioritized the national will even before it was liberated was not founded by democracy at the ballot box is to engage in absurdity. Mr. Bahçeli does not need me to teach him, but on April 23, 1920, this country was opened with prayers after the Friday prayer performed by the honorable Mustafa Kemal Atatürk and the members of the first parliament, and the first decision it took was the commission for the examination of mandates. Let no one confuse us with those who found their country by chance. The party I lead as chairman was also founded on the battlefields; this country was saved on the battlefields, and the commander of this war was the TBMM (Grand National Assembly of Turkey). It transferred the duty of commander-in-chief to Atatürk in three-month terms and held votes every three months. To say that this country was not founded at the ballot box and to suggest solutions outside the ballot box is likely a slip of the tongue by those who call everyone they encounter a coup plotter, and for the sake of the holiday, we shall forgive it.

"THE NATION'S WILL PREVAILS"

The nation founds the state, develops it, and changes its constitution; whatever the nation says, happens. Those who pitted the nation against the state in the last elections, those who placed the state's public officials, its television, and the Anadolu Agency at the service of a political party and set them against the nation, should learn a lesson from this. Whenever the nation and the state have been pitted against each other—in 1983, when they told the soldiers to choose, Özal was chosen; whenever the state has interfered with what the children of this nation wear; whenever certain elements of the state have stood against the nation, such as on July 15, and whenever this election—whenever you pit the nation against itself, the nation listens to no one. The nation's will prevails, and then the state takes its new form. To those who offer us all kinds of advice, we say this: come to your senses, and without forgetting that the government you support was tasked by the nation last year, find a remedy for this nation's troubles. This country expects action from you, not fighting.

İYİ PARTY CONGRESS

Ms. Akşener is a valuable politician who has provided significant services to this country. With a young, new party like the IYI Party, she has embarked on an important search in Turkish politics. There were days in the past when we were in an alliance together and held joint rallies in this republic square. Of course, the internal affairs of all political parties are their own business, and the decisions of leaders are their own decisions. May it be auspicious. There have been some political debates between us and some criticisms from her; I said at the time that I wish her well, and today, if she has any right over me, I grant it freely.

"I WILL CALL ERDOĞAN"

Today, starting with Mr. Erdoğan, I will call all political party leaders. With the responsibility of being the leading party, I will call all political party leaders."

News Source: 12punto