Confession from Özgür Özel after the election! 'CHP sometimes stood on the wrong side, this time...'

Özgür Özel, who was elected chairman at the CHP congress held in November following the defeat in the May elections, has successfully passed his first test.

Receiving 37.77 percent of the vote in the March 31 Local Elections, the CHP became the leading party for the first time in 47 years.

Speaking to Sözcü columnist İsmail Saymaz, CHP Chairman Özgür Özel evaluated the election results.

“We broke the glass ceiling, we shattered it. There was a learned helplessness of 25 percent. The party received 38 percent,” said Özel, commenting on the decline in the AKP: “First of all, we learned from our mistakes. They saw winning the last election by a narrow margin as a victory. They did not see the alarm bells ringing.”

"WE LEARNED FROM OUR MISTAKE"

Stating that they learned lessons from the evening of May 14, Özel said, “These people could have experienced last night on the evening of May 14. But we learned from our mistake, and those who did not learn also lost.”

“I AM AWARE THAT EVERY VOTE WE RECEIVED IS NOT A CHP VOTE, BUT A TURKEY ALLIANCE VOTE"

“I am aware that every vote we received is not a CHP vote, but a Turkey Alliance vote. We will continue to keep the CHP as the party of the Turkey Alliance and to grow and strengthen this alliance,” said Özel, adding, “We succeeded in forming the alliance that politicians did not form, with the voters at the ballot box. This is very important. Because politicians made political calculations. Whereas the voter thought of themselves and their country. Also, whenever the state and the nation compete, the nation always wins. The CHP sometimes stood on the wrong side. This time, while the state and the nation were competing, we were on the side of the nation. Sometimes in the state-nation competition, the CHP stands on the wrong side because it is the founding party of the state. Fundamentally, because the CHP is the party of the people, the right side is the side of the nation,” he assessed.

“ERDOĞAN’S ‘NO ELECTIONS FOR FOUR YEARS’ RHETORIC IS OUT OF ANXIETY”

Stating that there is no demand for an early election but that the public can decide this, Özel pointed out that AKP Chairman and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan saying “There are no elections for four years” stems from this anxiety; “Because they see it as a vote of no confidence. I am not going to be opportunistic. We are ready for an election to be held at any moment,” he said.

“IDENTITY POLITICS, TENSION POLITICS LOST YESTERDAY”

Özel added the following to his remarks:

“There are AK Party and MHP-voting retirees who trusted me and voted for me. If it had been a general election, they might not have voted. I gave them this assurance: This is a local election. I said, ‘You are electing a local administrator, and establish a balance against the government from the local level.’ If we say ‘See, the government must change’ the next day, I would be deceiving those voters. One must act honestly. Ten months ago, six parties received 25 percent of the vote. If we say ‘The 38 percent is my vote alone,’ that would be arrogance. Within the vote of the Turkey Alliance that heeded our call, there are AK Party supporters, MHP supporters, and DEM supporters. We will not be opportunistic here, but in the coming days, we will hold rallies regarding retirees, unappointed teachers, retired non-commissioned officers, internship victims, farmers, and students. We will not withdraw from the field and we will fight for the real problems of the citizens. Identity politics, tension politics lost yesterday.”

PROVINCES THAT PLEASED ÖZEL THE MOST

Özel also shared his expectations and happiness regarding the election results:

“Undoubtedly Manisa. We had previously received 29-30 percent in Manisa. Yesterday we won with 60 percent. In Manisa, we won all districts except Selendi, Demirci, and Saruhanlı. I am most happy about Soma. Every election, the nation curses Soma, and I would write on Twitter, 'Don't do it, don't.' The places I am most satisfied with are Artvin and Marmaris. We had come out very far behind in the polls. At the last moment, we scheduled rallies there. In both places, I said, 'If you don't vote for the CHP, the AK Party will win.' Eskişehir and Balıkesir were two places I was fixated on. In Eskişehir, the IYI Party candidate switched to the AK Party, and the opposition was subjected to political pickpocketing. I was objecting to that. If we had lost, I wouldn't have been able to accept it. And Balıkesir… We were owed there. But the IYI Party fielded a very strong candidate, and the candidate ran a harsh campaign. She hung a banner from the balcony of her mother's house at my rally saying, 'Go ferment somewhere else.' I was offended by that. I was incredibly happy about Adıyaman. I was extremely pleased with the win in Kütahya.”

COMMENT ON GÖKHAN ZAN: HE CONSUMED BOTH HIMSELF AND HIS CITY

Özel also said regarding Hatay, “We are still struggling. I have not lost hope,” and commented on the 15 thousand votes received by Gökhan Zan, saying “he consumed both himself and his city.”

“MY BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT IS TUNÇ SOYER”

Özel said that his biggest disappointment was Tunç Soyer, and noted the following:

“I called him, I explained. He himself saw that Cemil Tugay was one of the two names with the highest votes in the poll. I offered him an overseas assignment. He was pleased. We went out to dinner together. I said, 'Let's open branches in Beijing and Moscow, along with the representations in Cyprus, America, and Brussels. You are good at foreign relations.' He said, 'I am honored, I am very happy.' He left, and a few days later he made very bad statements. My biggest disappointment... I am not resentful of anyone, but he did nothing for us to win in İzmir. There were days when alarm bells were ringing in İzmir. He thought of himself, not İzmir. That's why I am very angry with him.”

News Source: 12punto