Breaking News... First response from Özel to Bahçeli's TRT call

Political parties continue their group meetings in Parliament. Following the MHP and DEM Party groups, CHP leader Özgür Özel also made statements at his party's group meeting.

NEW TRANSFER TO CHP

Independent Deputy Doğan Demir joined the CHP during the group meeting. Özel began his speech by introducing a new deputy who joined his party. Accordingly, Independent Istanbul Deputy Doğan Demir joined the CHP. Demir's party badge was pinned by Özel at the group podium.

Following the announcement of his participation and the pinning of his badge, Demir addressed the party group with the following words:

"First of all, I would like to thank my esteemed Chairman very much. I would like to thank my friend Murat Emir, who put a lot of effort into this process, and all our group deputy chairmen. Yes, while I started my political life in the Republican People's Party 30, 33 years ago, my esteemed Chairman and my fellow travelers have given me the opportunity to fight in the Republican People's Party again here today. Dear friends, I am a brother of yours who comes from the streets, who has always fought for love, tolerance, and social consensus throughout my life, and who has struggled for labor for many years both in the Republican People's Party and in Alevi organizations. Therefore, I declare here that in this process, we will walk together in the Republican People's Party for the fundamental rights and freedoms of Alevis, as well as for democracy, human rights, and freedoms along with all the problems in our Turkey, and that we will be comrades with you to add strength to our struggle from now on. I thank you all, especially our esteemed Chairman, for this magnificent ceremony."

Then Özgür Özel took the podium.

Here are the highlights from Özel's statements:

Details are coming...

Our Chairman Özgür Özel is speaking at our party's TBMM group meeting. https://t.co/iA4hkXEPJZ

— CHP ???? (@herkesicinCHP) November 18, 2025

"Turkey has become a country of mourning. Every day there is another piece of painful news. The precious family of Rojin Kabaiş is among us. Rojin had gone to university; her lifeless body was found 18 days after she went missing. There is not a single detainee in the file. The family's struggle continues. The mother and twin sibling of Ayşe Tokyaz, who was murdered in Küçükçekmece, are also among us. Before an election, they made a midnight fait accompli regarding the Istanbul Convention, which this Parliament had passed, due to political pressure from a group, and they withdrew from the Istanbul Convention. I had said, 'By doing this, you have pulled the state from behind women.' There is no need for demagoguery. Politics needs to show sincerity. That ballot box will come, and the CHP will secure the majority in Parliament. One of the first signatures our president will sign will be to send the Istanbul Convention back to this Parliament for ratification. I promise.

Let me remind you how the government, which claims to be a 'victim,' does a hundred times more of what was done to it, and how the big lies told to date were told. We were saying, 'We want an indictment.' During the AKP era, they created a crime called 'publicly disseminating misleading information.' Pointing to some journalists, they are seeking 2 to 4 years of imprisonment. What about the character assassinations these journalists committed throughout the summer? We said they were all lies. Is there anyone in the indictment? Come out and say, 'We were also deceived.' So many journalists are talking about the same thing on 6 channels. What happened now? Are they standing behind you? They did it for perception. They used you all summer. Will we hear an apology? Erdoğan, I am asking you. He was saying, 'They will not be able to look their relatives in the face.' Well, my relatives are here!

"IF ZEKERİYA ÖZ COULD FLEE, HE CAN FLEE TOO"

Now, can journalism be done with that salary, can commentary be done, can manual labor be done, everything can be done, but can this be done in exchange for that money? Can it be done? Tell me for God's sake. Will we hear self-criticism? Will we hear an apology? What was I always saying? Just as Zekeriya Öz fled, this one will also flee, and the slanderers will remain. This one will also flee, and the liars will remain. He hasn't fled yet. With his double salary...

With his villa restored for 8 million, his luxurious life, the yachts he is curious about here and there, with one hand in grease and the other in honey, with armor and protection, he will attempt suicide when he is not taken to the secret witness room, something will happen, the gentleman will stand there like the gladiator of the emperor, and when the emperor says so, he will cut off the nation's head. Since it was done on the emperor's instruction, he will not be responsible for anything. When the day comes, they will leave here, you will remain.

Will you leave these broadcasts, these slanders, these character assassins that you have been doing for 8 months last summer as an inheritance to your children? Will your grandchildren say, 'My grandfather was among the slanderers of the March 19 coup. My grandfather, my grandmother were character assassins during the March 19 coup process'? Is this what will remain for the grandchildren?

"WHOEVER HAS THE COURAGE, SUMMARIZE THE INDICTMENT"

There are 400 people for each defendant. They have taken everyone's name and pasted it under each one's name again. 300 pages, 400 pages come from there. Just to prolong it. One person mentioned 5 people in their statement. Make it an attachment, say it's in the attachment. But what are they doing? In each one, they paste that person's statement about everyone, 16 pages, 30 pages, 43 pages, so the page count increases. Then a 4000-page indictment. Whoever has the courage, whoever has the courage, let them extract a 40-page summary of this indictment and put it in front of the nation. Let them say, 'This is their crime.' We will not give in to wordiness. We will not give in to lies, deceit, and slander. You will say 560 billion, and you will not be able to prove 56 kuruş. After that, there is no such thing as this or that. Starting tomorrow. Starting tomorrow. With the acceptance of this indictment, trials without arrest must be held. Everyone should be released and defend themselves against slander. This character assassination must end. We are not busy with the ins and outs of this indictment. Whoever is going to be, let them look and see what it is.

EXCAVATION ALLEGATION: REMINDED OF THE 'NO PROSECUTION' DECISION

They are trying to blow up and exaggerate an issue. Let me say it here, let me say it here, and listen now to what a big lie we caught red-handed regarding the excavation, excavation truth. What is it? There is an excavation issue. 185 million tons of excavation were dumped without permission in 5 years. The income obtained from this was transferred to a criminal organization. Look, it's a very simple calculation. I want all excavators in Turkey, all truck drivers, everyone who knows math to follow this calculation carefully now. A truck takes 25 tons of excavation, excavation trucks. The 185 million tons of excavation they mention requires 5000 trucks every day for 5 years. 5000 trucks every day for 5 years. Every day. Well, how many meters is an excavation truck? 8-10 meters. If they lined up in this excavation area, the Cebeci excavation area, in an orderly manner with 5 meters of parking every day, there would be a queue from the Cebeci excavation area to Kocaeli. It passes the 3rd bridge, it passes the highways, it becomes a 100-kilometer queue. For 5 years, there will be a 100-kilometer truck queue from Cebeci to Kocaeli, and only Akın Gürlek will see this, is that so? Only Akın Gürlek will see it.

Look at the date, I will show such a document regarding these matters that let them come out this evening and project these documents and talk about them. The date is October 2022. They think that we will leave it like this, they will tell this lie and I will leave it. If Recep Tayyip Erdoğan or his head of judicial branches says '2 times 2 is four,' one should check the multiplication table, 'am I remembering wrong?' There is definitely a lie. If they say '2 times 2 is 4,' it must be checked.

You divide the amount he said by the ton. 5000 trucks come out. Look what comes out after that. The date is October 2022. For this excavation area, an inspection and examination permit is given with the request of the Head of the Inspection Board and the approval and signature of Ekrem İmamoğlu. After the work done by the Inspection Board, they report their findings to the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office on August 14, 2023, 10 months after this, to the place they are talking about.

Then, a decision of non-prosecution is sent by the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor. They are looking for 560 billion money, they will find it, of course. They find a figure by lining up 5000 trucks for 100 kilometers for 5 years. That is a total lie, but we are the ones who complain about those who dump illegally in this excavation area, who follow it, who turn a blind eye, and who say punish them. We examined it, the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office is the one that says there is no need for prosecution. Today they have come out and are trying to hold us accountable for this.

CALL FOR LIVE BROADCAST ON TRT: COME ON, CHALLENGE ACCEPTED!

Therefore, therefore, Mayor Ekrem said it again last Wednesday. He said that actually, there was a positive development today in Mr. Bahçeli's statement. We submitted a legislative proposal on May 9, 2025, while events were at their peak, with the signatures of our group deputy chairmen and all our deputies, for the hearings to be broadcast in their entirety on one channel on TRT and for all channels that wish to do so to broadcast them live. Mayor Ekrem says there is no account we cannot give. As long as they ask in front of our nation's eyes, we will tell. We will tell even if there is no broadcast. But let us hear the slander on live broadcast and give our answer. Exactly like this, they will not be able to prove a penny, they will both be responsible and disgraced before history. Come on, challenge accepted, let's pass this law this week.

Now they are trying to come before the nation here and say there is justice, there is a fair trial, there is this and that. Therefore, God did not embarrass me, nor those who went on television and explained these things all summer, for 8 months, nor you, those who explain this concern to the citizen on the street, and He will not. I was saying. We are just starting, we are just starting, that an indictment will come and we will be the ones judging, not the ones being judged.

"I HAVE ACCOUNTED FOR THE INDICTMENT, I WILL CLOSE THE BOOK"

If we ask why we are suffering so much poverty and destitution in this beautiful country, those who govern the country sacrifice Turkey's peace and prosperity for their own interests. Look, we have an account that bothers the government. It says, "Hey," it says, Özel says, Mr. Özel says. 'You are traveling from city to city, you are wandering from jeweler to jeweler, with a calculator in your hand, you are turning and calculating gold.' Leave that aside. Account for the indictment. Look, I have accounted for the indictment, I will close the book. But you account for this.

The account you are angry about is this. In 2002, they supposedly came, Turkey became very good, right? In 2002, a retiree was buying 8 quarter gold coins with the salary they received. Those who don't believe should go to a jeweler like me, ask for the October-November 2002 gold price, open Google and ask for the lowest retirement salary, 8 quarter gold coins. For 2 years, for 1.5 years, I have been saying it in every square.

Is there anyone who objects to this calculation? I ask, does the gold calculation go wrong, does it not? When the minimum wage came, it was 7 quarter gold coins, now it is 2 quarter gold coins. They say to them, "Leave that aside. Account for this." I said okay. Today there are cotton producers among us. They held a protest in Denizli yesterday. We all watched. Cotton producers. They even had flowers made for me, they made cotton and brought it. In the days when this white gold was worth money, my uncles waited for the soil to be ready in the Manisa Plain, in Hacıaliler village. They planted the cotton.

They waited in that critical 8-10 day period so that it wouldn't rain in between. It sprouted, it grew. I pulled a lot of cultivators with a tractor, I pulled a cultivator. We harvested cotton, we did cotton inter-row hoeing, we harvested cotton by hand. There were times when the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th harvest of this were worth money. The last 4th harvest was gold, gold. Look, in those days, 1 kilo of cotton was buying 2.5 liters of diesel. 2.5 liters. Today, a liter of diesel has become 60 liras. 2.5 liters of diesel is 150 liras. Today, 2.5 kilos of cotton buys 1 liter of diesel. Cotton is sold between 25-30 liras. You sell 2.5 kilos of cotton, you buy 1 liter of diesel.

"LET YENİ ŞAFAK AND SABAH DENY IT WITH HEADLINES, COME ON"

While 1 liter of cotton used to buy 2.5 liters, with today's money it is 150 liras, now cotton is 25 liras. There is a 6-fold difference in between. In those periods, Aunt Kadriye, who married off her son, was holding a wedding for 3 days and 4 nights, slaughtering a calf on the first day and a ram every day. Now she goes and rents a place with 6 pillars in 150 square meters under an apartment building, a wedding hall. Dry pastry in a plastic plate, fake lemonade in a plastic cup. They are trying to hold a wedding like that. Most of them can't even do that. That's why I say to those who try to take care of their children with the abundance that springs from the soil by dripping the sweat of their brow while growing this white gold in Adana, Çukurova, Hatay, Manisa, Denizli, Aydın, Antalya. I swear that you will get your rights. I swear that we will protect you. There are also those who make this calculation, this calculation, this calculation not for cotton but for wheat. A citizen planting wheat in Konya used to buy 1 liter of diesel with 1 kilo of wheat in the past. If it's a lie, let them deny me with a headline tomorrow, come on. Yeni Şafak or Sabah. Neither of them can do it together, they look a bit skewed at the economy. You were selling 1 kilo of wheat, you were buying 1 liter of diesel. That is, 1 kilo of wheat was 60 liras with today's diesel money. Today you sell 6 kilos of wheat, you buy 1 liter of diesel. There is a 6-fold difference in between. That's why, that's why the farmer's debt to banks has risen to 1.1 trillion. That's why production costs have increased by 40 to 80% compared to last year. Let alone the price of the product in the field being worth money, the product being worth money, the products started to remain in the field. They became impossible to harvest."

News Source: 12punto