Abdullah Ceyhan, the symbol of the Yozgat rally, speaks out: He responds to the 'million-lira tractor' allegations

Abdullah Ceyhan, who spoke at the CHP's Yozgat rally and made headlines with his speech saying, "The country cannot be governed with radishes and turnips; the country is governed with justice," made notable statements.

"WE GET NO WATER FROM THE HYDROELECTRIC PLANTS"

Stating that he has been a farmer for 50 years and grows barley, wheat, potatoes, onions, and beets, Ceyhan said, "Our lands are very fertile; they do not leave us hungry. It is beneficial to the public and to us. Our lands have only one deficiency; a dam was built here, perhaps over 50 years ago. This dam was built, but water systems have not yet reached here. They said water would come in 2015, they did the planning and the project, they opened these roads. Three elections have passed since then, and I no longer believe that the water will come. Because the owners of the water have become the hydroelectric plants (HES) built below this dam. We get no water from these hydroelectric plants. The public and the farmers have become timid; they have reached a point where they cannot seek their rights. I am a farmer, and I am seeking my rights," he said.

THEY SLANDERED ME ABOUT THE TRACTOR

Expressing that he did not expect his speech at the rally to become a major topic, Ceyhan said the following:

"We started the protest in my own village that day. We started the protest with the support of our District Chairman, Mr. Sıddık Erdoğan. This was very proud for us. Because we are farmers, we are the people. Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the person who founded the Republic of Turkey, went to the farmers and said, ‘We will start development from you.’ We are following in his footsteps. They accused our presidential candidate, Mr. Ekrem İmamoğlu, of corruption. A person who manages a population of 16 million like Istanbul is not arrested for something simple through these false witnesses. All these partisan channels are also smearing him a lot. This is what bothered me here. There is an AK Party Chairman who governs the state. This AK Party Chairman is also the President of the state. The President constantly says, ‘the biggest radish is yet to come.’ Well, how big is this radish? That came to my mind at the rally. I said, ‘We need wisdom; the state is not governed with radishes and turnips, it is governed with wisdom.’ I do not ask for permission from anyone, I do not take advice from anyone. I only speak what is on my mind and what I know. Now, rumors have started about me on the agenda. What is it? ‘He has a 1.5 million-lira tractor.’ My tractor is a 2013 model, and I have nothing else but this tractor, and I have a 90-model car. I have 70-80 decares of land here, and I have siblings. I have no one else, I have a family and myself. I have 5 children, four boys and one girl. All four of them are away. I couldn't support these children here, everyone fled. Now I think, it's good that they fled, maybe I could have been in a very bad situation with my children."

"FROST HIT OUR CROPS"

Ceyhan also stated that he is facing the danger of frost, saying, "People from the east to the west eat these fruits. Frost also hit our crops this year. Currently, the crops have gone beyond the stage of being harvested. We have agricultural insurance; I don't know if they will come and check or not. Agricultural engineers should follow up on this now. I am a farmer, being a farmer is a very good thing," he expressed.