AKP Spokesperson Çelik explains the purpose of removing the word 'euthanasia'
The AKP Central Executive and Decision Board (MKYK) meeting, chaired by AKP Chairman and President Erdoğan, has concluded. Following the meeting, AKP Spokesperson Ömer Çelik made statements. Responding to questions regarding the agenda after the MKYK meeting, Çelik spoke about the discussions concerning stray animals. Çelik said, "By removing the word 'euthanasia', we are showing that we want to act with a common idea. It is unfair to portray this as a massacre."
İHA
AKP Spokesperson Çelik held a press conference while the AKP Central Executive and Decision Board (MKYK) meeting was ongoing under the chairmanship of President and AKP Chairman Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Çelik stated that the Foreign Affairs Department gave a comprehensive presentation at the MKYK meeting regarding the elections across Europe and in Iran.
Stating that the far-right is on the rise when looking at Europe specifically, and that the balance of democracies in Europe has been disrupted in a sense, Çelik said they are following this situation closely. Noting that a weakening is increasingly observed in center-right and center parties in Europe, Çelik said, "We are deeply concerned to see that democratic reflexes and democratic institutions are losing strength as a result of this weakening.
Looking at it within this framework, just as we advocate for democracy to be strong everywhere in the world, we express that democracy must also be strong in Europe and must be protected from extremist currents. In this regard, of course, we continue our meetings with various parties. Naturally, all European politicians should also question themselves regarding the fact that democratic values are becoming increasingly fragile. Double-standard behaviors in many issues actually play a huge role in the masses becoming distant from democracy and democratic values. You see this in the double standards regarding Turkey.
We see it in the Gaza issue. We see it in the passivism in the face of the attitudes of far-rightists and fascists towards Muslims and immigrants. And as a result, while center-right and center-left parties are melting away, a result like the rise of far-right parties emerges. Today, our MKYK is conducting a comprehensive evaluation regarding how the political landscape is shaped across the entirety of Europe, including the elections in France, Germany, and Belgium," he said.
Çelik conveyed that the Ministry of Justice also gave a presentation at the MKYK and that parliamentary work was evaluated. Emphasizing that their primary issue is Gaza, Çelik said, "There is even an attack by Israel on places it previously declared as safe zones for Palestinians. Unfortunately, despite the International Court of Justice declaring the occupied settlements illegitimate, it continues to carry out the same brutality. Of course, Israel's official rhetoric here was that it was carrying out an action against Hamas, an action against the attacks carried out.
At the point reached, it has become clearly evident that this is not aimed at ensuring Israel's security, but is an aggressive, provocative, genocidal massacre policy that will endanger the security of the entire region. As a result of this, everyone is in consensus that a two-state solution is the most fair and equitable solution, and many states, from Spain to other states, many European states have recognized the State of Palestine," he said.
"NETANYAHU'S SPEECH IS A PROBLEM IN ITSELF"
Reminding that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will give a speech at the US Congress on July 24, Çelik said, "We will all see that many people will give a standing ovation to Netanyahu, who has signed off on so much massacre, during his speech. In fact, the whole world will see that every standing ovation given there means trampling on human values, means trampling values underfoot. Netanyahu's speech is a moral problem in itself, a political problem. It is an international values problem. But besides this, it is clear that every support given to him, every applause, every support shown by standing up is also trampling human values underfoot," he expressed.
"THE WHOLE WORLD SEES THAT A FEDERAL SOLUTION IS NOT POSSIBLE IN CYPRUS"
Reminding that they are celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Cyprus Peace Operation with enthusiasm, Çelik said, "Once again, the simultaneous statements made by the Greek Minister of Defense show how we must continue to strongly uphold the values behind the Peace Operation from now on. The Greek Minister of Defense repeated the rhetoric of the past with the same aggression.
In the face of all this, the Peace Operation actually resulted in saving the Greek Cypriots there from the hands of these gangs, just as it protected the Turkish Cypriots. At the point reached, as our President has stated, the whole world now sees that a federal solution is not possible.
Already, the Greek Minister of Defense's statement also shows that they do not have any will towards a federal solution, that they want to swallow the whole of Cyprus. But this will not be possible in any way," he said.
"THEIR ISSUES ARE ON OUR AGENDA AND UNDER OUR FOLLOW-UP"
Conveying that the earthquake is always a topic for the MYK and MKYK, Çelik said, "It has been a year and a half since the February 6 earthquakes that hit 11 of our provinces at the same time. So far, more than 76 thousand disaster houses have been delivered to their rightful owners. Our President stated that, hopefully, this figure will reach 200 thousand by the end of the year, and by the end of the next year, before the year 2025 ends, we will hopefully have delivered all of them to our citizens. For this reason, our citizens in the earthquake zone should know that no matter how much time passes, no matter how busy the agenda is, their issues are constantly on our agenda and under our follow-up," he said.
Stating that they follow the functioning of the economic program as a political institution, Çelik said, "The fact that a credit rating agency recently increased our rating by two notches at once, maintained it as positive, and the findings that inflationary pressures will decrease in the coming months and in 2025 with the start of moderation in inflation and domestic demand, show that the program is working correctly.
While our political support for this program continues in the strongest way, we also want it to be known that with the implementation of the program, with the program gaining ground, our approach of not letting our citizens be crushed by inflation, being more with our retirees, our workers, our minimum wage earners, and signing more advanced steps regarding them, will certainly continue to maintain its top place on our agenda depending on the progress of the Medium-Term Program," he expressed.
Stating that they will celebrate the founding anniversary of the AK Party in August, Çelik said, "After all these years of signing progressive and revolutionary steps to defend the supremacy of civilian politics against all kinds of tutelage in Turkey and to crown our Republic with democracy, we will renew our pledge on this founding anniversary as well, by still maintaining the same spirit and carrying Turkey further forward.
We will meet with our citizens again and look to the future with greater strength. When our party was founded, we said, 'The nation founded our party, we hung its sign.' Our will in the form of the same progressive, same citizen-oriented, same nation-focused politics, the supremacy of civilian politics, the protection of the values of the republic, and the strengthening of democracy will continue in the same way," he explained.
"IT IS UNFAIR TO PRESENT IT AS A MASSACRE LAW"
Upon a journalist's question, "The expression of euthanasia regarding stray animals has been removed. However, a consensus could not be reached with the opposition. What do you think the opposition wants? A provincial head in the CHP said, 'Let them be ready for a historic resistance, just as we made the streets tremble because two trees were cut down, if they touch our dear friends, we will give our struggle in the same way'," Çelik said the following:
"There is a regulation regarding the correction of the euthanasia expression and the reference to the veterinary law. There is an incident that hurts our people. There is a situation on the street. It is unfair to present this as a massacre law. We also need to show respect to living beings. It is not that there is no problem and we are making a legal regulation about it. There is an issue that hurts our people. Children are being attacked, elderly people are being attacked, there is a situation on the streets. Humans do not live alone in this universe, they live together with many beings in nature. We live together with plants, we live together with animals. Of course, we have to show reverence and respect to all living beings with whom we share this world, this universe.
The main purpose here is, look, a scene occurred yesterday as well. A street dog attack on a lady took place. Before that, you know, these attacks occurred regarding many children. What we desire is not to see these scenes on our streets. But presenting this as a massacre law is a great injustice and is leading the issue towards a deadlock. There are many gradations put in that law. Within the framework of that gradation, there are many mechanisms from adoption to taking them into shelters. There is a huge action plan. Finally, this regulation is in question regarding animals that have any danger of spreading disease or have become aggressive.
In essence, this is a high will, a determination to protect our people, our children, our elderly people, and at the same time, it is a will to protect the animals with whom we share this life. There is no point in taking it from one end and taking it to other places. We must take a clear stance. We cannot accept in any way that our children and elderly people are attacked on the streets. The essence of the values at the foundation of our politics is to respect all existence, to approach all beings with compassion. Let no one claim that we have given up on these values in any way.
Ultimately, the changing of that word you mentioned and the reference to the veterinary law, as you can see, clearly show that we want to solve an issue here with common sense. It clearly shows that we want to create a consensus. Here, we are actually signing a regulation that both protects our people, protects children, women, and the elderly, and at the same time protects these animals in unsafe environments. As a result, our desire is for our streets to become safe. This is also the purpose of this law."
"TURKEY'S STREETS WILL BECOME SAFE"
Stating that they approach the citizens' right to democratic protest with high respect, provided that they do not resort to violence, and that they will not have any relevant criticism, Çelik assessed, "But if we look at the whole of the news regarding the subject you mentioned, it is wrong to claim that one is in a defense of rights by referring to some bad days and some bad practices that Turkey has experienced in the past. Also, I would like to say this. The animal rights struggle is a struggle that emerged throughout history with the expansion of humanism and the further growth of the love for humanity added to humanism. To take this and put it into an issue like 'we will burn, we will destroy, we will do this', is actually disrespectful to those who give this struggle, both to people and to animal rights defenders. Turkey's streets will become safe," he evaluated.
Regarding the question about US President Biden withdrawing from the elections, Çelik said, "We are also interested in American democracy. When we look at it within this framework, this assassination attempt issue is extremely dangerous. Politics must exclude violence altogether. Later, the mention of alleged weaknesses must, of course, be investigated seriously. Weaknesses that will emerge regarding the democratic functioning in America will affect the whole world. Of course, we have an objection to the American Congress inviting Netanyahu.
This is also a weakness in terms of American democracy. We respect the will of the American people. As the government, cabinet, and party, our preparation is complete regarding which one is elected, with which arguments and files we will work. We are also following Belgium, Germany, and England closely. There will be American elections in the next few months. We will also follow it closely," he said.
"A LATE STATEMENT"
Upon a question regarding CHP Chairman Özgür Özel's words, 'If Kurds say I don't feel equal, we will all struggle together until they feel it', Çelik said, "Mr. Özel needs to fill in the blanks of this sentence. It is a historically late statement. We have taken great steps for the wrong practices in the past, the reforms and regulations made by the AK Party, and the regulation of all our citizens having equal rights and freedoms regarding their own identities on the basis of Constitutional citizenship in a way that will reflect on all our citizens.
A channel was opened on TRT, the Ministry of Culture published basic works. A strong will was put forward for the laying down of arms in the National Unity and Brotherhood Project. Our President put forward a great will by saying 'Let them lay down their arms and leave the country'. It happened to me in Parliament too. While we were eliminating unequal practices towards our Kurdish citizens, the CHP was against us. The CHP even came out to prevent the speeches from being made, their actors were making the harshest statements.
Mr. Özgür Özel's statement has become historically anachronistic, just like Kılıçdaroğlu saying 'We will solve the headscarf problem'. The democratic reform process is an open-ended process. The Grand National Assembly is already doing the work. But when you make this statement specifically, the rhetoric you use becomes a marginal approach," he expressed.
"A PROCESS THAT NEEDS TO MATURE"
Regarding the normalization steps with Syria, Çelik said, "Putin's will is also in question from the beginning. Turkey is evaluating this. Work on the file continues. There is no such thing as it will happen at this hour, in this month. It is a file that intelligence agencies are maturing. The framework that will be matured after it becomes a political file and the traffic of Foreign Ministers begins is presented to our President and the Syrian head of state. It is a process that needs to mature. The file continues to mature," he explained.
The MKYK meeting, which lasted approximately 3 hours, has ended.