Breaking News... Özgür Özel lashes out at the Aziz İhsan Aktaş indictment! 'Take that incompetent person out of there, get off our backs'

Republican People's Party (CHP) Chairman Özgür Özel made statements regarding the agenda at his party's group meeting.

Highlights from Özel's speech are as follows:

"Some are bothered by the CHP's foreign contacts, and I take great pleasure in that.

Because both Europe and the world see that Turkey does not consist of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and the AKP government; the whole world sees that a government is approaching that will lead Turkey on the path shown by Gazi Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, who received the mandate to catch up with and surpass contemporary civilizations, and that will make Turkey an inseparable part of the world, a part of Europe, and build a Turkey without bans and a Europe without visas for the youth. The CHP is moving on this path. No one should have any doubts about this. Let us not forget that those who cannot stand this, those who have a stomach ache, met with presidents in the US and Europe before their own governments and heralded their own rule to Turkey from those contacts.

The whole world sees that Turkey is greater than 1, that it will not be surrendered to a single man, and sees the CHP's struggle for democracy.

***

In Cyprus, the winner was the people of Cyprus. The voter turnout was 65 percent. This rate is not below, but above the turnout rates of the previous 2 elections. If those who try to create a debate over turnout rates look at the election results, they will see that the candidate they support today was elected with lower turnout rates.

The CHP stood in the right place in the Cyprus elections. But the People's Alliance made 2 big mistakes and one other mistake. They are doing one thing right. The 2 components of the People's Alliance, the AKP and MHP, went to Cyprus during the elections and set up camp. They took artillerymen from Turkey, they went themselves. They risked everything and interfered in the TRNC elections. Both of these were wrong.

Then, on election night, Mr. Erdoğan made a statement congratulating the election results and showing that he would continue his relations with the elected president from now on. This is what should be. However, Mr. Bahçeli first tried to open a legitimacy debate over the turnout rate. Today, unfortunately, he is trying to assign a license plate number to Cyprus. He is trying to say 'Let Cyprus be our 82nd province' and is trying not to recognize the Cyprus elections. This is extraordinarily wrong. If you tell the world to recognize Northern Cyprus, you must first recognize it yourself. You must respect the will of that place.

"THE TURKISH REPUBLIC OF NORTHERN CYPRUS IS A STATE, AN INDEPENDENT STATE"

What is the CHP doing? What is the CHP doing? The CHP did not interfere from the beginning, nor did it say anything inappropriate at the end. But they have become so partisan regarding the defeat in Cyprus that they see their own defeat as the CHP's victory. If we are to achieve a victory, we will achieve it in the upcoming elections in Turkey. Let everyone be sure of this. The winner in Cyprus is our sister party, and we find the cool-headed, correct language that Mr. Erhürman has put forward regarding relations with the Republic of Turkey to be very important. And if you give a license plate to Cyprus like that, you see Cyprus as a province. Then you treat the elected President like a governor. Then you call it our 'little motherland' like the secretary general of that Cyprus's Justice and Development Party. Go and walk the streets of Cyprus.

What do they feel when you say 'little motherland'? What do they feel when you say 'brother motherland', 'brother country'? This is not a 'little motherland' or anything. We are in no position to act as a father or mother to anyone. The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus is a state. It is an independent state. It is a strong state with its own will. It is Turkey's brother state. It is an independent Turkish state that the Republican People's Party loves like a brother. And let me say this much. Not a victory for ourselves from the Cyprus elections. Let the complexes of those who defeated themselves and were embarrassed stay aside. The lesson to be learned from the Cyprus election is this: No one can stand in the way of a change whose time has come. No one will be able to stand in the way in Turkey either. Those who do not want to hand over their seats through democracy are trying every way to prevent this change.

***

"THERE IS NO SIGN OF THE IMM INDICTMENT"

Today is the 216th day of the March 19 coup. Erdoğan, who has no strength left to fight with us, let alone his own youth branches, women's branches, or main staff, finally revealed the indictment, which he said would come out under the head of Akın Gürlek, the newly appointed President of the AK Party Judiciary Branches, with a 2-month delay. And despite the promises and expectations, there is still no sign or news of the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality indictment, which was supposed to come out in October.

'AZİZ İHSAN AKTAŞ' INDICTMENT

We are not connecting these. There is inconsistency. On one hand, we said Octopus. A wholeness is needed. Let the fights continue because the statements each of them gave contradict each other. Unfortunately, the indictment, in which 7 of our mayors are imprisoned, was technically given 10 months later, but if you look at it in terms of Ahmet Özer, he is now free from the first file he was arrested for, but he is imprisoned in this file. That is, the indictment that caused him to be inside for 12 months has just been submitted. Exactly 578 pages. When you pick it up, you think you are going to read something important and see important allegations. They have been managing the perception for weeks by saying 'brick-like indictment, brick-like indictment'. The first 36 pages consist of the information of 200 defendants.

There are only 16 references to evidence, so-called evidence, in the file. It says evidence 16 times in 578 pages. However, it refers to the statements it received 496 times. They found a new secret witness. His name is X Y Z 49 QP. Like a Dutch license plate. There is a curiosity about the Netherlands there. I know what the curiosity about the Netherlands is. One day I will show it from here, all of Turkey will learn, but let them know that I know this Netherlands curiosity. I mean, I know what is in the subconscious of the person who gave the secret witness a number like a Dutch license plate by coincidence. I know what connection there is with the Netherlands. Let him know that much, I have been waiting for his indictment a lot.

I will not say I heard it there. I will put the proof on the table. I promise. There is a leader in the 200-defendant indictment. His name is the criminal organization leader. He is facing 704 years in prison. The criminal organization leader is walking among us. While the criminal organization leader is walking around, our mayors, their drivers, their private secretaries, or innocent, blameless people from their families are being held in prison. For detention, the severity of the crime or the hierarchy in the terrorist organization or criminal organization is not the determining factor, but the identity of the suspect. They have targeted them. They are doing everything to keep that suspect in detention. The most important factor in the economic growth of the criminal organization is the tenders it received from public institutions and organizations. That's what it says. It even says, was the criminal organization leader an unknown person until these allegations came out? He didn't even have a photo on social media. This shows that he attaches importance to secrecy, it says.

And the criminal organization leader Aziz İhsan Aktaş received 388 tenders from the public. He received 300 of them from municipalities, ministries, or institutions managed by the AK Party, and 88 of them from CHP municipalities. None of the 300 tenders are in the indictment. But on the other hand, there is not a single piece of evidence against the Republican People's Party mayors who are accused of giving him work. They have thrown our 7 clean mayors into a bag. Look at what they are trying to do. Aziz İhsan Aktaş, who is facing 704 years in prison, is walking free, so if you have collected the evidence, if there is no suspicion of flight, or if you have taken a measure against him, try him without detention anyway.

I am not saying 'arrest and bring Aziz İhsan Aktaş too'. But the so-called leader of the criminal organization, who is being tried with 704 years, will walk around. Zeydan Karalar, Oya President, Kadir President, Utku President, whose lower limit is 4 years, will be kept in prison for months. The issues of Zeydan President, Oya President, Kadir President are that the money for the tender given by the AK Party in the period before them in Adana was paid during the Zeydan President period, he says he asked for a bribe 12 years ago, and when he gave the bribe, he started to pay. It was proven line by line. I will go to that court specifically and look into the prosecutor's eyes. Zeydan Karalar paid the money on the same day every month. Both before and after the date they said.

"NOTHING THEY SAY AS EVIDENCE IS EVIDENCE"

What will they say to this? The only accusation is that Zeydan Karalar was not paying the money for the tender that started during the AK Party period. We gave a bribe to someone and he started paying. Whereas it has been proven one by one. These friends of ours are being tried with 4 years. If they get a sentence, they come out after serving 2 years anyway. The time they served is already enough, and there is not a single piece of evidence that they will get a sentence. Look, a confessor's statement appears 113 times in the indictment. 113 times, and let me show you. You can all look at the one that appears 113 times.

It is in open source. I only think that four of them were aware of the information that should remain secret in the tenders and shared it with Aziz İhsan Aktaş. Second, I thought Rıza Akpolat was renting out the house he lived in in Maya. I heard that money was taken out of this apartment while he was in custody. I heard. There is no such proof, no image, no evidence, no search warrant regarding the money being taken out. Just 'I heard'. In his statement, he stated that Mustafa Mutlu might have been aware of the scoring system and shared it with Aziz İhsan Aktaş. The person named Mustafa Mutlu stated that he thought he was aware of the approximate cost price through the person named Rana Uysal.

Look, they are accepting everything he said in 113 places as if it were evidence and making others slander based on what he said he 'heard'. We counted, it appears 'might' 104 times in the indictment. 'I heard' appears 45 times. 'I think' appears 50 times. And nothing they say as evidence is evidence. There are only statements of people who are called confessors and are forced to slander. Look, 'I think a bribe was given'. Tell me who gave it. There is no one who says 'I gave a bribe'. There is no evidence of a bribe taken from someone. There is no place where the money went. He put a picture of a yacht there.

"THEY WROTE AN INDICTMENT WITH 'MIGHT', 'HEARD', 'I THINK'"

I heard that this yacht was bought with the bribes Rıza Akpolat received. They questioned the owner of the yacht. The man says 'The yacht is my brother's'. He says he only came once. 'How do you know?' he says. His driver, the confessor, lied. They were passing to the yacht. While handing over his bag, the captain of the yacht said 'Here you go, boss' to Rıza Akpolat. There is an understanding that tries to show a yacht belonging to someone else as our friend's by putting the 'Here you go, boss' as evidence. Look, if they put the evidence in front of us, if they put the proof, the person who gave the money is clear, the money is here, the place it went is clear, the work done is clear. What will we say? What will we say? How can we stand behind them today? But they took dozens of young people first. They kept them inside for days. Then they said, 'If you sign this statement, you will get out'. There were newlyweds. There were those whose wives were pregnant. You know all of them, a lot of problematic ones. The one who signed it got out. All the signatures they signed were spilled out. Open and read. 'I heard', 'might'. The prosecutor is in Wonderland, he thinks he found the corruption of the century, as he says. He couldn't find any evidence where he thought he found it. He arrested every driver, every young person in the municipality, and threatened them with their families. He said 'Sign it'. They wrote an indictment with 'might', 'heard', 'I think'.

"WE EXPECT IMMEDIATE TRIAL WITHOUT DETENTION. IMMEDIATELY!"

As I said yesterday, we are waiting for those indictments not to judge, not to be judged, but to judge. That 578-page indictment is falling apart like that. Now, on top of this, they have spoken until today. Now the defense lawyers will speak. All these allegations will be cross-examined, proof will be requested, it will be looked at, it will be seen. That is why, that is why we will follow this matter with great attention. First, it means the evidence has been collected. Has the indictment been written? Yes. Has it been transferred to the court? Yes. With the interim decision, we expect all of our friends to be tried without detention. Adana is waiting for Zeydan Karalar. It is waiting for Oya Tekin. It is waiting for Kadir Haydar. It is waiting for service!

Rıza Akpolat, who you have been playing with his dignity for nearly a year and could not put forward a single piece of evidence, not even a single municipal council member was given to the AK Party or MHP in the election he was elected in Beşiktaş. You say national will, don't you? The national will in Beşiktaş gave everything to the CHP. Now, let the trial continue over this on one hand. Take whatever measure you want. They have nowhere to run anyway. However, for our friends to return to their duties, to serve, for the trial to be completed, we hope for their acquittal, even if there is a sentence, the appeal, the Supreme Court, keeping these friends of ours inside unjustly for one more day after serving so much is Mussolini's pre-execution method. The cruelty you have done to our friends and their families is enough. We expect immediate trial without detention. Immediately.

"WHERE IS THIS CRIMINAL ORGANIZATION?"

I am telling all lawyers in Turkey and everyone with a conscience. Do you know what appears 29 times in this indictment? 'İmamoğlu criminal organization' 29 times. Where is this criminal organization? For a criminal organization to exist, it must be alleged, tried, proven, passed through the appeal court, and finalized in the Supreme Court.

When there is not even an indictment yet, that is, if you are alleging an İmamoğlu criminal organization, you haven't even written and submitted that. You can't even allege it. You can't even allege it. You are just calling some people and asking questions about this. You are at that stage. He has gone and created law for today's indictment with the allegation in the indictment he did not write. He says there is an İmamoğlu criminal organization. He says it is related to this organization. I am addressing all lawyers in Turkey, all conscientious people. Where is the presumption of innocence?

According to the statements and decisions of the HSK, no investigation prosecutor can make allegations that will influence the decisions of the judges who will make the trial after him, it says. You just write it. You cannot go out to the public and say 'you will see, it will be like this at the end of the trial'. The judges will decide on them. You only put the evidence for and against in the indictment and send it to the court. If the indictment is accepted, the trial begins. He hasn't even written the indictment yet. I said a moment ago why he couldn't write it. They cannot connect the ends together.

"WE MADE THE MAN SAY OCTOPUS..."

He gave tasks to the prosecutors. Something to this, something to that, the cables cannot be connected. The prosecutors were saying, 'Let's all write our own indictment. Let the trial be according to that.' He was shouting: 'We made the man say Octopus'. Look at the words. 'We made the man say Octopus.' By 'the man', he means Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. He came out and said there is a criminal organization. Head is İmamoğlu, arms are Anatolia. He says 'We made him say Octopus'. He says 'Connect them together'. They say these connections won't work. If this statement and that statement are in the same file, we will be miserable.

"HE IS WALKING OVER THE ONE WHO TOOK THE STATEMENT"

He is walking over the one who took the statement. He says 'Let him come here'. He assigned him to the other file. He says 'Connect these, however you do it'. And meanwhile, Ekrem İmamoğlu, whom 16 million Istanbulites are waiting for service from, is staying in a 12-square-meter cell. His mother and father are tearful, away from his wife, his children, away from Istanbul. All our friends are like that. Just because they want to have their way. They said big words. They cannot turn back, but they are attacking here and there, here and there in a desperate way.

I am saying it once again. I said it to Erdoğan from every square. I am saying it from here. From under the roof of this supreme parliament. You know, 30 days later we wouldn't be able to look each other in the face. You know, we wouldn't be able to look into the eyes of our families.

TO ERDOĞAN: SHAME ON YOU, GET OFF THE NATION'S BACK

You know, when the octopus appeared, we wouldn't be able to go out in public. We are in public. We are with our friends. We are with our nation. We are in the squares, we are on the streets. We are on live broadcast, aren't we? Our friends are innocent. You are a slanderer. Shame on you. Shame on your slanders. Get off the nation's back. Get off the nation's back. Either prove it or apologize and go away. Take that incompetent person out of there. Don't persecute anymore. Yesterday's slander-indictment has become trash. We will not be judged in the future either. We will judge you. Shame on your slanders. Shame on you. Shame on all your slanders. Come on then.

Mr. Bahçeli, you were saying yes to live broadcast. Come on, we want a live broadcast. We still want it. Give the live broadcast frequencies, let the television that wants to broadcast it. Let the internet broadcast it. Let TRT allocate a channel. Let it broadcast from morning to night. We want a trial in front of our nation's eyes to refute these slanders, to prove the innocence of our friends. Period. Now I am telling Erdoğan to have his lawyers read this file, the one that came out yesterday, and then come and give him objective information without misleading him. Yes, you are at the head of the business. You gave the order. You sent it. Ask if it happened. Ask if it happened. I am saying it clearly. It didn't happen. They couldn't do it. They couldn't go beyond slander, and the issue that emerged has turned into a text that will embarrass you before history. We were not afraid of this indictment either. A terrible thing emerged. I have no doubt that all your slanders will be condemned in the nation's heart in the future indictment. You will see.

ÖZGÜR ÖZEL'S 'I DARE YOU' TO ERDOĞAN

Turkey is number one in the world in food inflation. Then the Vice President comes out and says stability and welfare budget. Stability budget for whom? Stability budget for the 40 Thieves. Welfare budget for whom? Welfare budget for a group of rich people. Now I would like to make a call from here. I am telling Erdoğan, who panicked when this group did not enter the parliament one day. To the panicked Erdoğan. I am calling you to the Parliament!

I will be there too. My group will be there too. Budgets belong to the executive. You know, when we didn't come to the Parliament, you said it was disrespectful to this Parliament... I am waiting for you in the Parliament to defend your budget. It is not the day you come alone, get invited, talk to yourself, and leave. You will come, you will defend your budget! You will listen to the opposition. You will show the courage shown by those Demirels, Ecevits, Erbakans, İnönüs and look into the eyes of the nation's deputy for this budget.

Come on, Erdoğan. I dare you. On that day, the day the budget is presented, if you have any respect, if you have any courage, come to the Parliament and defend your budget. Listen to me. Let the nation see who is on whose side. If you have even a little bit of courage, even a little bit, for those democracy days when those old budgets, those leaders came and prime ministers defended the budget, and the main opposition and other opposition criticized it, come, let's return to those days. If you come then, if you explain your budget, if you defend it, if you can answer the criticisms, if you can endure the criticisms, then perhaps your name can be mentioned among democrats once again. Otherwise, an autocrat sitting in his palace has not a single word to say to this parliament.