Breaking News: Özgür Özel reveals pseudonyms of secret witnesses, lashes out at prosecutor: 'I'll call you a block of wood, a block of wood!'

CHP Chairman Özgür Özel, who visited IBB Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, currently detained at Silivri Prison, earlier this morning, made statements regarding the agenda at his party's group meeting.

Defining March 19, the day İmamoğlu was detained, as a "coup attempt," Özel said, "Today is the 7th day of our resistance against the failed coup attempt of March 19. We are not holding a rally; we are resisting a coup and exercising our right to resist."

Stating that the pseudonyms of the secret witnesses in the investigation where İmamoğlu was arrested on corruption charges are Meşe (Oak), Çınar (Plane Tree), Ladin (Spruce), and İlke (Principle), Özel lashed out at the prosecutor with the words, "You put someone in jail who works right before the eyes of Istanbul, with his conscience, his means, and the sweat of his brow that you cannot wipe away, based on the hearsay of Meşe, Çınar, and Ladin. What nickname should I give you, prosecutor? If I were to call you anything, I would call you a block of wood. A block of wood, a block of wood, a block of wood."

Our Chairman Özgür Özel is speaking at our party's group meeting in Istanbul. https://t.co/znkGMx6Gdk

— CHP ???? (@herkesicinCHP) March 25, 2025

Özel's statements are as follows:

Today is the 7th day of our resistance against the failed coup attempt of March 19. Turkey is protesting in the streets against this conspiracy.

We are not holding a rally; we are resisting a coup and exercising our right to resist.

***

"THEY HAVE NEITHER THE PEOPLE NOR THE STATE BEHIND THEM"

Because they do not have the public behind them, they do not have the people, they do not have the crowds. They do not have the entirety of the state behind them either. The state is not just a handful of ambitious people who ask the people for authority to govern it and come to power with the people's mandate. This state has codes, traditions, and this state has codes that date back 100 years and even further, which contain conscience, reason, and concern for the future of this country.

Rest assured, today, alongside the handful of so-called government officials running the state, many components of this country, including civil servants, administrators, and those who always want the best for this country, see the damage all of this is causing. We are facing a government that has turned the state against itself and lost the people.

"THE STATE'S REASON LIES IN THE INTERESTS OF THE PEOPLE"

Do not ever say, "The state is right to say this, the state is right to say that." The state's reason says this: Where the interests of the people lie, that is where the state's reason lies. The interests of the people lie in democracy; it is against the coup. And they attempted this coup on March 19.

As we approached March 19, we all knew we were facing organized evil, and this organized evil was actually signaling March 19 as follows: "They are going to cancel the diploma." That day, they were expecting the diploma cancellation from Istanbul University's Faculty of Business Administration.

But at the same time, they were saying: "We cannot leave it until that day; we must know one day before, from Tuesday, how many people are saying 'yes'." They need 4 people; they got the answer 2.5. The third maybe, they cannot find the fourth. When they heard this, when they heard this, they embarked on such an endeavor that, well, two evils cannot be compared or raced against each other, but just as the Parliament was bypassed and then exited in an irrelevant way with the signature of a single man, at least as unlawfully as that, they gathered the university board of directors the day before so that they wouldn't say "The diploma is valid" the next day, and they canceled the diploma there, instead of the faculty that gave the diploma and would stand behind it, which they couldn't convince through pressure and whose dean they forced to resign.

Mayor Ekrem was at an iftar, I was at an iftar. We both explained what this evil meant. We opened our eyes in the morning, and whatever evil they planned, whatever they had in their hands, as the youth say, "Pressing all the buttons of evil." They opened both a terror investigation and a corruption investigation, they said IBB, they said those around him, to his right, to his left. When I woke up that morning, my first task was to reach Istanbul and start defending the place that this coup was targeting. Because every coup has a symbolic location.

Coups are made against the government, and they try to take over the place where the government is represented. Just as every coup ends the sovereignty of the people and closes the parliaments, we knew that the target here was the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality and its symbolic building, Saraçhane. Because that Saraçhane had been managed for 25 years by Tayyip Erdoğan or those he appointed, proposed, or assigned, and in the end, the people said, "You are managing it, but you are committing crimes against this city by turning the 4 skyscrapers you inherited into 257..."

"THEY ENTRUSTED SARAÇHANE TO İMAMOĞLU"

Poverty is increasing every day. Unemployment is rising. Problems are growing. The city is becoming unlivable. Green space is decreasing in the city, but some are accumulating green dollars elsewhere. While saying, "Will no one hear our voice?", an alternative appeared before their eyes when they said that. The neighboring Esenyurt had been managed by the AK Party for years. There was no room left to breathe. There was half a square meter of green space per person, but there was a place called Beylikdüzü there.

Excited, young, dynamic, someone who comes from the Republican People's Party but knows, loves, and stands in solidarity with all segments of society had rolled up his sleeves, someone who fought against incredible urban crimes next to that Esenyurt, and could define 20 square meters of green space per person instead of half a meter. He had created a happy city without committing crimes, without letting crimes be committed, without eating, without letting others eat, without stealing, without letting others steal. "What would happen if he managed this place too?" they said. They thought, "It would be good," they said. In 2019, they entrusted this city, Saraçhane, to Ekrem İmamoğlu.

"THEY COULD NOT BEND İMAMOĞLU'S WRIST"

First, first a surprise. Then immediately, "The margin is very small, are we going to give this to them with 13,000 votes?" Even Süleyman Soylu was on his way to Büyükçekmece, "All the votes are there, you emptied it, I'll handle it." There are 33,000 ballot boxes, the difference is 1 vote in 3 ballot boxes. Süleyman Soylu says: "I'll have the police take security of the ballot boxes, I'll handle it, sir." For 19 days, the deputies sitting in the front rows here and our friends who performed this duty in the past period, in that period, kept watch at the ballot boxes. They slept on the sacks. They did not let the will of Istanbul be stolen in that count. Then, then we received the mandate, we rejoiced, and we went to Saraçhane and took it over together.

Since that moment, whatever they did, they couldn't digest that election and canceled the election. The 13,600 difference became 806,000. For 5 years, they tried every way to prevent him from working. They burned buses on purpose. They jammed stones between escalators. They resorted to every method to disrupt all kinds of services. They did not sign the money we found from abroad. They did not approve our projects, but they could not stop him, and in the last elections, they had difficulty finding a rival to beat him, so they threw themselves into the fray. In an election where a president, more than one party leader, 18 ministers, the entire power of the state, district governors acting as district heads, provincial heads exceeding the provincial presidency, and governors all piled on, they tried very hard but could not bend Mayor Ekrem's wrist. Because the people of Istanbul know the strength of that wrist and the strength of that heart very well.

"SÜLEYMAN SOYLU" REFERENCE

I saw Mayor Ekrem, Mayor Murat, and Mayor Resul Emrah Şahan in Silivri Prison, where FETÖ members used to lock up the Atatürkist officers of our heroic army... Where is there a patriot among FETÖ members? Wherever there is a patriot, wherever there is a nationalist, wherever there is someone working for this country, I saw them in the prison built by FETÖ members to lock up those who saw their conspiracies and resisted here. I left my greetings to the other mayors and came. Mayor Ekrem has that famous hug, that hug for the martyr's mother, that hug for the martyr's child, that hug for his most beloved... He entrusted them to me, he hugs you all like that, he hugs you like that.

And we all know that in that Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality, where over 300 inspectors were stationed, scrutinized for years, and could not find a single flaw, but where our inspectors found sacks of corruption from the past that Süleyman Soylu took and covered up, now they have found a secret witness, a few secret witnesses, and with false testimonies, they intended to smear Mayor Ekrem and his actions, and essentially to collapse the municipality they couldn't win by appointing a trustee. All, all, all coups, all coups are made to bring the unelected against the elected. The March 19 coup attempt was also to bring a trustee appointed by an indigestible putschist against the elected Metropolitan Mayor of Istanbul, whom he could not defeat. We thank the millions they did not account for, the people of Istanbul, from the bottom of our hearts for standing up for their will and repelling the coup.

'CITY CONSENSUS' RESPONSE

*Our other issue, our other issue is the terror accusation. Because there is something they emphasize in this terror accusation. They say: "The Republican People's Party made a 'City Consensus' with the DEM Party." First, let's say this: City consensus is not our definition, it is a definition of the DEM Party. Not because I reject it, but so that everyone knows the truth. We went to all parties to form an alliance, we looked.

We even said later: "We couldn't form a political alliance with the parties, but we will form an alliance with our nation at the ballot box." In this process, the DEM Party also had an approach while determining its own candidates: "We will field candidates in places where we can win the elections. In places where we think we will lose, where we think we cannot win, we will support candidates who will not commit crimes against the city, who will work honestly, who will observe the rights and interests of the Kurds, who will provide humane services, and who will not discriminate against the neighborhoods where they live densely due to their identities, but we will not support candidates we do not find suitable for this, and we will even have reflexes that will make those we do not want lose." They supported by not fielding candidates in places where some Republican People's Party candidates were. In some places, they tried to make them lose with their own evaluations.

"WE WILL FORM AN ALLIANCE AT THE BALLOT BOX"

There is no one who does not know that in places where there is a city consensus, in the definition of the DEM Party, their voters voted for the Republican People's Party where there was no candidate of theirs, and there is no shame in this. There is no side to this that is shameful or to be hidden. But this definition is not ours. Because our definition is the Turkey Alliance, the Istanbul Alliance, the Şişli Alliance. That is, we have formed the Istanbul Alliance, we have formed the Turkey Alliance, with the coming together of not just Kurds, as we always say, but Kurdish Democrats, conservative Democrats, nationalist Democrats, and social Democrats. I have an official letter in Istanbul, I sent it to the district heads. It must be put into the investigation files, it must be shown to the courts. We have an official letter. We could not form political alliances. We could not agree at the top.

Because of the depression of May 14-28, there is a coldness of the parties that has now become an alliance, but we will form an alliance at the ballot box. To do this, names who have previously engaged in politics in the AK Party, MHP, İyi Party, and DEM Party, or who are well-known, honest, clean, and capable of bringing votes in their communities, and who have no remaining ties with the AK Party or MHP today, and in the case of the DEM Party, those who have no ties with the party because they can come and be candidates for the Republican People's Party, but who are in the position of opinion leaders, can be included in your lists to be placed on the lists. Do not object to this. Because with a central understanding through these names, the Republican People's Party aims to become the first party in Turkey after 47 years, to win many municipalities, and to destroy the reign of the greedy.

"WHO DID JULY 15? THEIR OWN MEN!"

In every coup attempt, they think of everything. There are those who plan the coup, they have planned it. There are those who convey the instructions, they have established that mechanism. There are those who take that instruction and take action, thank goodness they have filled the upper floors of Çağlayan. But this coup also has a declaration. That is, it will announce this coup and put it on a rightful ground. It was read on July 15 as well. They had it read on September 12 too. Every coup, it was also read on March 12. On March 12, Ecevit rebelled. On September 12, the rebellion did not spill into the streets, but many lessons were learned, much pain was suffered, it was suppressed a lot. On July 15, we, the coup was against Tayyip Erdoğan, all coups are by nature made against the government. Who did it? His own men did it. They were like flesh and nail, they gave whatever he wanted, they walked to the same goal on different paths, one with community organization, one with politics from within the state.

A community did it, and during that coup, the whole world turned and looked at the opposition. It looked into the eyes of the main opposition. We said, even against the disinformation that came: "Sir, Atatürkist officers also support the coup." They are wrong. The Minister says from whom does the coup come? It cannot be against the coup. Even if an Atatürkist officer does it, even if a thousand Atatürkist officers do it, even if they all support it at once, I said that Atatürk's party is against this coup, brother.

Then it turned out to be a total lie, but we stood tall against the coup. Now those who wrote that coup declaration are reading this coup declaration from the televisions today. "İmamoğlu, I mean we made a coup, but the man we made it to is not a man worth your vote."

REACTION TO THE MAINSTREAM MEDIA

İmamoğlu was detained in a million-dollar villa. Look at the communication. Without shame, A Haber in the lead, TRT, TGRT... There might be applause, but there is no booing here, this is a group meeting. And for 7 days, he has been on top of the bus, you didn't get tired of listening, I didn't get tired of speaking. We will speak this evening too. But, but some things need to be explained one by one. All the pro-government channels, with information given from a single source, are constantly doing this: They are trying to legitimize the coup in the citizen's mind by constantly telling a lie.

SPECIAL TO BTK AND RTÜK: 'I WILL SCRATCH YOUR FOREHEADS!'

Who is not doing it? Look, there are those who are very complicit, there are those who are less complicit. At the head of those who are not complicit is my dear Halk TV. Our eyes, our ears, Sözcü TV. Our heroic, fearless Tele 1. Are we going to react to this, to that from here? What will we do? We are talking about all of them, we will talk. But let everyone know: We who resist this coup and stand up, who stand against these putschists all together, I am telling RTÜK, and the Information Technologies Authority, do not ever, ever try to touch these channels, these websites, those who write and draw on Twitter, or those who try to broadcast from YouTube as free press. I will scratch your foreheads, your foreheads.

Do not believe the coup declaration that tries to legitimize the coup attempt. İmamoğlu was not detained in a million-dollar villa. The place known to be the deeded property of the IBB, which was handed over to a pro-government foundation during the AKP period, was taken back from that pro-government foundation and gained for the municipality as a presidential residence. It is being used to be handed over to the next mayor with a handover, to be handed over. The million-dollar villa is the property of the people. They had handed it over to a pro-government foundation. Irregular tenders were made from Medya Kültür AŞ companies. Hundreds of inspectors who have become permanent employees of Medya AŞ have not found a single penny. A significant portion of the 37 corruption files found, made before 2019, were found there.

These were seized by Soylu, not a single action was taken, but now they are shamelessly and brazenly smearing Medya AŞ. "Terrorist organization was helped. Organization members were hired," he says. Süleyman Soylu had said, "There are 700 terrorists in the IBB." Ekrem İmamoğlu had said, "You are a coward if you don't explain it, you are a coward if you don't announce it, if you don't file a criminal complaint."

VERY HARSH REACTION TO SOYLU: MAY GOD PUNISH HIM

Soylu gave the names of 700 of them. Investigations were opened against 40 of them, 41 were tried. All of them were acquitted. Not a single one of them received a sentence. Then they asked Soylu about this. You said there are 700 terrorists, 41 were tried, all were acquitted, they said. He said this, the shameless man: "I had to do it politically. I was doing politics while saying this."

May a politician like you be cursed, and may God punish such politics.

REVEALED THE PSEUDONYMS OF THE SECRET WITNESSES, LASHED OUT AT THE PROSECUTOR

And and they stirred up the place. You will see, evidence will come out. Not a single piece of evidence, not a single proof, not a single concrete allegation that could be put forward. What does he have in his hand? Meşe, Çınar, Ladin, İlke. What are these? The names of the secret witnesses, the false witnesses. According to what Meşe says, according to what Çınar says, according to what Ladin says. Is there anything concrete for these? I heard it was like that.

I guess. Since I couldn't get the tenders, I guess it was given to someone who pays bribes. They arrested Mayor Ekrem with these, friends. That's why I'm saying it. Let's explain it calmly so that the citizens hear these. The only thing I will say is this: You put someone in jail who works right before the eyes of Istanbul, with his conscience, his means, and the sweat of his brow that you cannot wipe away, based on the hearsay of Meşe, Çınar, and Ladin, under the names Meşe, Çınar, Ladin. What nickname should I give you, prosecutor? If I were to call you anything, I would call you a block of wood. A block of wood, a block of wood, a block of wood.

I didn't guess that I would be applauded standing in a hall when I said the main ingredient of the names this person, whose only concern is to fulfill the order given by the palace and whose investigation has no place to hold, gave to the secret witnesses. This work is yours, Mr. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, it is yours.

"NOT EVEN ONE OF THE 4 REPORTS HAS AN ASSISTANT SPECIALIST"

And they are so cruel that they are in such a state of need for perception management that they serve photos of a woman by calling her a "fugitive" because she took her accumulated annual leave from Medya AŞ and went abroad to her brother with her mother, and detaining her while she was returning when she heard about the investigation, saying "fugitives were captured." Let's remind one more fact here: What did you listen to all winter? What did you listen to all winter? There is a MASAK report. There is a MASAK report. In the MASAK report, all money movements have been determined. Large sums of money have been transferred from there to here, from here to there. You listened to the MASAK report all winter.

When did Akın Gürlek request the MASAK report from MASAK? He requested a report from MASAK, March 3. When was the assignment made at MASAK? March 10. When did the MASAK report arrive? March 17. That is, 2 days before the March 19 coup. That is, he did it on Wednesday morning, the MASAK report comes on Monday. Whereas you, December, January, February, MASAK report down, MASAK report up. But it comes 2 days before the operation. Is there the signature of the MASAK president on the MASAK report? Financial Crimes Investigation, no. Deputy presidents? No. Another official? No. Did an expert write it? No. 4 assistant experts, there is no expert signature in even one of the 4 separate reports.

"THIS NON-EXISTENT DOCUMENT..."

Because they couldn't find a single expert to sign this slander, which is not even a slander, I will say it now. This non-existent document, the document the prosecutor is waiting for to base all his accusations on, they couldn't find a single expert to sign it. How is the MASAK report, you know? The assistant expert wrote: "Although this report was prepared by our presidency, it should be noted that since it is included as it is in the accessed data, incorrect entries by the data-owning institutions may be in question.

Although the accessed data covers all years, it should be considered that some may have been skipped. To reach definite and accurate results, the necessary information can be obtained by applying to the original data source." and the summary: I couldn't find a crime, you take a look, he said. The prosecutor found a crime from the MASAK report. I will tell you an example, an example. The whole thing consists of this. Ekrem İmamoğlu is elected mayor in 2019. A few months after he was elected, he buys a plot of land.

In the MASAK report, land registry records are compared with bank records, and according to the MASAK report, it is evaluated that 1% or 2% of the money that should be paid, that is, the land registry record, was paid, that is, the land was given to Ekrem İmamoğlu very cheaply, and since this newly elected mayor bought land very cheaply from someone, this could be a bribe.

"HERE IS THE MASAK REPORT FOR YOU!"

The prosecutor asks Mr. Ekrem: "According to the MASAK report, you bought this land, the deed is here. Look how much it says. The money you paid is also here, much less. Where is the difference in the money?" Mr. Ekrem says: "Oh, is that possible? I didn't even buy this with money. I bought it with a bank loan." He sends his lawyers, they come. The deed is correct, the money he paid less is correct. He sent the deposit from his own account where he sat. He took out a loan from the bank for the principal and sent it from his official account. Oh, is that so? So they counted the deposit as the principal. Let's pass this, says the prosecutor during the investigation. Here is the MASAK report for you. Here is the MASAK report for you. The March 19 coup attempt caused great damage to the economy. Since 2018, they have impoverished them, they have burned tons of 128 billion dollars to win elections, they have skyrocketed inflation.

Just for the consumer confidence index, so that the people have some money in their hands, so that we can go to the election comfortably, they returned to rational policies after the election, they tightened the belts, they made the people miserable, didn't they? That is, so that reserves would accumulate, Mehmet Şimşek was traveling abroad and inviting foreign money to Turkey, and in Turkey, people were enduring 14,500 lira retirement pay, retirement salary, 22,000 lira minimum wage. Last year, they had made the 10,000 lira retirement salary 12,500 in July. They made it 14,500 this January.

HE TOURED MEHMET ŞİMŞEK

The minimum wage went from 17,000 to 22,000. When inflation was 80, they gave a 15% raise to the retiree and a 30% raise to the minimum wage earner. They accumulated money. They went abroad and invited the world, they accumulated reserves, and 60% of the total reserves they accumulated, they accumulated 48 billion reserves. They took Mayor Ekrem and detained him, they burned 26 billion dollars, 26 billion dollars in 3 days. Mehmet Şimşek, who did this: "I am innocent in this business," he says. Mehmet Şimşek says: "I am struggling, I am digging with a needle, they are closing it with a shovel," he says. He says he will resign, I swear.

When he says it, he tweets that I am on duty. Here, from here, Mehmet Şimşek, you are not outside of this coup attempt, you are inside it, you are one of its apparatuses. If there is anyone in the world who knows Mehmet Şimşek as a good economist, if anyone tries to hire him in London, Mondra when this duty ends, I tell them all that there is a MASAK report that was said to exist for 3 months but didn't, that was requested 10 days before the coup attempt and arrived 2 days before, that MASAK is affiliated with Mehmet Şimşek, it is the institution managed by Mehmet Şimşek. He has made his institution a tool for this disgrace. There is no place to trust this man as an economist or as a human being. Let the world know him like this.

Let the world know Mehmet Şimşek as the head of an institution that can sacrifice a country's economy for one person's fears and produces false reports for a false case. Mehmet Şimşek is this. Let no one count these as men, as economists, and as people who really know these things. Let him sit at the head of the company tomorrow, he will be afraid of someone, he will take instructions from someone. He will burn you, he will burn everywhere. The reputation of this Mehmet Şimşek is in the ground from now on. The whole world is talking about what this Mehmet Şimşek did, what MASAK did, the political coup made against Ekrem İmamoğlu. All the televisions of the world are in line. I told CNN International yesterday, BBC today. I will tell the whole world one by one, and anyone who does not show the true face of this Mehmet Şimşek to all economic circles in the world by taking it from economists, from scientists who have a say in the world, with evidence, with articles, is a coward. I have the chronology of the March 19 failed coup attempt in front of me, which we all lived through. Everything started on October 9. Because the reports came into our hands at the beginning of October. The CHP is increasing its local election vote, which is 38% in the elections, to 49% if the local election were today. Tayyip Bey has fallen to 51%.

"OUR BLOCK OF WOOD IS CALLING MEŞE, LADİN"

Upon this, saying "As long as they remain in the municipalities, we will continue to lose," saying "Come on Akın, you are needed. The bottom of the disgraces in Istanbul is near," they sent him here. He came and sat down. On October 30, to our Esenyurt Mayor Ahmet Özer, on January 13 to our Beşiktaş Mayor Rıza Akpolat, on January 17, after Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the planner of the conspiracy, said "The big radish is in the saddlebag," by having secret witnesses give statements and the conspiracy set up against Mayor Ekrem is also the day the secret witness gave a statement. That is, he cannot bend Mayor Ekrem's wrist, he gets angry at the words he said and turns and says about the speech he made about Rıza Akpolat: "Don't be angry, we took Rıza Akpolat," he says. "The big radish is in the saddlebag," he says. That day they call, our block of wood calls Meşe, Ladin. Give the statement, he says.

On January 20, this time to our Youth Branch President Cem Aydın over the "big radish" expressions and discussions. On January 27, the expert, sorry, again on January 20, both to Cem Aydın and Ekrem İmamoğlu for threatening Akın Güler. They took Cem in the morning. He said: "You are threatening our child." We will come to power so that this treatment is not done to your child. They came out of here with a child threat. On January 27, this time an investigation through a sold-out expert.

EARLY ELECTION MESSAGE

Throughout January, attacks began not only on the Republican People's Party but on all segments of society, academics, I cannot count them one by one, journalists, and various figures from all parties. Finally, a tweet thrown by Zafer Party Chairman Ümit Özdağ in Antalya was sent to Silivri by the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor in a way that would later turn out to be completely unauthorized while sitting in Ankara. Operations were carried out on Halk TV. A witch hunt was started over the Gezi protests 12 years ago. Operations were carried out to intimidate both televisions, journalists, academics, and artists. By deciding to determine our presidential candidate, we saw where these attacks, this narrowed circle, the target were walking one by one, and we said we will not surrender, we will stand up. We will determine our presidential candidate and renew our early election demand.

Upon this, on February 10, an investigation was launched about our congress, on February 11, with the "City Consensus" operation of CHP municipalities. Mayor Ekrem submitted documents to enter the primary, the next day, on February 22, an investigation was opened about his diploma. On February 27, an investigation was opened against our Beykoz Mayor Alaattin Köseler, on March 3 against our Istanbul Provincial President Özgür Çelik, on March 4 about our Istanbul Provincial Congress. On March 10, a measure was placed on the assets of Mayor Ekrem's colleagues. On March 12, operations were carried out on the former mayors and administrators of our Ataşehir, Şişli, Sarıyer, Maltepe municipalities. On the evening of March 18, the diploma was canceled. The March 19 plan was put into effect.

At the crack of dawn, attacks were made on Istanbul's elected Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, our Beylikdüzü Mayor Murat Çalık, our Şişli Mayor Resul Emrah Şahan with a 20-vehicle team, and all their goals were for the primary we would hold on March 23, I read it in one breath, everything, these are because we are now increasing our vote locally from 38 to 48, Mayor Ekrem beating Tayyip Erdoğan under any circumstances, the Republican People's Party uniting with its local governments and headquarters to change this government, becoming the first party for the first time in 48 years since 1977 and walking to power, they made these attacks to prevent it. We started our primary process against this and met at the same point, you see.

"İMAMOĞLU IS A PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE ENTRUSTED TO OUR NATION"

That is, if we said the primary is not March 23 but March 30, they would catch up to March 30. If we said a week before, they would catch up to that day. They set the clocks 4 days before. It is on the 23rd, March 19, 6:20 AM. Exactly on the 23rd, coinciding with the place where the voting time is, they take our candidate, "This one has no diploma. You, this one has no diploma. He cannot be a candidate anyway. 5 lawsuits are there. Now he is in detention. We will turn on the television, Ekrem İmamoğlu is in front of the court." Is there a primary, brother? What election? There is no other candidate. The boy has no diploma. There is no other candidate, he has 5 lawsuits. Look, they took him away. Today they arrested him, put him in jail. That's why it's early in the morning.

Anyway. Let's look at our business. They made such a calculation. The result of such a calculation is this calendar. We are speeding up, they are speeding up. Tell Istanbul University to cancel the diploma. Second, the diploma cancellation letter to the university was not understood, he clarifies in the evening. We want diploma cancellation. 4 days later he says in a hurry, it will be Wednesday, gather on Tuesday and cancel it, he says. He does this on Wednesday morning. The only issue is there is no candidate left, it didn't happen. 1 million 750 thousand voters were going to vote for Ekrem İmamoğlu. Not even 300,000 people went to the ballot box. Anyway, there is no public support left behind İmamoğlu. Is that so? When they did that, we said that Ekrem İmamoğlu is no longer a presidential candidate of the Republican People's Party, he is a presidential candidate entrusted to our nation. Come on, we said.

CHALLENGED ERDOĞAN BY SHOWING İMAMOĞLU'S PHOTO

The day we said this, it was noon on March 19. In the evening we called to Saraçhane, 155,000 people came. The next evening, the second day 200,000 people came. On the third day, with 550,000 people, we said to Turkey, "One ballot box is entrusted to us, but the solidarity ballot box is entrusted to you," and we had said to our members: "Come, choose, go down in history." The day we were going to say "Come, choose, go down in history," after they did this, we said to our members: "Of course go, choose, go down in history, but inform the nation that we have entrusted the candidate to the nation. Convince them, encourage them, accompany them to the ballot box." Do you know what happened? Look, there are no Republican People's Party members you know behind me. There are 15.5 citizens of the Republic of Turkey whom Republican People's Party members took by the arm, explained to, and encouraged. They came, they chose, and they went down in history.

Politics, Mr. Tayyip, politics is not done by designing, planning, setting traps, setting conspiracies, digging ditches, putting a stick in the wheel of a working municipal car, putting a stone in an escalator, renting a municipal bus and burning the back of it saying "We are shooting a commercial," doing evil to my Mayor Ekrem, it is done with heart, brother, with heart, with heart. This man has heart. This man has a wrist you cannot bend. To bend his wrist, you must first bend our wrist. To bring his back to the ground, you must first make this Turkish nation kneel. There is no such plunder. There is no such plunder.

"THIS PROCESS MAKES AN EARLY ELECTION MANDATORY"

Now this process, now this process makes an early election and the change in this country from now on inevitable with all its urgency, its candidate, its intention, its determination, its motivation, and its millions in the streets. For this, of course, they will never act freely, calmly, correctly, honestly. What did they attempt to stain this process? Right from the beginning, when we said primary, it is not suitable for the calendar. It is not in your charter. It cannot be with a single candidate. Participation will be low. That will happen, this will happen. They made up everything until the nation put 15.5 million people to the ballot box. Now they have turned into a nightingale that ate mulberry. This time, the meetings in Saraçhane, the big gatherings that we continued until Sunday and are still continuing, which Ekrem İmamoğlu put 15.5 million behind him, are not rallies or anything.

They are trying to stain our act of claiming democracy. To show the youth against the police. While 80 deputies were mobilized so that the youth would disperse after all our meetings there were finished, while we were waiting on top of the bus for the square to empty, the square is being tried to be provoked with gas bombs, with unlawful orders given to the police. We have been taking precautions against this for days, we are warning, we are fighting a great struggle. On the one hand, of course, I have always explained to the friends who we always warned, who did not listen to our words and who turned to another target with another panic instead of positioning themselves in the right place. I want to explain it especially from here once again.

"OUR FRIENDS IN GEZİ ARE STILL PAYING THE PRICE"

Years ago, when Tayyip Erdoğan intended to cut down the only remaining greenery of Taksim in Taksim Park, in Gezi Park, and make it an Artillery Barracks, when he wanted to demolish the beautiful Atatürk Cultural Center and build a shopping mall in its place, the place that needed to be defended that day was Taksim. We all went together. We entered Gezi Park. We defended the tree. Our friends are still paying the price just because they were spokespeople. I visited him this morning too. Tayfun Kahraman. And we entered that park in peace, we left in peace. They also made a lot of manipulations over a couple of images with those who didn't want to leave recently, but Tayfun continued that process by getting the promise that the trees would not be cut down, that the Artillery Barracks would not be built, that the court would be waited for, even if it came out negative, which it didn't, by getting the guarantee that a referendum would be held, that the AKM would not be demolished and a shopping mall would not be built, and even if it were demolished, that a building aimed at culture and art would be built again as the Atatürk Cultural Center, and by achieving all of these things he said so far.

But unfortunately, he is now lying in Silivri Prison on behalf of all of us. He is lying on my behalf, he is lying on your behalf. Tayfun is lying like that, Can is lying like that, Osman Kavala is lying like that, Mine Özerden is lying like that. And all our friends are lying there in our place. The necessity of today, with the whole chronology I explained a little while ago, unfortunately and unfortunately, Tayyip Erdoğan tried to make a coup against the will of Istanbul with the belief that "He who loses Istanbul loses Turkey," with the belief that "He who wins Istanbul will also win Turkey," against the Istanbul he could not win. He tried to appoint a trustee.

"TAKSİM" MESSAGE

What he didn't account for were the millions in the street, the tens of millions in Turkey. It was their ownership. What he couldn't calculate was the heart of the 15 million we said came, chose, and went down in history, and the weariness of tens of millions more who would run to the ballot box if they had the means, if they had the news, and their belief in this process. Now, since today is the day to claim that will, we are in Saraçhane. That's why I have been in a small resting room in the back in Saraçhane from the first moment, on a sofa, I am in that room until this place is given not to a trustee but to an elected official of Istanbul, to a deputy mayor who will act as a proxy until Mayor Ekrem Bey comes, and hundreds of thousands are in those squares. That's why, that's why dear friends, that's why we cannot leave Saraçhane. Whoever says let's go to Taksim, let's go to that Taksim one day together, let's go together.

Whoever says let's go to Taksim, is saying it to divide that place. That's why they make them say it, they instill that idea. That's why we tell the youth, today 3-5 thousand people going towards the belts to go to Taksim, coming back by being repelled, gas being sprayed on the whole square with that excuse, pain being caused innocently, for nothing, is not a correct strategy. But we promise from here, now we will defend Saraçhane, the will of Istanbul. When the day comes, just as we took back the streets and squares for 5 days, 6 days despite all the bans, that day will come, we will take back Taksim together with hundreds of thousands, millions.

"INSULT" PROVOCATION IN SARAÇHANE

By the way, I heard with great sadness that an insult that came out of the mouths of 3-5 people reflected on television screens and social media last night, without knowing what state of mind, what nonsense, what rudeness they did it with, was directed at the mother of President Mr. Erdoğan. I am saying the tweet I sent exactly while looking into your eyes. I am saying it on live broadcasts. I consider an insult made to Tayyip Erdoğan's deceased mother as an insult made to my own mother. I consider it made to my own mother. Our business is with a clean language. Our business is not with insults, with swearing. This business is the same, look, whoever is making whoever do it, be sure of this. I would like to remind you that Osman Kavala, who erased with his own hands the Gezi protests, which are the most democratic, most humane actions in the world, saying oh, they drank alcohol in the mosque, they entered the mosque, or they insulted Tayyip Bey's mother, which he erased with his own hands, is still a convict in prison.

He had erased that insult with his own hands. Now similar scenarios are being applied. Whoever insults Tayyip Erdoğan's late mother, whoever writes insults here and there, or whoever attacks the innocent police for no reason, be sure that they are not a friend of Taksim, nor Saraçhane, nor Turkey. I warn all youth against provocations. However, apart from the provocateurs inside, they will certainly come, one must be careful, but I am also addressing the dirty mind that calls our innocent, well-intentioned youth marginal, trying to show their rightful reactions as unjust. If there is a marginal, it is not the youth who stand in solidarity with each other, arm in arm, chanting slogans together, defending democracy and the future of this country, even though they are from different views, from the far left to the far right, you are the marginal who have won the hatred of all of them, you are the marginal.