BREAKING NEWS... Özgür Özel speaks after visiting İmamoğlu: Important message ahead of Erdoğan-DEM meeting!

CHP leader Özgür Özel visited Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality Mayor and CHP presidential candidate Ekrem İmamoğlu, who is being held in Silivri Prison as part of a corruption investigation.

Speaking after the visit, Özgür Özel's agenda included the İBB operations, the detained youth, the operations targeting Timur Soykan and Murat Ağırel, and the new peace process.

Here are the highlights from Özel's statements:

They want their defense statements to be broadcast on television. There is not a single document other than the secret witness. There are the slanders of secret witnesses. They want every transaction deemed suspicious to be judged absolutely in front of the nation. The case has been turned into a symbol of the Ergenekon and Balyoz investigations. The case of the conspiracy is being heard in the venue of the conspiracy.

Tomorrow, our entire party organization will be in that courtroom, standing by Mayor Ekrem.

HARSH WORDS FOR MINISTER OF NATIONAL EDUCATION YUSUF TEKİN

There are students inside for crimes that do not even carry a one-day sentence. The Minister of National Education says they have axes in their hands. What a shameless person you are. There cannot be such slander. Every day they are kept here is torture. It is an operation of starvation, dehydration, and intimidation. From here, we once again demand freedom for the youth. We want them to be able to take their school exams.

OPERATIONS AGAINST TİMUR SOYKAN AND MURAT AĞIREL

Timur Soykan received an award for his report on the scandalous wedding. But that same Timur Soykan was taken from his home by police at the crack of dawn this morning. They detained Murat Ağırel and Timur Soykan to intimidate them.

THESE ARE THE STATE'S POLICE, NOT THE JUNTA'S

Our police are the children of this nation; they are the state's police, not the junta's. I am calling out once again. To our police officers who are subjected to unlawful orders and sleep using their helmets as pillows, I say: we will change this government. It is our duty to save you from those who give you unlawful orders.

MESSAGE AHEAD OF ERDOĞAN-DEM MEETING

Today, an important meeting is taking place, one to which the public attaches great importance. The Republican People's Party's stance on the Kurdish issue has been very clear, very obvious, and very consistent for years. We believe that a "Kurdish issue" exists. Why? If Kurds say, "I have a problem," then it exists. It is up to all of us to solve it. One should not ignore it by saying, "It does not exist." They say, "A Turkey without terror." We condemn terror, and we support a Turkey without terror. A Turkey without terror is possible through democratic openings. For this, the right platform is the Parliament. For the resolution of this issue, we attach great importance to the Parliament, to being in the Parliament, for a process that is transparent on the parliamentary floor, that excludes no one, that does not ignore the feelings of our martyrs' families and veterans, that takes their opinions into account, and that covers all victims. Look, we are experiencing a great contradiction. Now, someone is lying in the prison behind me. Everyone knows who had him put inside. The question is this: The crime of offering Kurds in the west positions in municipal councils to give them a say in the city's administration, even though the DEM party cannot win elections in the west... This is considered a terror crime, and Mayor Ekrem is being accused of this. Someone accused of this is lying inside. Someone who says it is a terrorist activity if Kurds become municipal council members, someone who had him put inside, is today supposedly... He now says there is no Kurdish issue, and he will create a Turkey without terror. The understanding that will succeed in creating a Turkey without terror, solving the Kurdish issue at its root, making all Kurds equal citizens, and making them feel that this state belongs to them, is here. The presidential candidate of this understanding is now lying inside. We, whom the Kurds trust, will solve this problem. This problem cannot be solved by an understanding that sees Kurds as second-class citizens, does not even deem them worthy of municipal councils, and sees Kurds as "Kurd equals problem, Kurd equals terror." However, we are ready to support every transparent, peaceful step to be taken on the parliamentary floor, but I would like to express once again that those who ignore the Parliament, ignore the Kurds, ignore the problem, and stall while speaking arrogantly are not sincere in solving this problem, and that none of us have any tolerance for failure.