Breaking News... Sharp response from Özgür Özel to Erdoğan: 'He has an extremely honorable and principled stance'

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

Özel responded to AKP Chairman and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who targeted his party's Brussels rally with the words, “We have never been among those who bent or buckled at any point in our political life. We could never get them to accept standing tall against the outside world.”

Reminding the audience of the Russian jet and Pastor Brunson incidents, Özel said:

"When the Russian jet was shot down, he said, ‘I gave the order to shoot it down.’ He said if it happened today, he would shoot it down again. When Putin said, ‘I will present evidence at the UN of the oil your family is transporting,’ he quickly wrote a letter of apology. He went to his door and was made to wait with a countdown on Russian state television.

“As long as this soul remains in this body, I will not give you that pastor; if you want the pastor so much, give me my pastor and take yours,” he said. A phone call came from Trump, and Pastor Brunson suddenly found himself in the White House. They gave him a private jet and sent him to Trump. That soul is still in that body, Brunson is enjoying his life in America, and every time it crosses his mind, Trump continues to joke, ‘How he gave me my pastor, though.’ Mr. Erdoğan has an extremely honorable and principled stance..."

Highlights from Özel's speech are as follows:

"ERDOĞAN, DON'T TAKE IT PERSONALLY, THAT ERA IS OVER"

"Our programs in Europe received great interest from both within the country and abroad. Of course, Mr. Erdoğan is at the forefront of those showing interest. Because Erdoğan has such a mindset that what was permissible for him in the past is now forbidden to the opposition in the country he governs. His good deed will be our sin. He will draw a frame. The opposition will be conducted within it. The boundaries he draws will not be crossed. Every kind of oppression will be met with silence, and he will maintain his power. That era is over. He shouldn't take it personally, that era is over."

"YOU WILL RECEIVE COMPENSATION FROM THE STATE, THIS WILL NOT BE A COMPLAINT"

Furthermore, when there was a headscarf issue in universities in Turkey, you would go to the European Court of Human Rights and file a lawsuit.

You would win the case. You would receive compensation from the state. This would not be considered complaining to Europe. Even back then, I was saying that what was being done was wrong and that seeking rights was legitimate.

A closure case would be filed against the AK Party. You would form delegations of three or four. You would go to world capitals. You would explain a judicial process in your own country to world capitals, and this would be legitimate. On the evening of July 15, those you gave whatever they wanted, those you were inseparable from, those you provided with F16s and tanks, would attempt a coup against democracy.

"ERDOĞAN SAID, 'HELP US EXPLAIN THIS TO THE WORLD'"

We will put aside all the hostilities and injustices you have done to us and stand by democracy against the coup. You will make the first thank-you call to us in the morning. Then you will say, 'The CHP's international connections are very strong. Help us explain this coup to the world together.' Then all of these things will happen. In other words, when you are a victim of a coup, you go abroad and explain it. Then, years later, consistent with the approach of saying, 'This democracy is a train, a tram; we got on it when it suited us, and we get off when it doesn't,' you win elections for years and call it national will, but when you lose once, you call it a dirty will. While posing for photos with certificates of election for years, you have the nation's certificates canceled; when you win elections for years, you hold them in high regard, but when you lose an election, you suddenly place them on the other side and attempt a coup. Those who went and explained it to the world when they were victims of a coup want silence when they are the perpetrators of a coup. As the Republican People's Party, we have been doing this for 2 years wherever we go in the world."

"BAHÇELİ, THAT ABUNDANCE OF YOGURT IS NO LONGER ANYWHERE"

Bahçeli said it openly. 'Let the arm be broken and remain within the sleeve...' The broken arm is ours. Those who are wronged are our friends. The arm is broken in this country, the pocket is empty, but you want us to remain silent. Bahçeli, don't take it personally, that abundance of yogurt is no longer anywhere.

"WHILE WE SHOULD BE TRYING NETANYAHU IN THE HAGUE..."

They gave a standing ovation to those who attacked the Freedom Flotilla. And Trump turned and said to Netanyahu, 'You can rejoice, you can be happy. You won the war.' He said, 'You succeeded.' He said, 'I gave you my best weapons. You did a good job,' and he was applauded for minutes. Then he went from there to Egypt, and I suppose we are following Erdoğan on many issues abroad regarding Turkey. We are watching. We say we support him when he takes the right stance from time to time. I said it from this podium without hesitation. Not taking sides between Russia and Ukraine, being cynical about peace, and working on the grain corridor are the right things to do. We said we would do the same if we were in power. Most of the time, we criticized his mistakes.

"I HAVE NEVER FELT AS NAUSEATED AS I DID YESTERDAY"

But I have never been as ashamed as I was yesterday. I have never felt as nauseated as I did yesterday. As if that show in the Israeli parliament wasn't enough, apparently Netanyahu was going to come and Erdoğan opposed it. Where is Netanyahu coming to? Where is Netanyahu coming to? The man with blood on his hands. The genocidal Netanyahu, perpetrator of massacres. While we should be having him tried in The Hague, while we should be holding him accountable for the blood of 67,000 people, they were almost going to come together and it was opposed. My biggest shame is this. There was joy in two places yesterday. One was in the Israeli parliament; it wasn't even this much in the Israeli press. The second was in the AK Party's pro-government press. From here, they are trying to portray what happened yesterday as a success, a victory, that Hamas resisted, Erdoğan won. What did Erdoğan win?

"LIKE THE TAMBOURINE PLAYER AT ISRAEL'S WEDDING..."

Erdoğan remained silent toward Trump for years. Trump praised Netanyahu and paved the way for him. Women were mowed down in bread lines. You didn't make a peep. You didn't make a peep. You couldn't lift a finger. Only when they agreed on the distribution issue there, that the hydrocarbons would be America's, that there would be an American annexation in Gaza, while all 150 countries had recognized Palestine, they made a maneuver of their own. Our pro-government press, without shame or embarrassment, without seeing that atmosphere in the Israeli parliament, is trying to show this as a success to see if it will be of any use to Erdoğan in domestic politics. Gentlemen, I am telling all of you while looking into your eyes. Hey, we are human. There are 67,000 corpses there. You are acting like the tambourine player at Israel's wedding. Shame on all of you. Shame on you. While 67,000 Palestinians, half of whom are women and children, have been massacred, I say to the pro-government press that dances to Israel's drum and zurna: you have neither localism nor nationalism. You don't have this much conscience. There is only sycophancy. There is only sycophancy. What was signed is not a peace treaty, but a ceasefire agreement.

"PALESTINE IS NOT IN THE DECLARATION OF INTENT"

The document Erdoğan posed with his signature on is a declaration of intent. It does not contain an independent Palestinian state. There is no reference to a two-state solution. There is no mention that Gaza is Palestinian land. There is no will regarding Palestine being governed by elected Palestinians. There is no reminder of international law against this crime against humanity committed against those who killed 70,000 people. What is there? There is a wedding and celebration in Israel. And our shameless ones are forming convoys in Turkey following Israel. Shame on you. On this subject, I said it a moment ago. How so, sir? 'You will engage in politics in the area we draw. We became the locomotive. You will attach yourselves to us like Qatar, you will become wagons, choo-choo, I will lead the way. Opposition, you will line up behind me'.

"WE WILL LINE UP NEITHER BEHIND NOR BESIDE ERDOĞAN"

Forget those, Erdoğan, forget those. Those are far behind. We say what we know to be right, we defend it. We will line up neither behind Erdoğan nor beside him. Whenever this oppression continues, we will fight for it inside and explain it outside. We are friends of Palestine. We are against the oppressors. We say this to those who hope for help from Trump. May your Trump be blessed. We are against him too. We are against you too. If we had been afraid of the President of America, the Cyprus Peace Operation could not have been carried out. If we had been afraid of the states, kings, and leaders of the world, the National Struggle could not have been successful.

AMASRA MINE DISASTER

Today, October 14, is the 3rd anniversary of the disaster in the Turkish Hard Coal Enterprise's mine in Amasra, where we lost 43 workers. Those who did not learn lessons from the loss of our 301 children in Soma had called that mine the safest mine in the world. However, the promises made to the families of those who died from Soma to this day were kept. The promises made to the remaining miners were partially kept. No progress has been made on commitments regarding occupational safety. I had said that miners all over Turkey are going down to and coming up from death in 3 shifts a day. Subsequently, despite the 2019 Court of Accounts report stating there was high risk in the mine they labeled as the safest in the world, no precautions were taken, and the trial phase has been ongoing since that day. And the sentences given to the defendants after the massacre did not cool the hearts. The crime of probable intent for 4 people was converted to conscious negligence. In other words, the sentences were reduced. They will be released in 2.5-3 years. With the objection of the miners' families, permission was granted to investigate the former General Manager of TTK and the Ministry of Energy inspectors. A lawsuit was filed for misconduct in office. The upper limit of the penalty is 2 years. In other words, so to speak, in the common parlance, there is no jail time. In other words, they said 'okay, okay' because the families wanted it. Even if they received the maximum sentence, they wouldn't spend a day in jail. That is why the Republican People's Party is not a party that cries for a disaster or an accident on that day, mourns with headlines, and then forgets when the headlines go silent and the cameras leave and they can't find space in the corners.

"THE DAY WILL COME WHEN THEY WILL BE TRIED AGAIN"

Just as we followed every single case of the Soma trial from the first day to the last moment, just as we followed Amasra, we continue to follow all cases that open a social wound in the society and where the society is not convinced that justice has been served, with all their processes. The day will come when this group will not be here. There is a larger hall. We will be there. But I will go out that day. In our group meeting that day, as the party chairman, looking into the eyes of all of you, and not those who are brought to the galleries to applaud and chant slogans, but the Soma families, Amasra families, Ermenek families, Çorlu families, Lokumcu's family, the families of our brothers and sisters massacred in Gezi, we will say to Berkin Elvan's mother: we are reopening all these cases. They will be tried again.

MESSAGE TO AKP AND MHP VOTERS

I am saying this to AK Party and MHP voters here. Being a member of the AK Party, having voted for it, having engaged in politics in the AK Party for a period, none of these are matters of hostility for us. It was done for the sake of it being good. Undoubtedly. Or an identity card was obtained. It was registered by the neighborhood head. We are registering members to the party. One or two out of every five new members we register turn out to have been members of the AK Party before. Most of them don't even know. Therefore, let no one have this anxiety. When the Republican People's Party comes tomorrow, will something happen to us? Nothing will happen to those who vote, those who are members, those who engage in politics. But those who have the blood of Berkin Elvan on their hands, the blood of Soma, the blood of Amasra, you will be tried, brother. You will be tried again.

"A RETIREE IN TURKEY BUYS 19 KILOS, IN BELGIUM 108 KILOS OF GROUND MEAT"

We are not among those who make concessions to protect the interests of this country. Defending the peace and prosperity of the nation doesn't happen like that anyway. Look, we were in Belgium. We were with so many of our compatriots. With those who came from Europe. But we talked to them. Our friends who went 3 days early walked around, took notes. They brought them to me there. I said it there. Is it true? It is true. Let's look at it here too. Some say, 'Sir, we are saying it. On one side, democracy is good in countries where the rule of law prevails. Because there is democracy, the economy is good, because the economy is good, wages are good, prices are low. On the other hand, the government's trumpeters say, 'Sir, inflation is everywhere in the world. The European average is 2 percent, in Turkey it is 3.5 percent in September. 'Sir, inflation is a problem everywhere. Purchasing power is low everywhere'. And Belgium is not one of the best countries in terms of minimum wage. It's somewhere in the middle. The retirement pension in Belgium is 1619 Euros. There are countries in Europe where this is 3,000, 3,500 Euros. 1619 Euros. The retirement pension in Turkey is 348 Euros. 1619, 348. Let's look at the purchasing power. When you go with a retirement pension, you can buy 19 kilos of ground beef in Turkey. A retiree in Belgium can buy 108 kilos of ground beef. Purchasing power in terms of ground meat is 6 times higher. A retiree in Turkey can buy 218 liters of milk with a pension. In Belgium, 1819 liters. In other words, it makes a difference both in salary and in purchasing power by multiples. 200 liters to 1,800, it makes a 9-fold difference in purchasing power in terms of milk. If you ask about the minimum wage, it is 1,919 Euros in Belgium, which is 93,000 liras in Turkish currency. As we say, the poverty line is 91,000 liras. A minimum wage earner who has just started working for a year is above that poverty line. In other words, a minimum wage earner is considered rich. In Turkey, it is 456 Euros. While a Belgian minimum wage earner can buy 128 kilos of ground beef, a minimum wage earner in Turkey can only buy 30 kilos. In other words, for a retiree, it is 108 to 19 kilos. For a minimum wage earner, it is 128 to 30 kilos.

In other words, whether it is a minimum wage earner or a retiree, it is like this. Then someone came up to me and said, 'He is angry about the gold account'. He also gets angry about the ground meat account. But he said, 'Ask him that'. He said the brand of the car, I won't say it. How much do you work to buy this in Turkey, and how much here? The car is the same car. A minimum wage earner works for this car, by the way, this car is the same car, but it is sold for 18,300 Euros in Europe. It is sold for 31,000 Euros in Turkey. The difference is the extra tax our people take. The car is not produced in Turkey. It is sold for 18,300 liras abroad. Almost double in Turkey.

"THE RETURN ON SWEAT IN TURKEY IS NOT ONE-SEVENTH OF THAT IN BELGIUM"

A Belgian minimum wage earner works for 10 months to buy this car. When he puts his 10-month minimum wage, he buys this car. In Turkey, 6 years, even 70 months. By working for 70 months, 72 months. 10 months in one place, 72 months in another, 7 times. In other words, the return on sweat in Turkey is not even one-seventh of the return on sweat in Belgium. Now they tell me, 'Europe is not at its old strength'. Let me say this much. East and West are not two different directions. Anyway, if there is democracy in the West or the East, let's go to the East. If there is democracy in the North, let's go to the North. But let's go in the direction where democracy is. We say let's govern like them. Let's be governed like them. As you go West, the leaders' cars become more modest. Remember, Merkel herself was riding in a Volkswagen Transporter minibus. They produced the world's most expensive Mercedes at that time, the limousine Mercedes. If two of them form a group tomorrow, they will come to the parliament, Mr. Erdoğan too. When they come to the road, one goes this way and one goes that way for security reasons.

"TWO OF THE WORLD'S 10 MOST EXPENSIVE LIMOUSINES ARE OURS"

Two of the world's 10 most expensive limousine Mercedes are ours. Two are in Qatar. One is in the United Arab Emirates. The other one is in Saudi Arabia. Two are ours. But Merkel was selling this car to the authoritarian leaders on this side and riding in a modest minibus herself. While there were flying palaces in Turkey, 14 flying palaces, 14 luxury planes were flying on schedule. But the purchasing power of the minimum wage in Germany compared to Turkey was 8 times higher in those days. Now it might have become even more. As you go to democratic countries, houses get smaller. They become more modest, convoys get shorter. Cars become simpler. But the people are rich. As you go towards the East, 1000-room palaces. Thank God, ours has 1500 rooms. Long convoys, flying palaces, floating palaces, they all exist. We have a floating palace. We have a flying palace. We have a summer palace. We have a palace in Ahlat, a summer palace in Oltuk. There is a 1500-room palace here. But the nation is suffering. This is the biggest goal that the Republican People's Party has set before Turkey from now on. We are not candidates for Erdoğan's convoy, limousine Mercedes, flying, floating, escaping, summer, winter palaces, but for the future of those in Turkey, for their bellies to be full, for them to have purchasing power like in Europe.

"IF ERDOĞAN STAYS, IF WE ARE BUYING 18 KILOS OF GROUND MEAT, IT WILL DROP TO 8 KILOS"

If Erdoğan continues to stay in power after the upcoming election, if we are buying 18 kilos of ground meat, it will drop to 9 kilos. Let no one have any doubt. Because this order has come from 2002, when a minimum wage earner could buy 8 quarter gold coins, to today, when they can buy 3 quarter gold coins. We have come to these days from a retirement pension that could buy 8.5 quarter gold coins to today, when it can buy 2 quarter gold coins.

And this order continues in this way. One day I asked in one of the squares, you are watching, you are already participating in the actions. Does Erdoğan love you? They said 'no'. I said 'why'? Someone shouted from there 'because we are poor'. Since that day, we have been asking 'why are we poor?'. Look, why are we poor? The cost of the March 19 coup is 160 billion dollars. I am not saying this. The state's records say this. The reserve they sold, the burden added to interest, the external debt burden brought by the interest rate hike, and everything. Everything. This money spent on the March 19 coup is this billion, but new billion, meaning you will add 6 more zeros to this with the old money. It is not like the old billion. This is the billion of the new money. They spent 150 times the raise given to the retiree for the March 19 coup. They spent 120 times the money they said didn't exist, the raise not given to the minimum wage earner, that is, we said make it 30,000 liras for 22,000 liras. They are supporting the farmer. We say that according to the law, 1 percent of the gross national product that he should receive is 0.2 per thousand, you should give 5 times that. They say 'we won't give it'. They spend 100 times that on this coup. Look, if they gave 5 times what all the farmers in Turkey receive, they would breathe if they gave it according to the law, they don't give it there, they give it here.

"INDIRECT TAX IS THE LOWEST TAX IN THE WORLD"

In Turkey, you pay 89 percent of the tax, the rich pay 11 percent. Look, this figure, this rate is exactly where the trouble starts. Can indirect tax be collected in a country? It can. There is 20 percent indirect tax in OECD countries too. Indirect tax is the lowest tax in the world. It is the most unfair tax. Why? A factory owner and the guard at the gate of that factory who earns a lot of money pay the same tax. On what? They pay the same money, the same tax on electricity, water, mobile phone calls, milk, olive oil, eggs, their child's school bus, indirect tax. The rate of this indirect tax in Turkey is 66 percent. In other words, the tax collected from everyone without distinguishing between poor and rich is 66 percent of all taxes. Then there is also a 23 percent tax. Tax deducted from salaries. In other words, the tax deducted from all the salaries received by all employees and the pensions received by retirees, only the share up to the minimum wage is exempt. You know there is a tax deducted from all salaries paid in Turkey before the money is withdrawn, the tax deducted on the payroll before it touches the hand, enters the pocket or bag, is 23 percent, did it make 89 percent? What remains is 11 percent. What is this? Corporate tax. The tax paid by companies from their earnings in all areas of the service sector, trade, and production carried out all over Turkey is 11 percent of the total tax. 89 percent from those sitting in this hall. 11 percent is the tax collected from those who earn money and scratch their bellies over us. If the government in this country does not change and a government that is a friend of the retiree, the employee, the worker, the civil servant, the farmer, and the tradesman does not come instead of Tayyip Erdoğan, if it does not overthrow and change this tax order, no one's problem in this country will be solved. We are candidates to change this unfair and dishonorable order. Not anything else.