Bülent Arınç reveals his response to Özgür Özel's message: 'I also feel concern and sadness'

Bülent Arınç, who does not shy away from criticizing the AKP from time to time with his statements, made notable remarks during a program he attended on Ekol TV. 

Arınç said the following:

"I only showed a reaction regarding the event that will take place on October 1st. I have remained silent until today regarding the rallies held by the CHP or their remarks about our President or our Speaker of the Parliament. However, I know the Constitution and the internal regulations; the legislative year begins on October 1st and continues until July 1st. Even if this date is symbolic, it is the day the Parliament begins its legislative year. If the President attends, he gives a speech, but this is not mandatory. Despite this, all Presidents to date have been in Parliament on this special day."

"WE MUST BE IN PARLIAMENT"

Emphasizing that he has attended the October 1st session every year since 2007, Arınç stated, "This is behavior befitting the dignity of the Parliament. A matter mandated by the Constitution is being fulfilled. Regardless of which party we belong to, we must be there that day. It is not very important whether the entire party attends or only a portion comes, but they must definitely be represented," he said.

HE SHARED THE MESSAGE ÖZEL SENT TO HIM

In the message he sent to Arınç, CHP Chairman Özel explained both his past stance and the developments that have occurred recently. Özel used the following expressions:

“Dear Mr. Speaker, your suggestions and criticisms are very valuable as always. I am already following you on social media. Despite receiving a world of criticism from within the party and the opposition wing last year, and even though some friends within the party acted differently and opened our Chairmanship to debate, I stood the Republican People's Party group up with great determination as the President entered. I welcomed him standing myself. After becoming Chairman and winning the elections on March 31st, I was the one who made the holiday calls. I went to visit him, and I went to visit his party. When I came for a return visit, I had the Presidential Seal and the Turkish flag hoisted on your party's flagpole."

"THEY ATTACKED WITH FIVE THOUSAND POLICE"

“This morning at 8 o'clock, I visited our İzmir Provincial Chairman Mehmet Murat Çalık and our former İzmir Metropolitan Mayor in prison. The person whom 16 million Istanbulites said should govern us for the third time in a row is currently being held in prison. My party's Istanbul Provincial Congress is in court. The Istanbul Provincial Building is in court. The Istanbul Provincial Chairman is in court. They attacked with five thousand police. We have a cat named 'Lucky' in our Istanbul Provincial Building. It also had to go to the veterinarian.”

"THE PARTY CONGRESS I WON IS BEING OPENED TO DEBATE"

“They are opening to debate the party congress I won two years ago, where I achieved a first in our political history, in a place where Muharrem İnce said, 'If Atatürk were to come back, he couldn't defeat Kılıçdaroğlu with this delegate structure.' They are making efforts for its cancellation and the replacement of someone who was not elected. I was subjected to a physical attack at the funeral of the late Sürreya Önder. While Murat Çalık, who has had cancer twice, is being held in prison, the brute who attacked me and murdered his wife and two daughters was released yesterday. He expressed remorse in the last court session. However, in his first statements and first court appearances, his regret was that he could not truly hurt me.”

"MY DAUGHTER'S HOME ADDRESS WAS EXPOSED"

“My daughter, who lives alone in Istanbul, is constantly being threatened and targeted by having her home address exposed. While rebelling against these, 31 summaries of proceedings have arrived in a year and a half due to the struggle we are waging. They want to lift parliamentary immunity. Under these conditions, when the President comes, I cannot answer to my conscience whether we should continue our stance from last year and stand up, or abandon the approach we showed last year and sit in our seats.”

At the end of his message, Özel stated the following:

“Last year on October 1st, we were all together in Parliament. On October 2nd, he appointed Akın Gürlek to the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office from a political position. Since that day, my party has been under an attack that would make coup periods look mild, and even goes beyond them. A coup at least targets the entire political institution together. Here, these things are being done to only one party. I submit this to your appreciation, Mr. Speaker, with my respects.”

ARINÇ REVEALS HIS RESPONSE TO ÖZEL'S MESSAGE: YOU ARE REBELLING AGAINST INJUSTICES

Stating that he gave a short response to Özgür Özel's message, Bülent Arınç shared the following:

“Dear Chairman, good evening, my respects. Thank you very much for your response to my message. You may certainly be right about the issues you wrote about. I also feel concern sometimes and sadness on behalf of my country. You hold large-scale rallies against these every evening, and you speak in front of the media every day. You are rebelling against injustices. But I find such a protest wrong at the opening of the Parliament, which is a constitutional requirement.”