CHP Chair Özgür Özel's 'We have not been deceived by Erdoğan' statement: Commission decision and Bahçeli's remarks

CHP Chair Özgür Özel stated that they will provide members to the commission to be established in the Grand National Assembly of Turkey (TBMM) within the scope of the resolution process the moment TBMM Speaker Numan Kurtulmuş officially announces that “a qualified majority will be taken as the basis for commission decisions.”

Expressing that the CHP not providing members to the commission under these conditions would squander the party's historical consistency, Özel argued that President Erdoğan does not want them in the commission and said, “Let Erdoğan fear us.” While stating that he found the support given to the lifting of parliamentary immunities in the past to be wrong, Özel also emphasized that the trauma between Kurdish voters and the CHP has been overcome. Regarding the possibility of an early election and Ekrem İmamoğlu not being accepted as a presidential candidate, Özel said, “İmamoğlu is our candidate until his candidacy is rejected. If it is rejected, we will sit down and determine the most appropriate name.”

Özgür Özel made statements to Gökçer Tahincioğlu and Ceren Bala Teke from T24 at the CHP Headquarters.

HERE ARE THE HIGHLIGHTS FROM ÖZGÜR ÖZEL'S STATEMENTS

-You have listed and clearly conveyed the principles regarding the commission to be established in the TBMM. However, when will this work be concluded?

Our main demand is this; let there be equal representation and a qualified majority. They do not favor the issue of equal representation for this reason; when you give equal representation to other parties, it needs to be very crowded. Like 100 people. There is no need for ten people for our party's representation and contribution. So, four friends can actually handle this job. But they want the number like this. From this point on, the qualified majority gains such importance. It is as if the AKP and MHP have already solved the matter. Then we have no meaning. At least we have a lot of work on democratization like this. The Justice and Democracy Commission we established has been working for eight or nine months.

It made twenty-six separate proposals to the Central Executive Board (MYK) under eight headings. Each of them is a proposal on what the CHP should demand and what it should do in this process from this commission. It was a very comprehensive preparation. We are prepared.

“THEY THREATEN WOMEN WITH THEIR CHILDREN, FATHERS WITH THEIR SONS"

Now they are reducing the point of participation in the commission to be established in Parliament to this; let the operations against the CHP stop… Was everything rosy in the country on March 18? Are the fact that trial without detention should be the basis, the rapid writing of indictments, prosecutors applying mafia-like methods, etc., only problems that have appeared before us today? Of course, I told these to everyone I met, that is, I told Mr. Numan, I told Mr. İbrahim, and I am telling the chairs of all parties. Especially whoever I see from the AK Party, I tell them and have them told. I say, ‘Do you know what is being experienced during your term?’ They threaten women with their children, they threaten fathers with their sons.

EXPLAINED THE CONDITION FOR REMAINING IN THE COMMISSION

This is a part of the job, but there is already a need in Turkey, for example, for the punishment of hate speech. There is a need for the definition of terrorism to truly describe terrorism. There are important needs such as the removal of some laws that criminalize and threaten the profession, the journalism profession, such as the disinformation law, which was derived from other authoritarian populist leaders. In general; all kinds of bad regulations and misused regulations regarding freedom of thought need to be changed. That is why we will enter the commission, oppose, do politics firmly, explain the truth there, and then if progress is made, we will remain in the commission.

“THEY WILL NOT BE ABLE TO DO IT BY THEMSELVES"

The AKP has reached a critical point in lawlessness, trampling on democracy, and aggression. Now they cannot turn back. The return seems more costly. But they cannot go forward either. There will be no further from here. They need an exit. And when we look at it through their own management style and Erdoğan's character, they will not be able to do it by themselves easily. So, if they are looking for an exit for themselves and the country from this point they have brought the country to, this commission is a very good opportunity for this. But sincerity is needed here, or really good intentions are needed.

"WE HAVE NOT BEEN DECEIVED BY ERDOĞAN"

Until today, the Republican People's Party has not been a party that Erdoğan could deceive. We have not been deceived by Erdoğan. That is why no one should think this time either, that is, the CHP is entering, Erdoğan will deceive them… Will he do it like this, will he do it like that?

There will not be the slightest retreat in the struggle. The softening of our tough struggle is only possible with the elimination of all the injustices actually committed. Otherwise, we will not take a step back just because we entered the same commission.

"WE ARE ALREADY TOGETHER"

We are already working together with them in about twenty commissions. Just as entering there does not mean working with the AK Party and MHP, this is also like that, but this commission has a historical duty. It will both contribute to the end of terrorism and ensure a step back from the dictatorial regime in the country by using terrorism as an excuse. So, if they are going to stop using terrorism as an excuse to establish a dictatorial regime in the country, labeling everyone as a terrorist, and arresting everyone, and if we are going to perform these two functions together, we will be there.

"THERE WILL BE FRIENDS WHO WILL REPRESENT TURKEY"

I told the group deputy chairs. Let the Parliament Speaker make a statement and say, ‘a qualified majority will definitely be sought.’ We said we would report the names. It is not in the letter he sent because there is no such thing. The moment he says this, we will provide members. That commission needs to be attended and defended. Seven of our members in the commission are lawyers, and in fact, it is a law commission. It is a kind of technical preparation commission. There will also be our politician friends who are not lawyers in the parliamentary commission. Geography is also important, there will be friends who will represent all of Turkey.

-What would be said for you to withdraw from the commission?

Those who invited us to that commission and those who want us to remain in that commission will know that we will not talk about the constitution in that commission. So, we are very clear on this issue. We cannot make a constitution with those who do not comply with the current constitution. Our conditions for talking about the constitution were already very clear long before our attitude regarding this commission. We will not make a constitution with those who do not comply with the constitution. While Can Atalay is inside, while Osman Kavala is inside, while our friends in Gezi are inside despite various favorable decisions despite the ECHR decision, while Selahattin Demirtaş is inside, and on the other hand, while no concrete allegation has been put forward against them and an indictment is not being written, while the elected mayor of Istanbul is inside, it cannot happen. How are we going to make a constitution with them when 75 percent of the society knows that they are kept inside politically? There is no such ground. In the sixteen-article proposal we wrote to the commission, we wrote that it should be limited to legal work. We can make laws, we cannot make a constitution.

-How much does Erdoğan want you in the commission, do you think he really wants you?

I don't think he wanted it. Because he has been dragging his feet for a long time, and the approaches of Devlet Bahçeli and Erdoğan to this process are a bit different from each other. I am not interested in that part of the job at all. There is something I know politically.

In history, there are sometimes critical turning points, moments of rupture. Are you in the right place in history there? The CHP is a Social Democratic party. The organization has announced that it will lay down arms. It is clear that for about a year and a half, some officials of the state have also talked to the organization about this issue. And a legal basis for this work needs to be formed. An important duty falls to the parliament for this. And for years, we have said that if such a job is to be done, let it be done in parliament, and if the Kurdish issue is to be solved, let it be solved in parliament, let it be solved within the framework of democratization. Now, at this point, categorically not entering this commission would squander and reject the CHP's historical consistency.

But I understand this, people's anxiety… All emotions are traumatized right now. Especially the opposition voter has no trust left in the Justice and Development Party, or rather in this palace regime. They think nothing can be done with them. They are very right about this. But this issue is not a coalition negotiation. It is not a negotiation to whitewash the AK Party's past. It is not a negotiation to give credit to the AK Party for the future. It is not a negotiation to give Erdoğan the right to be elected once again.

ON THE DISCUSSIONS OF WITHDRAWING FROM PARLIAMENT...

There is a ground, an opportunity where all the objections we make, both ours, the DEM party members', and all the intellectuals of Turkey, that ‘there is a Kurdish issue in Turkey. Many practices of the state in Turkey are not in accordance with the rule of law,’ can be discussed and eliminated through law. If I am not doing this categorically in the same place as Erdoğan, then I should also withdraw from Parliament. Because you are also in a lot of commissions in Parliament. If you say I will not be in the same commission as Erdoğan, you will also withdraw from the Planning and Budget Commission, and you will withdraw from Parliament. This is something else. They are making discussions about withdrawing from Parliament, sine-i millet (returning to the people).

And if we withdrew from parliament, Erdoğan would be most pleased with this. Because there would be a by-election immediately sixty days later. Since we are not going to try to enter the Parliament we withdrew from again, since they would take half or a third of the seat you withdrew from in today's equation even if we entered… They will easily do the four hundred they want and change the Constitution as they wish.

-Your meeting with MİT President İbrahim Kalın did not reflect much in the press. What was discussed? Do you think you can really get sincere information from the state about this process?

Secret meeting. And there is nothing that will reflect much. So let me say this; we have no doubt about the sincerity of the people who met with us, but there is no new information either. The presentations made to us are already a bit more detailed versions of things we already know. But İbrahim Kalın's political past, his name, his identity are obvious, but in the end, due to his duty today, we see them as an institution of the state. We expect such an approach from them as well. We gave the message that if you are aware of the power of the CHP, know that we will use that power in the best way.

-There is also a constant insistence on you to ‘do Ankara politics.’ How do you interpret this insistence in particular?

They had said together, ‘Come and sit at the headquarters at the head of the party. If you travel outside so much, we will take the party.’ What they mean by Ankara politics is that they are actually uncomfortable with this opposition understanding that struggles and travels all over Turkey. Come to Ankara, hold a group meeting on Tuesdays. Do a few things in between if you do, don't if you don't. What we do is a rally in a city every Saturday. We are going to Aksaray this week too. We know that rallies and squares disturb Erdoğan, that he doesn't like them, and that he has a phobia. That is what he means by ‘Ankara politics.’

"OUR CANDIDATE IS İMAMOĞLU"

-You pointed to November 2 for an early election. So, does the CHP have a roadmap for November 2 now? Doesn't the CHP also have a candidate problem? It is clear that it will not be possible for Ekrem Bey to be a candidate on this date according to the legal situation. In this case, what will you do if the government says ‘okay’ for November 2?

Ekrem İmamoğlu is the candidate of the Republican People's Party until the election decision is officially taken and the time for the candidacy application comes. Because changing the candidate is no longer even in the hands of the candidate. 15.5 million people came and voted. When analyzed within these 15.5 million people, things come out that people who have never passed through the door of the CHP in their lives have come and voted for the candidate in solidarity against that injustice. Ekrem İmamoğlu is the candidate of those people, we will push all legal and political conditions and grounds for Ekrem İmamoğlu to be a candidate until the last moment.

"THE MOST APPROPRIATE CANDIDATE IS LOOKED AT"

When there is a point where he cannot be a candidate, that day we will turn and look at who will win, who is the most appropriate candidate? Who is winning with? If it is necessary to make another decision, and I hope it is not necessary. We will make that decision all together, in unity and solidarity. The important thing is this; so we will do whatever is necessary to change this government. Ekrem İmamoğlu's primary process is also about this. We are waging this struggle because we believe that this is the right thing to do in the process after he was taken into custody and arrested.

-Are you receiving threats?

I am, there are those who are arrested. Of course, there is also a state protection decision about us. But I mean, there are types who are arrested for threatening my wife and daughter. Threats are coming, let me say that appropriate measures are being taken for this.

-Do you have any concerns about the lifting of immunity? Do you think it will come to this point?

It won't come. They wouldn't dare. Because we feel that we have a social immunity beyond constitutional immunity right now. Because everyone has protected each other in the square after this March 19 process, they also protect me. That is why, I mean, they wouldn't dare to lift immunity and put me in jail in such a process. That job is not an easy job. I do not find the lifting of immunity correct regardless of which political view it comes from, and this turns into a new struggle and resistance area for us.

-You had brought up the issue of broadcasting the hearings of presidential candidate Ekrem İmamoğlu on TRT. After Bahçeli's positive approach, Erdoğan had also said, “If Mr. Bahçeli used such a thing, it is a very nice appreciation in my opinion. Let's say it will be auspicious, hopefully.” Is there any development regarding this issue?

We had submitted our legislative proposal on May 9. We also reminded them while Parliament was closing, let's pass it, but they did not favor it. Now we will remind them during these commission works. This will actually be a general gain for Turkey anyway. Our proposal is this; in case the person being tried or the parties accept it, the trials can be broadcast by television channels. We want TRT to allocate a channel for this process and broadcast the whole thing. We also want every television channel that wants to be able to access it via frequency and broadcast it live. Concerns are being expressed like this. ‘What if TRT broadcasts the indictments, the allegations, but not the answers?’ True, that is… What is expected from a channel that gives us five minutes and the AK Party one thousand 265 minutes in elections? We mentioned TRT in terms of doing public broadcasting, but we advocate that it should be open to all television channels by giving frequency. I guess Bahçeli will stand behind his word.

-Is it true that Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu does not want to meet with you?

I went to pay my condolences last. Before that, we met whenever we wanted. He also came to Altan Öymen's funeral, sat in the office room. I treat Mr. Kemal as one should treat previous chairs. I never fail in respect. Mr. Kemal also never fails in such bilateral dialogues. But other than that, he had said to the friends who left during this June 15 process, ‘if it happens, I will also call Özgür Özel.’

In that process, they asked me, ‘are you going to go and talk?’ There was nothing to talk about under those conditions, but I mean, I also made an appointment when I was making the charter last year, I went. I made a long presentation to him about the charter in the presence of Mayor Mansur and the Ankara Provincial Chair. I said we will do it like this, like this. So, I am doing everything I need to do, and I will continue to do so.

I hope we are leaving behind the processes where that party is constantly discussed on television. Let there be health. Neither the party benefited from this nor Mr. Kemal benefited. None of us benefited, I mean.

Now the issue is the time to wear out Mr. Tayyip, the time to wear out the AK Party, I mean. Why should we wear each other out? If you ask me ‘what is your success or talent in politics,’ I read the tension in the field. So, when I go out to the street, I understand what the citizen thinks. Right now, the citizen thinks that the CHP is experiencing a grievance, is under a political attack, has been treated unfairly, and therefore keeps the moral superiority in the CHP. He does not find what the AK Party does moral. Moral superiority brings psychological superiority in politics. It is also a skill to turn it into majority energy. Right now, the Republican People's Party is doing a very important thing. It has politically turned moral superiority into psychological superiority, but it supports this with a majority energy.

In this commission discussion, we visited over 280 martyr and veteran associations. All of them said we are satisfied with the CHP's attitude. This is not a job that can be done without having this moral superiority in hand, without keeping the psychological superiority, and without being supported in the field with majority energy. We are in a political power that receives satisfaction from both the DEM party voter, the nationalist voter, the families of martyrs, and the Saturday Mothers.