CHP Chairman Özgür Özel answers the question 'Will İmamoğlu become an MP?': The Can Atalay detail

Özgür Özel answered questions about the current agenda on SÖZCÜ TV.

The highlights of Özel's statements are as follows:

"Turkey hasn't remained in the past; the new version is even worse. In the 90s, no one was attacking politicians who targeted the government with clubs. These things are happening in this era. It happened to Mr. Kemal, and to Mr. Deniz. I said it at the moment of the attack, too. It is not right for me to attribute this to any party. It would not be right to blame anyone in the heat of the moment."

"I AM AS SURE AS MY NAME THAT IT WAS DONE BY ORDER"

The main burden that needs to be placed on their shoulders is to uncover this incident with all its connections. I am as sure as my name that this matter was carried out by order. I have said it from time to time. There is a killer, not just any person. This killer is touching you. This means 'pull yourself together.' Secondly, 'he who has no mercy for his own child, will he have mercy on you?' It says, 'think about this twice.' That attacker was there two hours earlier, he walked around with me; he could have shot me while I was getting out of the car. He is doing it on the street. Therefore, there is also an output to the messages of 'don't walk on the street, go sit in your party.' The responsibility for clarifying this matter belongs to the government."

"THE INVESTIGATION MUST CONTINUE BROADLY"

"The deputy police chief is also at fault. The governor called at the first moment. The Beyoğlu District Governor called. The Minister of Health called, the Minister of Interior called, the President called. They quickly and insistently said that this has nothing to do with us. The investigation must continue very broadly. We entered from one place. All the security teams are looking at how we will get out of here. Just like the security team of Ömer Çelik and the Deputy Speaker of Parliament, they have chosen what we call the VIP parking lot for us and are holding a spot for us."

"I HAVE BEEN AN MP FOR 14 YEARS, THERE IS NO PARKING LOT I HAVEN'T ENTERED"

"Everyone else's was taken, but ours wasn't. I have been a member of parliament for 14 years. There is no parking lot I haven't entered. Everyone drives their vehicle in. Moreover, I am the leader of the main opposition. In the state protocol, I am far ahead of the vehicles there. Look, I am saying something very important. Even if the deputy police chief is not a part of it, he is not letting our vehicle in there and is showing us another place."

"EVEN THOUGH I LEFT LATE, THE ATTACKER WAITED FOR ME THERE"

"That man sat there for two hours, stretching his arms and legs. I left 18 minutes late, unexpectedly. Our Provincial Chairman couldn't get in there either. He waited for 18 minutes. Two of my bodyguards, Ali Mahir, and I. The whole hall had emptied, but that man didn't leave; he waited. So he knows I'm going to pass by. The person who didn't let our vehicle be parked there is responsible, even if they are not part of this organization. We have filed a criminal complaint. Let them ask this person, 'Why did you force Özgür Özel to walk from here?' The Minister of Interior said that an investigation has been opened regarding this. So, it is a comprehensive investigation. Along with our criminal complaint, an evaluation will definitely be made regarding this mentioned individual."

"I HAVE NEVER WORN A BULLETPROOF VEST IN MY LIFE"

When asked if he was wearing a bulletproof vest, Özel said, 'I have never worn a bulletproof vest in my life. If it has come down to a bulletproof vest, then it's all over.'

"THEY SAID 'YOU WON'T BE ABLE TO LOOK AT THEIR FACES IN A MONTH', WE ARE ON THE 50TH DAY"

"From the very first moment, we took a stance that vouched for the honor of our friends as much as our own honor. We said this is an attempted coup. We said there is neither terrorism nor corruption. They said, 'You won't be able to look anyone in the face in a month.' We are on the 50th day. This self-confidence, this will that can claim Saraçhane, call millions there, and hold a rally in Yozgat, we said to the DEM-leaning voters and the Zafer Party youth, 'Let's settle accounts for justice and law first, then democracy, and then among ourselves' in the right language. When this organized, today, when CHP moved 6 points ahead in the SONAR poll, everyone is thinking."

"HE NAMED IT ATATÜRK, WHOSE NAME ARE YOU NOT SAYING?"

"He asked me, 'You're not offended on October 29th, are you?' and I said that day, 'We are respectful, but I thought it was a shame.' I thought it didn't befit the political institution. Not mentioning the name of a party's chairman is disrespectful to all the members and founders of that party. The thing whose name you are not saying, Atatürk named it. They asked about its first congress, he said Sivas Congress. Whose name are you not saying? Hey, humanly, I didn't deserve this. Mr. Devlet got sick twice. The moment he got sick, the instruction to the group was, 'No one write anything until he stands up.' I said get well soon. I called. When Semih Yalçın's son died, there was a heavy defamation lawsuit against me. We went to the mosque and to the funeral. They applied the Sinan Ateş murder procedure. They make people delete tweets if they post them. No one posts, they are not allowed to post."

"MHP NEEDS AN ENEMY"

"Why? Because MHP needs an enemy. MHP has lost the ability to do politics with hope and friendship. MHP will find an enemy and find the antithesis of that enemy to maintain its existence. DEM is gone, CHP has come; now MHP needs an enemy."

"THE NATION APPRECIATES RIGHT AND WRONG"

"What has CHP done to you? I shook the hand of the DEM voter out of respect. They said all sorts of things to me. 'You are shaking hands with a terrorist.' Now they are doing more of it themselves. I won't do those things. This is not in my understanding of politics. The nation appreciates right and wrong."

"Mr. Ekrem is doing politics in a 7-square-meter dungeon, 7 stories above the sky. Mr. Tayyip is doing politics in the palace, 7 stories below the ground."

"THERE IS A CRACK WITHIN THE AKP"

"There is a crack in the AKP. This is not something unknown. If there are this many objections within a party, this is clear. There are many in the AKP who say, 'We are doing it wrong.' There are those who say, 'They set us off saying there is major corruption, but there isn't a single document.' There are those who say, 'What is said today turns out to be a lie tomorrow.'"

"ON THE NIGHT OF JULY 15, MHP SAID 'STAY AT HOME'"

"This coup issue turned into this: On the night of July 15, Bahçeli said, 'No MHP member will go out to the street. Police and soldiers will not face each other.' The gentlemen wrote history for themselves from here. 'The People's Alliance was established on the night of July 15,' etc. The AKP mobilized its base on this issue, but the MHP said, 'Let's sit at home.' It is still on their website; those who don't believe it should open and read it."

THERE ARE THOSE WHO SAY 'WE BECAME OPPRESSORS WHILE WE WERE VICTIMS'

"While July 15 was a source of moral superiority and motivation for the AKP, now, what was not done to them on February 28—even Erdoğan was accused, but the police never went to his door, he was not arrested—but now, even when there is no indictment yet, these things are happening. People within the AKP say, 'While we were victims of coups, now we are coming out against the national will, against a candidate elected three times by the people of Istanbul, saying we found evidence in less than a year that we couldn't find in five years; we are both creating victims and becoming oppressors. We became coup plotters while we were coup victims.'"

WILL İMAMOĞLU BECOME AN MP?

Özel gave the following answer to the question of whether Ekrem İmamoğlu will be a parliamentary candidate in a possible snap election:

"Can Atalay should have been released. Whether there will be a new Constitutional Court application regarding Can Atalay or not... In this process, the trial should have stopped because Atalay was elected as an MP. If the decision could be read and he could return to parliament, we would vacate a district without thinking for a minute and make a move with Mr. Ekrem, provided he also approves. Since the Can Atalay decision is not approved, will they release İmamoğlu if they don't release Can Atalay?"

"THE BUSINESS WORLD PREFERS US"

"Let's look at it from the perspective of the business world. On one side, there is a government that cancels a diploma issued 31 years ago in Turkey. There is a government that cancels the certificate of election when you win an election. There is a government that sidelines a person who is a presidential candidate. Would the business world want a government that does these things, or would it prefer a government that says democracy, law, and fair earnings? When they prefer our side, they say the business world is 'buying' the CHP government. Well, is it going to buy your harsh, tyrannical government? They say, 'The business world sold us out.' The business world buys what suits its interests and abandons what doesn't. You will leave the way you came. Today, in the investigation process, 24 companies were seized, and precautionary measures are being applied to 12 companies."

HAS A MEETING REQUEST COME FROM THE GANG OF FIVE?

"This is an agenda left behind by Mr. Kemal in the past. Let me not go back to that agenda and say anything. They haven't made such a request to me. As CHP, we know where we should stand. We know who we will stand by."

"WE WILL NOT ALLOW UNFAIR GAINS"

"When we come to power, let it not be thought that we will come and show favoritism to our own supporters and attack those who are not from us, but there is such a reality: We will not allow the continuation of unfair gains obtained without paying any taxes in this period, by sucking the marrow and bones of the nation. This does not mean that MÜSİAD members will experience hell when CHP comes. God forbid, there is no such thing."

HE RESPONDED TO ŞAMİL TAYYAR'S STATEMENTS

CHP Chairman Özgür Özel responded to the words of former AKP MP Şamil Tayyar: 'If Özgür Özel doesn't meet with Ekrem İmamoğlu in Silivri for ten days, it could be a healthy start regarding the process.'

Özel used the following expressions:

'THEY SAY IF THESE TWO DON'T FALL OUT, AKP WILL FALL FROM POWER'

"This is insolence, but this is their job too. I meet with Mayor Ekrem once a week. I go to him as if I am going to my brother. We both talk politics, and I know that if I were inside, I would come without fail. There is something they know. If these two don't fall out, the AKP will fall from power. They are trying every way, and this is one of them."

"WE HAVE A LAW OF BROTHERHOOD BETWEEN US"

"Şamil Tayyar will pull a political operation on me from all the way over there, and he will make Mr. Ekrem and me fall out, etc. Seeds of discord will be sown over this. We have a law of brotherhood between us. We risked everything to make Atatürk's party the government. Mr. Ekrem risked that by being in prison. Tomorrow, I could go to prison. They can do anything to any of us."

"AS LONG AS WE ARE ARM IN ARM, TAYYİP BEY CANNOT SLEEP"

"If we are not as courageous as those who founded this party 100 years ago and saved this country, and if we do something that will damage the law of comradeship between us, Şamil Tayyar will sleep comfortably. As long as we are arm in arm and risk everything for this country, Tayyip Bey cannot sleep, so Şamil Bey cannot sleep either. Şamil Bey came to where he is by Erdoğan putting him on the list. I came to where I am, to the chairmanship of Atatürk's Party, by the leader of a party changing through a competitive election. Mayor Ekrem was there too; it would be a shame if we ignored his efforts, but we came with the ownership of 81 provinces. If this has been the first election since İsmet Pasha where our key list, which received all the valid votes in the extraordinary congress, was not breached at all, it is because of the trust this party has in this process. Şamil Tayyar's indigestion is because of this."