CHP Chairman Özgür Özel evaluates drug and match-fixing operations: They are chasing mosquitoes

Özgür Özel said, "It has become soevident that the actions taken are political that this time ithas emerged that let operations be conducted against manysegments of society, and let them say 'look, it is not just against the CHP, it is being doneto the soccer players and the pop stars alike'.The essence of this matter is this; in Turkey,there is match-fixing, yes, there are drugs, there is illegal betting, but for 23 years, this has been the case. There is a government running the country. If this filth has reached this point, it surely didn't happen because of the CHP,' he said.

Stating that in terms ofcarrying out journalistic activities,each passing yearmakes one miss the previous one, Özel added, '2025will be a difficult yearfor Turkey, for democracy, and for journalists.'years old. A great numberof journalists while they were incustody, I followed their situation, visited them in prison when they were arrested, and from time to time after their release, Iconveyedmy get-well wishes; theprocess currently underway in Turkey is clear to everyoneit has become increasingly difficult for those who want to report the truth despite the difficulties and practice impartial journalismfromthat perspective," he said.

Özel said, "For the CHP, we spentthe past year renewing our party program, preparing for power with our program, and making a program change that willform the basis of a government program. As the CHP, we are not preparing for how we will take over the press when we come to power,but rather the preparationin themidst ofit. We will not let anyone seizethe pressagain, create cartels, or place the press at the service of politics through patronage,and we are working for an independentpress environment.we are conducting studies" hestated.

Evaluating the "not leaving the Parliament" protest initiated by the CHPto increasepension salaries in Parliament, Özel said, "This action was not something we planned,but rather, with the clarification of pension salaries, it was a reaction that emerged from the pensioners' ownan action that emergedfrom the fire at its core.I have been speaking from the top of a bus since 2009,and during the local elections,I held 105 rallies from the top of a bus.Since the March 19 coup attempt,I have been on the bus for the 79th time.We were in action above the base. We are especially seeing the rallies where the number of retirees has increased in recenttimes. I have seen the anger of retirees many times, but I am seeing a firefull of such anger in their eyes for the first time.We are on the verge of a social explosion.This needed to be intervened in by the Parliament, and while the AK Party was closingthe Parliament and going on a weekend break, we were trying to keep the Parliament open and draw attention to thisissue.We are working to ensure the Parliament does not close. we have decided to withdraw" he said."Pensioners

won't even say hello" Regarding the question of whether

the support of pensionersfor the government will continue from now on,Özel said, "It is not continuing, and it will not continue from now on. The results of the March 31 elections are clear."The group from which the CHP received the most supportwas the retirees. In the latest studies,it appears that the CHPis receiving 54 percentof the votes fromretirees. In everyIn the survey we conducted, this rate is slightly higher.Alongside our both combative andhopeful rhetoric regardingretirees for the future,the ruling partyhas now turned into a party thatretirees do not even want to greet, let alone vote for.turnedis in a state of.Politics is a matter of setting priorities and taking sides; the ruling party has shown that it is not on the side of retirees, and in fact, does not even place them at the bottom of its list.Retirees have seen this.They responded by saying,"Let alone voting for the ruling party, they won't even greet them."

Regarding holiday bonuses,Özel responded to the question regarding thisas follows:

"Our approach to the holiday bonus has beenthat it should be equal to one minimum wagefrom the verybeginning." At first, it was said that every retiree would receive one salary as a bonus, butthere arevery large differences in retirement pensions, and we are giving the smallest bonus to the mostaggrieved segment. That is why we believethat all retirees, regardless of theirpension, should be given a bonus at the level of the minimum wage.we advocate for. In fact, the lowest retirement pensionshould also be a minimum wage, wesay it must be. Mr.SayKemal Kılıçdaroğlu brought this issue to the agenda during the 2015elections. While heading to the November 1elections, because the AK Party lost its parliamentary majority, they said 'we willalso give'they said 'we will'. They only fulfilled this promise, which they made in 2015, during the holiday before the 2018 elections.It was not enough for that day, but the bonus they gave for thatdaywas enough to buy a sacrificialsheep. Today,the retiree bonus being discussed is not enough to buy even a leg of a sacrificialanimal. AK Party deputies give more than this as pocket money to their grandchildren. muchthey give."

"They have gone after the mosquitoes"

Evaluating thedrug and match-fixing operationscarried out in the recent period, Özel said thefollowing:

"The recentoperations have two main objectives. One of them is that one month after the March 19 operation,opened and 55 percent of the society thought this was politicalwhile25percentthought it was legalwhile20percentit was visible, and 20 percent of the society did notexpress an opinion. They conducted propaganda for 9 months and said whatwould happen when the indictment was released. The indictment wasreleased and we turned out to beright. So, there was no 560 billion in corruption what came out was 1,200 mobile phones what came out was money in suitcases what came out. After the indictment, one would thinkthose who say it reached 60 percent.In the end,the two people who cannot look each other in the eyebecame Akın Gürlekand Tayyip Erdoğan.When that is the case,it becomes so obvious that theseactions taken are political. it turned out that this timea large number of segments of society are being targeted by operations so that it can be said 'look, it's not just the CHP, it's being done tothe soccer players and the pop stars alike'. The essence of this matteris this; Turkey is facingIn Turkey, is there match-fixing? Yes. Is there drug trafficking? Yes. Is there illegal betting? Yes. But there has also been a government ruling this country for 23 years. If this filth has reached this point, it surely didn't happen because of the CHP. If alot of scandals that did not exist in the country they took over have become unmanageable today, thecause of this is the government. In the swamp theycreated themselves, they are chasingmosquitoes.they have pursued. This issue is sad, but the goal is perception management."

"The ruling bloc has a problem with finding common ground"Regarding a question about relations with opposition parties,

Özel stated, "Starting with election security, we will visit all parties on 8-10 themes.The Justice and Development Party may deny there is a problem, butwe will maintain solidarity with all opposition partiesand continue our dialogue.We will continue to work together."we are working on theissue of the struggletogether," he said.

Stating that other opposition parties have also come to support the CHP's ongoing protest in the Grand National Assembly of Turkey, CHP Chairman Özgür Özel said, "When one party holds a protest,the others do not go and join the protest, but they go and show theirsolidarity. Otherwise, if you adopt anotherparty's protest, that party's own original areasand also mthere is interference. We are doing the samething. The opposition does not have a problem with coming together; the ruling bloc has a problem with coming together," he said.