CHP Chairman Özgür Özel speaks in Esenler: This junta led by Erdoğan consists of 3 prosecutors, 3 judges, and 3 secret witnesses

Following the arrest of Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IMM) Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu on Wednesday, March 19, the Republican People's Party (CHP) has been organizing "Defending the National Will" rallies every Wednesday in a different district of Istanbul.

The seventh stop for this rally was Esenler. CHP Chairman Özgür Özel had called for the rally on his social media account yesterday, saying, "We will neither bow to fear nor let go of each other's hands! We will fight together, we will win together! We are meeting in Esenler!"

CHP Deputy Chairman Gökan Zeybek said in his statement before the rally, "The message given is very clear. The nation wants the ballot box as soon as possible. There is still no indictment. I spoke with Mr. İmamoğlu and our council members today. There is no indictment and no evidence.

Witnesses are being asked to sign under untrue allegations solely through the efforts of the prosecutor's office. They are being led to believe that they will be released this way. Where is that big file? You are conducting operations every week.

Things have gone completely out of control. They want to design politics through the judiciary. Our nation is paying the price for this. They are paying with high costs of living and poverty. How much is a kilo of cherries? Can a person make a living with a pension? Is it possible to live on the minimum wage?" he said.

'İMAMOĞLU' CENSORSHIP

It was reported that flags and posters with the İmamoğlu logo were not allowed into the rally area, and that CHP İstanbul Provincial Chairman Özgür Çelik went to the area in question. The banners prepared by the CHP Youth Branches were later allowed into the rally area.

"THEY TRIED TO SILENCE HIM"

CHP İstanbul Provincial Chairman Özgür Çelik said in his speech, "(Pointing to the İmamoğlu banner) They wanted to block these banners. They wanted to take down Ekrem Mayor's posters from our district buildings. They tried to silence him. Now they are preventing us from visiting him. We will be in all squares and at Metrobus stops in Istanbul every day between 5 PM and 7 PM with posters. We will never give up this struggle until the early election ballot box is placed before the nation," he stated.

"HE WILL DECLARE EVERYONE A MEMBER OF A CRIMINAL ORGANIZATION"

After his speech, Çelik conveyed the message of the imprisoned IMM Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu:

"No one can make us kneel. Only injustice can bring us down. But unfortunately, justice, which should be the foundation of the state and the highest value of our common life, is under attack today by one person, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. The injustices created in the economy by Erdoğan, who declared himself an economist, are breaking the nation's back. The injustices caused by Erdoğan, who declared himself a prosecutor, through the judiciary are damaging our unity and brotherhood, and shaking trust in the state. Yet, if he listened to the citizens, he would find the right path and would not do things that embarrass even those who love him. It would have been enough to listen to our dear farmer brother who said, 'The state is not governed by radishes or turnips, but by justice and law.' Since that day, Erdoğan has not been able to say 'turnip,' but he continues to trample on the law.

“NOW HE HAS INVENTED AN OCTOPUS TALE”

Now he has invented an octopus tale. Soon, he will declare everyone who does not vote for him a member of a criminal organization. As a mayor for 11 years, I have been in the public eye, under the examination and inspection of administrative authorities. Did you realize I was a criminal organization leader the day I stood against you as a presidential candidate with 15.5 million votes? Stop telling fairy tales, Erdoğan. Since we are a criminal organization that has wrapped around the country like an octopus, and since you know this situation even when there is not even an indictment, give the information you have to the prosecutor's office and have the indictment written as soon as possible. Let the indictment be written immediately; let the nation understand whether there is an octopus or if you are having nightmares about losing your seat. Are these turnip and octopus tales to ensure the 'indictment is delayed and the trial does not start immediately'? Are you afraid that if the indictment comes out, your true colors will be revealed?

“THOSE WHO EVEN ATTEMPTED TO BAN MY IMAGE…”

My dear fellow citizens; those who had my 30-year diploma canceled overnight by an unauthorized board decision; those who declared us guilty even when there was no indictment; those who blocked me on social media; those who even attempted to ban my voice and image; those who imposed a visitation ban on me in prison are a handful of people who have not received their share of conscience and justice. With this attitude, they are trying to polarize our nation and sow seeds of hostility. We will send that handful of people home in the election, and we will defend our unity and brotherhood in the strongest way. Because we are a nation with a great heart, bound to each other, more than that handful of people can comprehend. You cannot confine our citizens, who mobilized so that the face of our dear little Ali Asaf, who made us all happy by overcoming his illness, would smile, to the borders of any party or ideology. They are the ones who follow goodness, beauty, and humanity without a moment's hesitation.

“DESPITE ALL THE INJUSTICES WE HAVE SUFFERED…”

We are such a nation. We know very well the value and beauty of being united without 'ifs' or 'buts,' without looking at which party someone belongs to, what their origin is, or what they believe in. We know very well how to mobilize for each other. Politics should be done so that this feeling of unity and brotherhood remains and grows stronger. Despite all the torment inflicted and all the injustices we have suffered, we will continue to do politics for the good of everyone. And we will definitely win. A handful of people will lose, and the brotherhood of 86 million will win. Everything will be very beautiful. Ekrem İmamoğlu. Silivri Prison.”

"ESENLER WILL BREAK THE MOLD"

The highlights from CHP Chairman Özgür Özel's speech are as follows:

"This is the seventh night rally in Istanbul, the seventh Wednesday evening. After Saraçhane, in the night rallies where we ran saying 'Freedom for Mayor Ekrem,' they said, 'Don't go to Esenler early. You can't fill that square in Esenler.' They said, 'Esenler is the AK Party's stronghold. It won't work in Esenler.' However, we came to Esenler and saw that Esenler is neither the AK Party's stronghold nor anyone else's. Esenler is now the stronghold of the nation.

The people of Esenler are brave, heroic, and have a conscience. Today, we came here to take refuge in the conscience of Esenler from the injustices we have experienced. To Esenler, the crown of our heads; to Esenler, where we did not get discouraged when we received 14 percent of the vote in the elections, where we did not get discouraged when we received 12 percent, where we strived, worked, and reached up to 34 percent in the last elections, we did not come to hold a rally tonight; we came to take action in Esenler, we came to get results.

No, we are changing that too. As the Republican People's Party, as the Turkey Alliance, when we come, yes, 'The day will come, the tide will turn,' but when we say 'The AK Party will be held accountable,' my brother, sister, uncle in Esenler who is an AK Party member, they made them members because their child would take an interview or they convinced them to become members. For some reason; there was scarcity, poverty, they made them members for some reason. When we say this, they say, 'Well, there is scarcity, there is hunger, there is unemployment, but if the CHP comes, it will hold the AK Party accountable. What will happen to me?' Know this, of course, they will be held accountable. When we come to power, an independent judiciary will hold thieves, corrupt officials, and coup plotters accountable.

However, the relationship between the Republican People's Party and the AK Party members of Esenler, the youth in the AK Party Youth Branches, the AK Party tradesmen, and the AK Party workers will be as follows: They will say, 'Yes, I was an AK Party member, I voted for them. But the CHP came. Ekrem İmamoğlu became President, he made us smile. May God be pleased with him.' We chatted with Mayor Ekrem in Silivri today. We hugged, and as I was leaving, I said, 'Do you have anything to say, Mayor?' He said, 'Don't worry at all. Esenler will break all the molds this evening. I am hugging Esenler from behind the screen as if I were there.' Do we love Mayor Ekrem? Did we miss him? Are we ready to send him a big greeting from here? Should 'My Hero, My Lion' come? Let's see. From here to Silivri with the lights of the phones, the drone is overhead. Esenler has received Mayor Ekrem's greeting, it is on their head and eyes. Greetings to Mayor Ekrem from here."

“WE ARE IN SANCAKTEPE NEXT WEEK”

“Congratulations to those who came and showed this square to those who said 'He won't come,' to those who filled this square that was said 'It won't fill,' to those who wrote history in Esenler by having 100,000 people come when they said 'That square swallows 80,000 people.' Congratulations to all of you. This energy, this motivation, this excitement, this stubbornness will win. This stubbornness... Who wins? Whoever has the moral superiority wins. The moral superiority is in this square. The psychological superiority is in this square. The energy of the majority is in this square. We will win, evil will lose. These night rallies are the rallies that every Istanbulite, every democrat wants to show their presence at, the expected, the longed-for rallies. This evening, this energy, this high energy is in Esenler. Next Wednesday, we will all be in Sancaktepe together. We experienced an earthquake in Istanbul on April 23. God protected us, we got through it cheaply. Due to the state of the building stock, Esenler was even more anxious. Most of you did not enter your homes, you could not. That night, a magnificent image, a magnificent frame, a magnificent video reflected from this district to all of Turkey. That night, my dear sisters from Esenler, in front of the house, in the side streets, on the floor table, with rolling pins in their hands, they opened bread, they opened phyllo dough. They distributed bread and phyllo dough to those who could not enter their homes and were waiting in front of their houses, with a village-style solidarity to feed them.

That day we saw that as long as we have this good intention, this good heart in Esenler, no one can bend the wrist of Esenler, Istanbul, or Mayor Ekrem. Because the good, good people are right. They will win, you will win. I would like to tell and remind this to the conscientious Esenler, who runs to help someone else without looking at their own scarcity and poverty. There is no other example of what we experienced on the morning of March 19. Tayyip Erdoğan, who received many votes from Esenler, who received support, was faced with all the accusations that Mayor Ekrem is facing today and more when he was the Mayor of Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality years ago. But let's remember that one day a police car did not arrive at his house, stand at his door in front of his wife, be detained, and taken to the police station. He was not arrested and put in jail one day. The entire trial took place without arrest. The court made a decision, he was still not put inside. After the appeal stage and the Supreme Court stage passed and his crime was finalized, he was sent to prison from Saraçhane with drums and clarinets, on top of a bus, with sacrifices slaughtered, and prayers said. No one took his arm, no one pushed or shoved him. He spent the sentence he received in the most comfortable way, not in such high-security courts, but in Pınarhisar, where even his cellmate was known, and he came out from there. If you ask me, Mr. Tayyip should not have received that sentence, he should not have spent any time in jail. But those who canceled the diploma he received 31 years ago just so he wouldn't become President, those who stood at his door in the morning, those who forcibly detained him from the house where his wife was, those who kept him at the Vatan Police Headquarters for four days and took him from there and put him in Silivri, and those who have been attacking him and his family with tons of lies on television and TRT every evening for more than two months, are reminding Turkey of this today. Esenler knows that; Erdoğan is the victim of yesterday but the oppressor of today. He is the oppressor of today. Esenler remembers, these were not done to him. But he has been telling this for 25 years, he tells this and asks for votes. He tells this and says 'I am a victim.' If the victim of yesterday is the oppressor of today, then the victim of today is entrusted to Esenler, entrusted to Esenler. This square does not belong to the CHP, nor to political parties. This square belongs to all democrats who resist the coup.”

“IF HE REPRESENTED THE NATION, HE WOULD NOT ATTEMPT A COUP”

“So, why did this happen? Why did Erdoğan put Ekrem İmamoğlu in jail? The answer is simple. Because Erdoğan was afraid to compete with Ekrem İmamoğlu, Erdoğan saw that he could not defeat İmamoğlu, and he tried to get rid of him by putting him in jail. Know that these coup plotters do not represent the state or the nation. If he were representing the state and the nation, he would not have attempted a coup in the first place. This junta, led by Mr. Erdoğan, consists of three prosecutors, three judges, and three secret witnesses. Even the conscientious people within the AK Party no longer consent to this coup and are rebelling. A handful of people who have settled into the state are betraying the future of this beautiful country for their own interests. 70 days have passed since March 19, and not a single allegation has been proven yet. So many lies were told, not a penny of bribery, not a penny of illicit gain could be documented. The slanders of the secret witnesses could not be proven with any concrete evidence. Now, at such a point, we are once again challenging Erdoğan on behalf of Ekrem İmamoğlu. And we say, 'If you trust the prosecutor, come to the TRT screens. Let's broadcast it live. Broadcast the allegations live. Answer the slander like a lion on live broadcast. Come on, I challenge you.'”

“WITHOUT SHAME, THEY HAVE TAKEN STICKS IN THEIR HANDS AND ARE SHOWING THEM ON TELEVISION”

“Lastly, in the final wave, they also took our Mayor Ekrem's Chief of Staff and Security Manager, Ms. Kadriye and Mr. Mustafa. Without shame, they have taken sticks in their hands and are showing them on television. 'Look, look,' he says, 'Right behind him, never leaving his side.' Where was the security manager supposed to be? Where was he supposed to be? 'Look,' he says, 'The Chief of Staff is always by his side.' Where was he supposed to be? When they first detained the Chief of Staff, while asking for his arrest, they asked if a car had gone abroad twice three years ago. 'Is this license plate yours?' Ms. Kadriye says, 'Yes.' 'It went abroad three years ago and came back, did it carry bribe money?' Ms. Kadriye says, 'What nonsense. I bought that car last December. The date you mentioned is three years ago. If you are going to ask, ask the previous owner.' 'How did you buy this car?' 'I sent this money in the MASAK Report with this receipt myself. I sent it from my own account.' They look and say, 'It didn't work then.' They release him without arresting him. According to the laws, if a person has been detained once for the same crime, under the same accusations, and within the scope of the same allegations, they cannot be detained again. If there is a new question, the prosecutor asks it. But they detained Ms. Kadriye again. They tormented her for four more days. This time they brought her before another judge and had her arrested. I visited Ms. Kadriye, whom they took from her 12-year-old child, who raises her child alone, whom they took from 12-year-old Çınar, in Silivri Prison today. I told her, 'I will be in Esenler this evening.' And last night, the first night she was in prison, was Çınar's birthday. Çınar spent last night, his 12th birthday, without his mother. We, as Turkey's largest family, celebrate the birthday of Çınar, who asked 'Where are my parents?' in tears in Esenler last night, Ms. Kadriye, we celebrate it. Happy birthday, Çınar. Say hello to Mr. Tayyip. Say that on your side, there is someone who takes the mother of a 12-year-old child with a week's interval, saying 'I couldn't get that judge to do it, I'll get this judge to do it,' who detains and arrests her, and who has no pity for a 12-year-old child. On our side, there are a hundred thousand Esenler brothers and sisters who celebrate that child's birthday as if he were their own child.”

“WE WILL KEEP OUR HEADS HIGH, OUR MORALE HIGH”

“Today I saw someone else in prison besides Mayor Ekrem. Buğra Gökçe. The head of the Istanbul Planning Agency. The head of that agency where whatever you are satisfied with in Istanbul is planned. His crime is serving you. His crime is producing good service in Istanbul, measuring the results, measuring the expectations, serving Istanbul, satisfying people. They had been waiting for this day for years. They were going to marry Ms. Filiz. But they put Buğra Gökçe in jail. The wedding day arrived. They said, 'What will we do?' 'What will we do?' Against these ruthless people who apply enemy law, we will of course keep our heads high, we will keep our morale high. We went, we performed the wedding, I told Buğra: 'Don't worry at all, we are 10 people here, we are a hundred thousand in Esenler in the evening. We will celebrate all together.' We wish Buğra and Filiz a lifetime of happiness and we applaud them from the heart, may God keep them together for a lifetime. And there are still 36 of our children in prisons. There are 36 young brothers and sisters who spent the last holiday there and two months have passed, separated from their mothers, fathers, and siblings. From here, we once again express our solidarity with them and their families. We expect those young people to be released as soon as possible, and for our brothers and sisters to enter the holiday in their homes, in their hometowns. And from here, last time, we all asked for the freedom of the young people in Şişli Square together, and we and their families were very happy with the releases the next day. From here, we expect an immediate release for the 36 students tomorrow. And we all shout together. Freedom for the youth.”

“UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS COULD HAVE BEEN GRANTED”

“It is time to say a few things about poor Esenler. Esenler is a working-class district. In an academic study conducted in textile workshops in Esenler, it was seen that one out of every two workers working in the sector is under 30 years old and they gave the same answer to nine out of ten questions asked. Look at this, nine out of ten workers are uninsured. Nine out of ten workers are not satisfied with their jobs and nine out of ten workers live in rented houses. This is certainly not the fate of Esenler, but it is its sorrow today. The difficulty of Esenler is because the government it voted for looks at its face while getting votes, but turns its back on it after the vote. This government has burned 60 billion dollars of reserves to keep Ekrem İmamoğlu in jail. This money is 2.3 trillion liras. With this money, those trying to make a living with a 14,000 lira pension in Esenler today could be given a 30,000 lira pension for 10 years. Today, with this money, the debts of all farmers in Turkey could be erased, and they could be given even more money on top of their debt. Today, with this money, a 15,000 lira unemployment benefit could be granted to all unemployed people in Turkey. 1 million teachers that this government has not appointed could be appointed today, and their three-year salaries could be paid in advance. Today, students who are trying to make a living and study by receiving 3,000 lira with a KYK loan could be given 30,000 lira instead of 3,000 lira. But to do all of this, you need a government, a President who loves the people, who knows where they came from and where they are going. That is why the hope of these squares is Ekrem İmamoğlu, his Presidency. He is the one who will do these things. If this government continues, this order that has pushed the nation to the limit will continue. Hunger, poverty, misery have pushed the nation to the limit. Nepotism, injustices have pushed the nation to the limit. Price hikes, interest rates have pushed the nation to the limit. Bans, oppression have pushed the nation, the youth to the limit. This 'limit' has an expansion. They are all from the same 'limit.' This crisis has been going on for eight years. The name of the thing that pushed us to the limit is the 'One-Man Crisis.' The one man will go, all these crises will end.”

“THE REMEDY IS AN INTERIM RAISE IN THE MINIMUM WAGE, A FLAT RAISE FOR RETIREES”

“Now, from Esenler, from this district where the minimum wage hurts the most, from a district that is most concerned by the minimum wage, from Esenler, we want to repeat a beginning. Esenler is one of the capitals of labor, sweat, and unfortunately, not getting the reward for one's labor in Istanbul. Tomorrow, the first job is to go to the Confederation of Revolutionary Trade Unions (DİSK), then to the Turkish Confederation of Employer Associations (TİSK), on Friday morning in Ankara, the first job is to go to HAK-İŞ, then to TÜRK-İŞ, that is, without distinguishing between rightist-leftist, without saying close to us-far from us, and without saying worker-employer, we will go to all structures and seek a remedy and solution to the minimum wage problem we are in. The remedy is to get an interim raise in the minimum wage. Because the 22,000 lira at the date the minimum wage was determined, even if the 14 percent inflation according to TUIK, which it was exposed to in the first four months of the year, is calculated, it has melted and now that raise has dropped from 22,000 lira to 19,000 lira. According to ENAG's calculation, this money is 17,500 lira. In other words, inflation has swallowed the raise given. If an interim raise is not made in July, we will have to not just live, but practically crawl with money even below that 17,000 lira that we could not endure last year for six months. For this, it is time to talk to the worker, talk to the employer, and fight to carry out and manage a process together where SMEs, industrialists, especially small tradesmen will not be victims, where they will be supported, but the minimum wage will definitely be raised. Are we ready to take our rights by force? Are we ready? Are we ready? Then this square is raising a tremendous voice. And this time we raised it for Mayor Ekrem, for Çınar, for Buğra and Filiz a little while ago. And now let's make our voice heard to Turkey all together. An interim raise is our right, we will take it by force. Our demand is an interim raise in the minimum wage for workers. And our demand is a flat raise for retirees, a flat raise. We will win by uniting.”

“WE FOUGHT TOGETHER, WE SUCCEEDED TOGETHER”

“I would like to say once again from this beautiful square that; a great democracy crisis, a great shame, a great injustice, a great unfairness is being experienced in Turkey today. Against this, we first resisted in Saraçhane for seven days and seven nights. When we woke up on the morning of March 19, the evil ones who got up earlier than us had sent police to Mayor Ekrem, but they had already prepared their own trustees. They wanted to hand over Istanbul to an appointee, a former minister, instead of an elected one, and give your will there. But we went and resisted all together in Saraçhane for seven days and seven nights. Greetings from Esenler to the democracy heroes who defended Istanbul's will and repelled the trustee. Afterwards, we crossed the bridge and went to Maltepe. We crossed to Anatolia. With 2.5 million people in Maltepe, subsequently in the place where Atatürk took his first step; in Samsun, Yozgat, Mersin, Konya, Van, İzmir, Bursa, all democrats, social democrats, conservative democrats, nationalist democrats, Kurdish democrats were shoulder to shoulder, we were in the squares. We fought together. We succeeded together. We will continue to succeed. We will save Mayor Ekrem, our mayors, our municipal council members, all our friends from this injustice, we will reunite them with freedom, their families, and Istanbul, and finally, with a great struggle all together, we will win once again after 100 years, we will establish democracy, we will make Atatürk's party the government, and we will make Ekrem İmamoğlu the President.”

“WE ARE EMBRACING OUR SIGNATURE CAMPAIGN, WE ARE ASSIGNING OUR BALLOT BOX OFFICIALS”

“In this process, to emphasize our determination, we are embracing our signature campaign. From our 54,000 neighborhood representatives who will soon come to your mobile phones, all of whom have been appointed from the provincial and district buildings, to our 191,000 ballot box officials whose names will be sent to you by next Friday... You heard it right. Not a few months before the elections, but three years before the official date of the elections, the Republican People's Party's 191,000 ballot box officials are ready and on duty. These ballot box officials are no longer just those who set an alarm on election morning, ring, and go to duty if they wake up; and if they can't wake up, they don't make us miserable, but the ballot box official responsible for 350 voters whom we will check every week, whom we will give tasks every week. We are starting a great struggle that will collect and bring the missing signatures, take news if there is any, call if there is an action, inform, encourage, and accompany. I call on everyone to learn about the ballot box officials, to be included in the Whatsapp groups they will establish, to be informed about every development, to run to duty in every square they are called to, to gather, not to demonstrate but to take action, I call you to action. The pens sympathetic to the AK Party; the writers, drawers of the gentleman, the journalists of the palace, the 'nodders' of his majesty say, 'Summer is coming. The energy of the squares will drop. Crowds will not gather. They will forget Ekrem, they will go on vacation.' Oh Erdoğan, look and see if there is any state of surrender in this square. I am calling out to all democrats from here. If we remain silent, if we shrink, if we get tired, if we lose the excitement, he will win. If we are here, if we are in the square every Wednesday evening, if we are in the square every weekend, if we are in Sancaktepe next week, in Düzce this Saturday, in Antalya on Sunday, if the energy and the struggle continue, we will win; they will lose. Are we ready to win? Are we ready to fight? Then listen to us, Erdoğan: 'Oh Erdoğan, I am my nation. I am the national will. Whatever I say, it happens. Leave my candidate alone now. Bring the ballot box. My candidate is by my side. I want the ballot box in front of me. That ballot box will come. Ekrem will come. Hunger will end. Oppression will end. The faces of all the youth will smile.' We believe in this. I bow with respect before this magnificent Esenler. Esenler is no longer the stronghold of the AK Party, but of democracy. I greet you with respect. The time has come. It has come, it has come, it has come. There is no salvation alone. Either all together, or none of us.”