CHP's first rally following the IMM indictment: 'Shutting down parties is the work of coup plotters'

The IMM indictment was prepared after 237 days. In the indictment in question, a prison sentence of up to 2,352 years was requested for the imprisoned presidential candidate and elected IMM Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu.

Following the announcement yesterday of the indictment regarding the 'IMM investigation,' which Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor Akın Gürlek announced via a press conference, the CHP held its 'The Nation Protects Its Will' rally in Sultanbeyli.

During the rally held in front of the Atatürk Monument in Sultanbeyli City Square, the 20 soldiers who were martyred in the cargo plane crash in Georgia were also commemorated.

A MOMENT OF SILENCE WAS OBSERVED, PRAYERS WERE RECITED

Before Özel's speech, citizens in the area observed a moment of silence for the 20 soldiers martyred in Georgia and sang the National Anthem. Before Özel's speech, CHP Arnavutköy District Chairman Tekin Aras recited a prayer.

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

"For the first time today, no songs were played at our rally, and they will not be played. We lost 20 brilliant soldiers, our lives. That is why there is no music here today, no joy. I invite everyone to observe a 1-minute moment of silence and sing our National Anthem.

I am saying now what I was going to say at the very end.

If you have the courage, broadcast the trials live. Let the nation see who is right and who is the slanderer!

Look, here is Özgür Özel's wedding ring. You used to say there was nothing we couldn't explain. What things did you put on that ring, man! Explain that first. It is easy to assassinate the reputation of the nation. Do not smear others with the work you know from yourself. Sit where you are!

Mayor Ekrem wants to be a presidential candidate, and they have reflected this in the indictment as if it were a crime. Man, 15 million people made Mayor Ekrem a candidate. We committed this crime as 15 million people in the streets and at the ballot boxes. They were doing these diagrams last in Ergenekon and Balyoz.

The claim in the indictment is this: There were three secret witnesses at first. They increased their number to 15. There are statements from slanderers making accusations against dozens of our friends. At first, there was a 'Çınar' (Plane Tree), he would make every slander. Then they fell out with this Çınar, and the lies he told did not match each other. This Çınar started not being taken to the 7th floor, and he attempted suicide on the 6th floor. That incident, which all courthouse reporters know, was Çınar. They took it from him and had a secret witness named 'İlke' say it.

There is no evidence in the indictment, there are claims. The indictment is empty. For years, we would laugh at the helplessness of the September 12 coup plotters... In the indictment, they wrote M16 for the British intelligence agency instead of MI6...

Did you find a single stray bullet? What did they say? They carried money in suitcases. Our Istanbul Provincial Chairman opened the suitcases and showed the jammers. They said there was money, but a jammer came out. Later, they served it in the indictment as if there was a jammer. Where is the money that the pro-government press said was in those suitcases?

I am saying this to those who searched for money in the cardboard piggy bank of Murat Ongun's 10-year-old son, to those who thought his daughter's earring was gold and put a detector on it, to those who tried to put it in the record, to those who made children cry. Where is the morality in the lies you told all summer!

I am calling out to all of Turkey, our website is istanbuliddianamesi.com. The slanders made and their answers are on this site. Enter this site, see the lies and the truth, and see how ill-intentioned and cowardly those against us are, and how right and brave we are in this matter.

Isn't shutting down a party the work of coup plotters? Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is a politician who has thrown in the towel. He is forcing himself upon this nation. I am calling out to all democrats. It is time to defend democratic politics together.

The CHP rally began with a speech by Esenyurt Mayor Ahmet Özer, who was released late yesterday evening.

PROF. DR. AHMET ÖZER: “I LEFT HALF OF MY HEART IN SILİVRİ”

Elected Esenyurt Mayor Prof. Dr. Özer, who was released yesterday after approximately 13 months of imprisonment, said the following in his speech:

“I regained my freedom after 372 days. I am among you. But mine is a bitter joy. I cannot even rejoice. Because I left half of my heart in Silivri. With that other half, I brought you greetings from Mayor Ekrem. I brought you warm greetings from our mayors, our municipal bureaucrats, and our politicians. I came to this square today to express my gratitude to you, my valuable people. Because know that your voice here echoes in the cells in Silivri. They draw strength from you, they are motivated. I thought about this in prison. If even one person is not free, none of us are free. That is why this struggle of ours will continue. The struggle for freedom, the struggle for democracy, is the most honorable struggle of a human being. Unfortunately, such difficult times have heavy costs. But thanks to those who do not refrain from paying this price, our hopes for the future remain alive—for freedom, for equality, for justice. Our struggle will continue until we achieve it all together. Greetings to those who wage this struggle. Greetings to you all.”

“HOW ARE WE GOING TO BRING PEACE WITHOUT EMBRACING THIS PEOPLE?”

“You know; our country is going through a peace process. Without peace, there is no democracy, no production, no abundance. Therefore, we, as the Republican People's Party, support this peace with all our hearts. But I am calling out from here now: I am asking everyone listening to us. How are we going to bring peace by excluding half of the country? Then now is the time for brotherhood, now is the time for embracing. For this embrace, for this peace, we need law for production, we need justice. Our mayors, our brothers lying in Silivri, are not saying that no one should be tried. But they can very well be tried without arrest. It is not good to strain society this much. It is not good to be this polarized. Since we say peace, since we say embrace; then how are we going to bring peace without embracing this people here? I am asking. Therefore, I am making a call from here: We need peace. We need democracy. We need law. For this, we must embrace. That is why I say now is the time for embracing, now is the time for brotherhood.”

“MAYOR EKREM IS BEING TRIED WITH 2,000-3,000 YEARS. HOW WILL THIS PEACE HAPPEN?”

“Yesterday, the IMM indictment was released. Mayor Ekrem is being tried with 2,000-3,000 years. How will this peace happen? It won't. Therefore, what I want to say is this: We will continue the struggle we can for our country and your children to live in a more beautiful, brighter Turkey. This is also our constitutional right. The second article of our Constitution says, 'The Republic of Turkey is a democratic, secular, and social state governed by the rule of law, respectful of human rights.' We are already working for this. In this process, I thank all the chairmen who supported us, in the person of our Chairman Mr. Özgür Özel, who runs bravely from square to square without getting tired and possesses wisdom.”

“MY FRIENDS AND I WALKED WITH OUR HEADS HELD HIGH AND OUR FOREHEADS CLEAR”

“I was saddened by two things inside during this process. I resisted on your behalf. My friends and I never dropped the trust you placed in us; we walked with our heads held high and our foreheads clear. But I was saddened that I was outside during this process and did not contribute effectively to peace and democracy. Also, while working day and night for 7 months in Esenyurt, while trying to overcome the ill-fated destiny of Esenyurt, while trying to make Esenyurt worthy of the 21st century, the fact that our path was suddenly blocked and we were kept away from services saddened me the most on behalf of the people of Esenyurt, on your behalf. But do not worry; when the darkness deepens, it means dawn is near. See you at the dawn of our country's democracy... Everything will be very beautiful.”

İMAMOĞLU'S LETTER WAS READ

CHP Istanbul Provincial Chairman Özgür Çelik shared the letter of the imprisoned presidential candidate and elected IMM Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu with the public:

“Dear Istanbulites, my precious fellow citizens; valuable ladies and gentlemen of Sultanbeyli, dear young people, my dear children... I greet you all with respect, love, and longing, and I embrace you with friendship. We have been apart from you for almost 8 months. The reason for this separation is the fear of a handful of people losing their seats. A handful of people who do not care about the troubles, helplessness, and hopelessness of the citizens are trampling on law, democracy, and the national will so as not to leave the seats they occupy. This government, whose life has expired and whose days are numbered, is abusing all the means of the state for the sake of one person's political ambitions. They are trying to win elections not by performing and serving to enter the hearts of the citizens, but by forcibly eliminating their rivals. They are looking for ways to stay in power through pressure and oppression. For them, the only purpose of politics is to stay in power at any cost. For this, they are polarizing our nation and harming our unity and brotherhood.”

“SULTANBEYLİ IS A WITNESS TO OUR EGALITARIAN, FAIR MANAGEMENT APPROACH”

“For us, politics is a tool to serve the nation and strengthen our unity and brotherhood. We see every neighborhood, every street of this city, of this country with the same eyes. Every individual of this country is special and valuable to us. Because we manage Istanbul with this understanding, we win every election we enter by increasing our votes. Sultanbeyli is a witness to our egalitarian, fair management approach. Whatever service we provided and whatever investment we made in any region of Istanbul, we did the same in Sultanbeyli. Contrary to the AKP approach that says 'We will build a metro for those who vote for us,' we started the Sultanbeyli metro that they could not start. Contrary to this bad mindset that acts with a 'voter-non-voter' mentality, for us, service is done for the nation. Hopefully, we will connect Sultanbeyli to every point of Istanbul with the Sultanbeyli metro, which is planned to be opened within 7-8 months. We have made billions of liras of investment in Sultanbeyli's infrastructure. We have implemented our junction, water treatment plant, and fiber internet line projects. We have developed and implemented projects for earthquake preparedness. We have opened nurseries, city restaurants, libraries, and sports facilities.”

“THEY DISTRACTED THE NATION WITH RADISHES AND OCTOPUSES FOR MONTHS BUT COULD NOT DECEIVE ANYONE”

“Sultanbeyli, like all of Istanbul and all of Turkey, has seen how hard we work and how much work we do with the understanding of giving the nation's money directly to the nation. Competing with our projects and exceeding the interest and favor the nation has shown us was difficult for those seat-lovers. Instead, they targeted us with baseless lawsuits rising on slander, threats, and blackmail. Because the lawsuits they filed without proof or evidence would fall flat, they had my 30-year-old diploma canceled to prevent my candidacy and guarantee themselves. They embarked on a major perception operation and distracted the nation with radishes and octopuses for months, but they could not deceive anyone. They put my name side-by-side with terrorism and espionage, writing imaginary scenarios; again, they cannot deceive anyone. There are no lies or slanders left to save them. They will appear before the nation and pay the price for what they have done at the ballot box.”

“NO GOVERNMENT CONDEMNED BY THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NATION CAN SURVIVE”

“Our goal is not just to save our nation from this rotten government. Our cause is the cause of moving our country to the level of justice, freedom, and prosperity it deserves. The Turkey Alliance will take office, and our country will no longer be managed according to the interests of this or that person, this or that party, but according to the common interests of the nation. The state will no longer act with the mind of one person, but with the common mind and common values of the nation. Turkey will grow, enrich, and strengthen with the power of justice, equality, and brotherhood. I sincerely trust in the goodness and sense of justice that my nation carries within. No government condemned by the conscience of the nation can survive. The nation is great, and it always has the final say. With this peace, with this confidence, I am resisting and working in my cell in Silivri for the beautiful days of my country's future. You, too, never lose your hope, your resistance, your courage. Know that justice will sooner or later be served, and everything will be very beautiful. Everything will be very beautiful! Ekrem İmamoğlu. Silivri Dungeon.”