CHP Istanbul MP Salıcı reacts to Özgür Özel over party convention: 'The Chairman is not a sultan'

CHP Istanbul MP Oğuz Kaan Salıcı reacted sharply to Özel's remarks.

In a statement on the social media platform X targeting Özel's party policies, Salıcı said, "A convention in the Republican People's Party is not a favor, it is a right."

Salıcı's statement is as follows:

"THE ELECTION WAS NOT WON WITH A PROMISE OF 'NORMALIZATION'"

"I observe with sadness the debate that party policies, carried out by the decisions of our Chairman, have sparked at every level of our party and among our voters.

From Edirne to Kars, our fellow fighters are sharing their concerns regarding our party's political course with me and my colleagues.

My goal is not to engage in polemics with our Chairman. I also do not find it appropriate for our Chairman to engage in polemics with a member of his party through the press.

It is evident that the normalization process, which has caused discomfort among our party members, has gained Erdoğan very valuable time following the local election he lost. Despite this, the reason for defending normalization on every platform is not understood. The promise of "normalization" was not voiced at the Convention nor before the March 31 elections. The election was not won with a promise of normalization.

The claim that the Republican People's Party followed a "non-normal" policy toward voters who voted for the ruling party in the recent past can only belong to supporters of the government.

"HE IS FORCED TO EXPLAIN EVERY STATEMENT HE MAKES"

The demand for MPs to stand up before Erdoğan without any explanation being given to them is also being questioned by our party organization. As a result, it has been seen that they stood up before the authority that appointed a trustee to our municipality in the Grand National Assembly of Turkey.

Sharing a podium with another political party at rallies protesting the appointment of trustees has caused discomfort in our party base.

It does not befit his office that our Chairman is forced to explain what he meant after almost every statement he makes.

While shaking hands with Erdoğan and joking with Bahçeli as a "necessity of politics," the "strategic" expectation behind opening a front against the Workers' Party of Turkey, which views life from the left, with a condescending tone is a matter of curiosity.

"WHY HE VOUCHED FOR ERDOĞAN REQUIRES EXPLANATION"

While an investigation initiated on bribery allegations is ongoing in the United States, why he vouched for Erdoğan requires explanation.

Cause-and-effect links must be established correctly. Votes are not being lost because a convention debate is taking place in the Republican People's Party organization; on the contrary, the convention debate is taking place because votes are being lost. It is necessary to look for the reason for the loss of votes in policies that are not politically accepted by the base.

"A CONVENTION IS A RIGHT, THE CHAIRMAN IS NOT A SULTAN"

The Republican People's Party is not a party founded by conducting polls. It does not determine its politics according to poll results.

A convention in the Republican People's Party is not a favor, it is a right.

If necessary, a convention is held in the Republican People's Party.

Our Chairman himself became a candidate for chairman after the general elections by putting forward the thesis of a shrinking base and stating that our party needed a convention.

Every chairman of the Republican People's Party is highly respected. On the other hand, as my esteemed fellow townsman Kamil Kırıkoğlu, one of our party's former Secretaries General, said, "he is also not a sultan."

WHAT DID ÖZGÜR ÖZEL SAY?

CHP Chairman Özgür Özel, in his meeting with journalists today, reacted sharply to requests for him to call a convention in response to a question and stated the following:

"By God, whoever is confident should open and read the party bylaws and demand whatever they want. No one should demand such a convention from me. If I were to say 'Challenge accepted, let's hold a convention,' we would be busy with that for two months. Özel would win the convention, Özgür Özel would be a strong leader, but because we turned inward, the party's votes would fall again. Is this what they want? No one should beg me for a convention at the expense of the party's votes. Whoever has the power should go to the convention, though there is no such power... Even in the best convention, we lose strength because the party turns inward. My job is to force Erdoğan into an early election; someone else's job is to force me into a convention, but they don't have the power, they want it from me. They are begging me. You have no power, no strength, no might. The organization you crushed in the past has turned against you, it is not by your side. You have turned around and are demanding a convention from me. The party will make itself a subject of debate again, Erdoğan will catch his breath. Whoever has the power, be my guest, let them come forward themselves, do not demand it from me."