CHP Leader Özel: Calls out Erdoğan, saying 'You cannot sit there with 29 percent of the vote'

The new location for the 'Defending the National Will' rallies, which began following the arrest of IMM President and presidential candidate Ekrem İmamoğlu, was Büyükçekmece, where the mayor is also under arrest.

At the rally, which began at 20:30 in the City Square, messages from Büyükçekmece Mayor Hasan Akgün, who is currently detained in Silivri, and İmamoğlu were read.

CHP Leader Özel made important statements in Büyükçekmece.

Özel said, "Our vote is clear, my candidate is clear, we want the ballot box. Come face us on Sunday, November 2, and bring the ballot box. I will not let you sit there with 29 percent of the vote; you cannot run from the nation."

The highlights of Özel's statements are as follows:

"We are not holding a rally; we are taking action here. In this city, which comes from centuries ago with its ancient history, we have come to object to a great injustice and to speak the truth. We have come to make the voice of Büyükçekmece heard by Turkey.

Today, those who are here defending the will of Istanbul and Büyükçekmece, those struggling to make ends meet with the minimum wage, retirees who think twice before buying two simits, and those whose rights have been violated and labor exploited are here. Welcome to all of you, I greet you with respect.

Here are those who left fear at home after March 19, those who resisted the March 19 coup, and those who are not afraid and do not give up in supporting their Mayor.

There are 3 conditions for success: 1st is moral superiority, we have the moral superiority; 2nd is psychological superiority, we have it; 3rd is the energy of the majority, we have it. We will win.

I came here today from Silivri. I visited our Mayor Hasan Akgün in Silivri. A moment ago, I hugged his precious wife and grandchild on his behalf and brought greetings. But the most valuable thing to Mayor Hasan, the thing he protects like the apple of his eye, is Büyükçekmece.

Hasan Akgün has been elected 7 times in Büyükçekmece. He was elected from ANAP. He was elected from CHP.

"LET ME TELL YOU THE FLAW THEY FOUND IN MAYOR HASAN SO TURKEY CAN HEAR"

Satisfaction with Mayor Hasan is 65 percent. He has been elected 6 times. Whoever we put in the survey, they said Hasan Akgün and nothing else. You are not letting go of Hasan Akgün. The Mayor, who works day and night and runs with endless energy, said 'enough' after completing 30 years last March. For 30 years, he has served almost entirely in the opposition. He has worked and been audited many times. Thousands of inspectors have come here over 30 years and examined everything, finding no flaws. In his 7th term, they supposedly came to find a flaw in Mayor Hasan and smear him. Let me tell you the flaw they found so Turkey can hear; one of the well-known contractors of this district did not drive the bored piles he was supposed to. A citizen complained about this to CİMER. Mayor Hasan sealed the construction site. The contractor went to court, and the court found Mayor Hasan right. They took this contractor, and he said, 'He sealed the construction because I didn't give him the bribe he asked for.'

"TAKE YOUR DIRTY HANDS OFF OUR MAYOR"

Again, another contractor, there is a shopping mall, he wants an increase in floor area ratio. It will be a shopping mall, but the contractor will also benefit from this floor area increase. Mayor Hasan says, 'I will accept it, but you will build a 45-classroom vocational high school for girls.'

Hasan Akgün did not put 1 TL in his pocket and had a 45-classroom vocational high school for girls built. If this is his crime, good for Mayor Hasan. Everyone in Istanbul knows what others are doing with that floor area increase. You floor area seekers, I am telling you; we have no stains. Take your dirty hands off our mayor. You cannot slander someone who puts nothing in his pocket and transfers it to the city.

"THE ACCOUNT FOR THE SPORTS CLUBS SUPPORTED IN BÜYÜKÇEKMECE IS BEING ASKED OF HASAN AĞABEY"

The Büyükçekmece basketball team has been in the Super League for 11 years. In 2008, they are trying to treat it as bribery for Mayor Hasan because a contractor helped this team, which has been running from success to success in the 1st league for 11 years. If the municipality-team relationship is a crime, there was the IMM sports club, it became Başakşehir FK. They brought Emmanuel Adebayor and transferred him for tens of millions of euros. Everyone knows that while it was in the hands of the AK Party, it happened with donations, with donations from those who received tenders, the IMM sports club became Başakşehir FK. When you make donations to Başakşehir, it is supporting football, but the account for the sports clubs supported in Büyükçekmece is being asked of Hasan ağabey.

They are asking for the account of the house his daughter bought 21 years ago today. When the document comes out, they say 'pardon'.

"HE TOOK BEYLİKDÜZÜ FROM THE AK PARTY IN 2 YEARS"

On March 19, 2012, Ekrem İmamoğlu tweeted, 'There is no sleep for us until we are in power in Beylikdüzü. Know that after that, we are in power in Istanbul and Turkey.' The person who tweeted this was the Beylikdüzü Mayor from the AK Party on March 19, 2012. He tweets this. 2 years later, he took Beylikdüzü from the AK Party. 5 years later, he took Istanbul.

"COME FACE US ON SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 2"

In the polls released today, before the undecideds are distributed, the Justice and Development Party is under 30 percent, and before the undecideds are distributed, the CHP is 4-5 points ahead; when the undecideds are distributed, the CHP is 6-7 points ahead. The CHP is in the closest position to the 41.5 percent score in 1977 during the multi-party period, over 40 percent. Now I am calling out to Erdoğan; Our vote is clear, my candidate is clear, we want the ballot box. Come face us on Sunday, November 2, and bring the ballot box. I will not let you sit there with 29 percent of the vote; you cannot run from the nation. I challenge you!

"YOUR FINAL REGRET WILL NOT BE OF ANY USE"

Under these conditions, Erdoğan says to me; 'Leave Ekrem, come to Ankara and sit at the head of the party, come and benefit from effective remorse,' he says. I don't know about 'effective remorse' or anything, but this nation saw you, saw your true face, your final regret will not be of any use, this nation will send you away.

"TRT, IF YOU HAVE THE COURAGE, BROADCAST IT"

A call from here; If you have as much courage as I do, come, let's make a 2-article law in parliament this week. Let's broadcast the trial of whoever wants it on television. Let the nation listen to both the slanders and the answers, I challenge you! Hey TRT, if you have the courage, broadcast it; let the nation see the hearings, see the slanders, and hear the facts."

İMAMOĞLU'S MESSAGE WAS READ

IMM President and presidential candidate Ekrem İmamoğlu, who is detained in Silivri, sent a message to the tens of thousands gathered in the rally square.

CHP Istanbul Provincial Chair Özgür Çelik read İmamoğlu's message. In his message, İmamoğlu used the following expressions:

"Dear residents of Büyükçekmece, my kind-hearted, brave neighbors, our country wakes up to a new lawlessness, a new oppression every day. They are attacking the law, democracy, and the national will. They are attacking our unity, our brotherhood. They are helpless in the face of economic crises, and weak in the face of disasters.

"THEY HAVE MOBILIZED ALL THEIR POWER TO DESTROY THE OPPOSITION"

They have no staff, energy, or enthusiasm left to solve the country's problems. They don't even make a sound against the colonialist tyrants who have turned the surroundings of our country into a place of fire. They have mobilized all their power and energy to destroy the opposition. They have only one project, and that is to protect their seats. Because they don't have the courage to compete with me bravely in front of the nation, they are wrestling through the judiciary.

"THEY PUT ME AND MY FRIENDS IN PRISON, BUT THEIR FEAR DOES NOT GO AWAY"

Theirs is a fake wrestling. In fact, they are in fear and panic of knowing that they cannot win an election under normal conditions. They put me and my friends in prison, but their fear does not go away. They are even afraid of the indictment being prepared and the trial starting. I repeat this sentence. They are even afraid of the indictment being prepared and the trial starting. That is why they are in an effort to grow their lies and slanders and to prolong the trial process as much as possible.

Every step they take for this purpose reveals their helplessness even more. They are so helpless that they think they can declare the 30-year mayor of Büyükçekmece, my dear brother Hasan Akgün, a criminal and reduce the citizens' love and respect for him with lies and slanders.

"WE ARE GIVING THIS STRUGGLE TO PROTECT OUR STATE"

They have forgotten what humanity is, what conscience is, what bravery is. They have forgotten what law is, what democracy is, what national will is. They think the country is their own deeded property and the state is their own family company. They think they can bring the nation into line as they wish. No power has been able to make this noble nation a partner in its own injustice and its own oppression, and it will not be able to. We are a nation that knows very well that an injustice done to a single person is a threat to all of us, and that rebels against injustices with all our hearts. For us, homeland means the land we are ready to die for so that freedom, justice, and peace prevail on it. For us, the state is the hand of the nation that ensures justice. If the state loses its justice, the nation's arm and wing are broken. We are the ones who want justice for everyone, everywhere. We set out for the power of the nation, not of a single person, a group, or a party, and we will definitely succeed. A handful of people will lose, the brotherhood of 86 million will win. Everything will be very beautiful."

HASAN AKGÜN: THESE DARK DAYS WILL PASS

The message of Büyükçekmece Mayor Hasan Akgün was read.

Akgün used the following expressions in his message:

Dear Büyükçekmece family, my precious citizens. I want to address the heart of each of you. I greet you from behind the iron bars in Silivri with the boundless love and devotion in my heart. I kiss the hands of my elders and the eyes of my little ones, and I carry the pride of having walked the same path with you in this honorable service journey that I have been continuing for over 40 years at every moment and under every condition.

Be sure of this. My heart is beating among you as always, in the streets of Büyükçekmece, in the laughter of children, in the blue of the coast, in the green of nature.

Following the unlawful arrest of our presidential candidate, Ekrem İmamoğlu, who was elected Istanbul Metropolitan Mayor three times, I am speaking to you today from the Silivri dungeon as a result of the oppressive practices initiated against Republican People's Party municipalities.

For the first time in 40 years, I have been separated from my family, my Büyükçekmece family. We could not embrace during the Feast of Sacrifice. But these dark days will pass. The Republic, which is the legacy of Gazi Mustafa Kemal Atatürk to us! It will continue on the path he drew, and this country will sooner or later reach the level of contemporary civilization. I have no doubt about this.

These lawless, unjust, and unconscionable practices we are experiencing today will be remembered as a black mark in the history of Turkish democracy. What are 11 mayors, our deputy mayors Rızacan Özdemir, Ömer Kazancı, and our other friends doing in dungeons? Didn't you, didn't you elect us with your free will?

These practices have no benefit to the country, the nation, or the economy that has been destroyed. What contribution does it have to the citizen who cannot find bread, to the hopeless young person? These archaic attitudes are dragging our country into more darkness every day. Do not forget that the rule of the darkest time of the night is until the dawn breaks. And that dawn is very close.

For 32 years, with your great support and with the awareness of social municipalism, we have created a Büyükçekmece where people enjoy living, which is civilized, intertwined with culture and art, and developing with sports and education. We built this city together with you, with the cooperation of our people, even though we were mostly in the opposition. We shaped our municipality's budget with the contribution of our people. We decided on our investment projects together with you. We prepared our city's 2050 vision plan together with our people. We worked by taking transparency as a guide with an exemplary municipal understanding.

While an inspector did not go to other municipalities once a year, at least 10-15 inspectors were sent to our municipalities every year. But, but we always welcomed them with our foreheads clear and our heads held high. Because we know that justice will be served, these difficult days will pass, and we will sign even greater services all together again.

Let no one have any doubt that we will continue to work for the future of our country, for rights, law, and justice. God is my witness that throughout my life, I have worked with all my might day and night for my country and for the happiness of my citizens. I dedicated myself to Büyükçekmece and my citizens.

I loved my Büyükçekmece, my homeland, with its citizens, and I will continue to love them. For 40 years, I have experienced and am experiencing the honor and happiness of serving you in Büyükçekmece with a family understanding. I am grateful to all of you.

We were going to carry out very important services together this summer. But today, even though I am physically in Silivri, I am with you and my teammates with my soul, my heart, and my whole being.

I am pursuing our mega project, our urban transformation cause, against the great earthquake that is happening, that is approaching. Our first priority is to build an earthquake-resistant Büyükçekmece where not a single citizen's nose will bleed. Thank God, by learning lessons from the 1999 earthquake, we have renewed more than 50,000 risky residences in our city center together with you. Thanks to these efforts, we have achieved 70% success in urban transformation in our city center. These efforts will continue with the same determination this summer.

Now, I want to explain why I am in Silivri today: Because for years, I did not compromise on horizontal architecture in urban planning, and I did not let the plan be violated. Because I did not surrender the city to concrete and resisted illegal construction. While there is 1 square meter of green space per person in Esenyurt, this area ratio has exceeded 120 square meters in Büyükçekmece. Because I made the 2050 vision plan together with the people. Because we brought Turkey's largest fair and congress center, a world-class TV tower, and a magnificent marina and yacht harbor to our city. Because I brought Turkey's largest film set here. Because I touched every segment of the public by building a district governorship, a police department, more than 38 nurseries and schools, and more than 28 mosques and cemevis."