CHP Leader Özel responds to summary of proceedings: 'AK Party is uncomfortable'

CHP Chairman Özgür Özel attended the January 10 Working Journalists' Day meeting organized by Manisa Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Ferdi Zeyrek in his hometown of Manisa.

In addition to Özel, the program was attended by Manisa Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Ferdi Zeyrek, district mayors, department heads, Manisa Journalists Association President Önder Aydın, and members of the press from Manisa and İzmir.

Delivering the opening speech at the meeting held after the meal, Manisa Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Ferdi Zeyrek spoke about the importance of the press and celebrated January 10 Working Journalists' Day.

In his speech, Özel specifically addressed the importance of the local press. Making evaluations regarding the agenda, Özel said the following about the municipalities' debts to the Social Security Institution (SGK):

“The total gold debt of municipalities to the SGK is not 15 tons, Mr. Tayyip; it is 30 tons. 10 tons of this 30 tons belong to your municipalities, and 20 tons belong to municipalities of parties other than yours. 10 tons of this 20 tons are debts we inherited from your AK Party municipalities. In other words, as all opposition municipalities, our total gold debt is 10 tons.

The debt incurred by you and your municipalities is 20 tons. 10 tons of this is still on your municipalities, and 10 tons is the debt remaining from you that is on our municipalities, totaling 30 tons, which is 1 truckload. So, what is the total receivable of this SGK? 270 tons of gold. 30 tons are from municipalities, 1 truckload. The remaining 8 truckloads, 240 tons, are other receivables.

Other receivables are supposed to be announced every 6 months, but Mr. Tayyip does not announce them. Why? Because the companies closest to him are at the top. They seize the accounts of the İzmir Metropolitan Municipality to collect these debts with interest, and next month they are preparing to issue an SGK amnesty for them. They will wipe out the interest and divide the principal into who knows how many installments.

I am telling Mr. Tayyip: The SGK has 270 tons of gold in receivables; 30 tons are from municipalities, and 240 tons are from companies. Before you forgive the interest of these companies, explain which companies these are. Therefore, without this explanation, what Mr. Tayyip says has no value.”

"ONE MUST TELL MR. TAYYIP"

Touching upon some statements made by President Erdoğan regarding Syria, Özel said, "He says Assad has fallen and the CHP is mourning. Why would I mourn? If an authoritarian leader in the world decreases, I would almost play a tambourine after him. I hope those days will come in Turkey too, but the rest of the sentence is bad. He says, 'Come on, their former chairman had a justification for this for a known reason, but why is Özgür Özel doing this?' This is a very dangerous business. Based on Kemal Bey's faith, based on Assad's faith—Assad is a Nusayri Arab Alevi, Kemal Bey is Alevi.

That is what he is saying without saying it. He is picking at this, saying 'Özgür Bey, you are Sunni, why are you standing on the side of these Arab Alevis?' First of all, I have never looked at any pain, national issue, or foreign policy through the lens of sectarian politics, I never will, and I do not find those who do so to be correct. It does the greatest harm to this country. Politicians should not be categorized according to their sects or beliefs, but according to their hearts.

Bad-hearted and good-hearted. Those who make such descriptions are bad-hearted. Mr. Tayyip is among the bad-hearted. It is fine when he says 'Alevi and Sunni are brothers,' but he is engaging in sectarianism here by saying 'he supports Assad for a known reason.' It is necessary to expose this here, to condemn it here, and to tell Mr. Tayyip that this language is a very dangerous language. Saying 'his reason was known' is a reference to Kemal Bey's sect.

It may suit Mr. Tayyip, but it does not suit Turkey, nor does it suit Manisa. Our Alevi and Sunni deputies sit side by side in this hall and in parliament, and we are together. The CHP is a party that is the guarantor of this brotherhood and unity. Tayyip Erdoğan has embarked on a dangerous endeavor aimed at bombing this unity, at eliminating this unity; I condemn him and invite him not to repeat it.

We consider his silence as his apology. Let him not repeat it. If he does not repeat it, we will forget it. If he repeats it, I will give a much harsher response. I would like to express this clearly," he said.

“DEVLET BEY HAS STARTED TO SAY PEACE”

Addressing questions about MHP Leader Devlet Bahçeli's rhetoric on peace, Özel said, "Devlet Bey has started to say peace, but he does so without using the language of peace. He has a very harsh tone. He invites Abdullah Öcalan to parliament, but he uses a very harsh tone against the CHP and other parties. If Devlet Bey is going to transition from the language of fighting and insults to the language of peace, and if this tweet is the first step, that is a good thing. But if Devlet Bey thinks he will manage the process this way—that is, far from sincerity, reading only what he knows, constantly throwing something out there but not establishing a commission in parliament, making bargains on the island and relying on parliament while tweeting here—this is not the right path. If this is the first step for Devlet Bey to start using the language of peace, it is good; if this is the last word he will say on this matter, it is bad. One needs to see the continuation. If this is the first step toward the language of peace, it is good; if this is the final word, it is bad," he said.

“IT MEANS NOTHING TO US”

When asked about the summary of proceedings submitted to parliament regarding 17 deputies, including himself, Özel said:

“These types of summaries come constantly. It means nothing to us. Especially in the recent period, as we have raised the CHP's objections and Erdoğan has expressed his discomfort, some people take action and summary after summary arrives. Honestly, we don't need immunity; in fact, the AK Party is uncomfortable because we are a party that touches the people. Our nation will lift Erdoğan's immunity at 17:00 on the evening of the next election day; you can be sure of that.”