CHP leader Özgür Özel: 'What is being done is a coup attempt against the next president!'

CHP Chairman Özgür Özel made evaluations regarding the agenda at his party's group meeting. Starting his speech by recalling the fire tragedy at the Grand Kartal Hotel in Bolu's Kartalkaya Ski Center, Özel said, "There are issues that must not be forgotten and must be voiced. After touching upon them, I will share with you the spirit of today, where we are, how we will stand, and where we will walk. For 28 days since the Kartalkaya fire, consciences have been burning. That ember never goes out. The experts whose reports have not been received are still there. As for the report of the expert in the newly appointed committee, which was formed after seeing the resistance, it is still nowhere to be found."

Özel stated the following:

"There are legal responsibilities, there is a political responsibility, but if there is one person with a conscience, in such a period, you will choose one person, and they will choose the rest. As the Parliament, you will not interfere. You will not be able to submit general questions, you will not be able to hold anyone accountable. In a place where it is said that one person will be held accountable, the one who appointed the minister who brought the Newborn Gang to this state and caused the lives of those babies, and the one who appointed this cultural tourism, is the sole person responsible for the matter. That person has a name, and that is Recep Tayyip Erdoğan."

'INFLATION OF THE RAMADAN FOOD PARCEL IS 70 PERCENT'

Continuing his speech with the course of the economy and the inflation experienced by citizens, Özel recalled the exorbitant price increases in basic food items to be purchased for the month of Ramadan. Özel continued his words as follows:

"Ramadan is coming, Mr. Erdoğan. There is no hunger in Ramadan; this worship, which is obligatory for the satiated to understand the state of the hungry, is coming, and the hungry know very well that the satiated do not understand their state. Let's make the comparison before Ramadan, this time for the Ramadan food parcel. We will not go back 20 years, we will only go back to last year. A Ramadan food parcel, 8 basic products. 8 basic products that will fill the stomach in Ramadan, pass through the throat, allow for fasting, and are needed at suhoor and iftar; it is not enough, but they are indispensable: sunflower oil, bulgur, pasta, chickpeas, minced meat, flour, rice, and tea. The same parcel was 950 TL last year. This year, in the same brands and the same place where it is sold, it is 1,610 TL. The increase is 70 percent. From here, as the blessed Ramadan approaches, I entrust this calculation to the eyes and conscience of everyone who intends to fast and needs to shop. Is this 70 percent the inflation of the Ramadan food parcel? Well, is it fair that the raise given to the minimum wage earner is 30 percent? As for the retiree, the last raise given is 15 percent. The total raise given since last Ramadan is a little over 40 percent. I leave those who say, 'Tayyip Erdoğan, I have never let my retirees be crushed by inflation, I have never let the minimum wage be crushed by inflation,' to the conscience of our nation. To the conscience of our nation."

"Of course, he wants us to talk about the judicial harassment he carries out. We will talk about it. He wants us to talk about the unjust attacks and lawlessness he commits, and not talk about these issues. Let the fire not be discussed. Let poverty not be discussed. Let the Newborn Gang not be discussed. Let the targeting of doctors by deputies not be discussed. Let the hunger and poverty of students not be discussed," said Özel, reacting to the appointment of a trustee to the Van Metropolitan Municipality.

Özel continued his statements as follows:

REACTION TO DETENTIONS AND ARRESTS

"Another trustee has been appointed to the Van Metropolitan Municipality, with a population exceeding 1 million. I also spoke with the chairmen of the EMEP this morning; police showed up at the doors of many structures that are each a part of the social opposition for some reason, and a new operation has begun. While the Governors appointed as trustees ignore the will of the people, those who react to this are punished with detentions and arrests. Trustees have been appointed to 11 municipalities, two of which are CHP-run. Regardless of what is said through perception operations, the CHP stands against this. Even if it were another party tomorrow, even if they were diametrically opposed politics, what falls to this government is this: there is no salvation alone, either all together or none of us.

For journalists; prison sentences of 4 to 9 years were demanded for our Barış Pehlivan, Suat Toktaş, Ms. Seda Selek, Serhan Asker, and Kürşad Oğuz. They think we can silence Halk TV. We can suppress journalism. On one hand, you see representatives of very different political parties, unionists, TÜSİAD... Everyone is suddenly under the pressure of this government and the target of its stick."

'WHAT IS BEING DONE IS A COUP ATTEMPT AGAINST THE NEXT PRESIDENT'

Reacting harshly to the judicial squeeze initiated against Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (İBB) Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, Özel said, "What is being done is a coup attempt against the next president." Özel stated the following:

"We are in a process that includes pressures, lawlessness, and some designs regarding the political sphere that threaten each of us in some way, targeting individuals, institutions, and even parties. I would like to put it on record from this podium; Turkey is in a process where a civil coup dynamic is at work. The process experienced and forced upon Turkey is a civil coup attempt. What is being done is a coup attempt against the next president."