CHP's Mersin rally... A duel challenge from Özgür Özel to Erdoğan!

The third of the "Standing Up for the National Will" rallies, held every weekend in a different province of Turkey for the release of CHP's presidential candidate Ekrem İmamoğlu and for early elections, took place today in Mersin.

The rally began in Yenişehir Square.

The first rally was held in Samsun, and the second was held last week in Yozgat.

Highlights from CHP Chairman Özgür Özel's statements at the Mersin rally are as follows:

Today we are in Mersin once again. However, the picture we see today is an indicator of Mersin's will and its determination to stand up for the national will. Something happened in Mersin today that first happened in Saraçhane. Just like the evening of March 23rd in Saraçhane, when the nation rushed to the solidarity ballot boxes we set up to determine their presidential candidate, came to Saraçhane from there, spent the whole afternoon and evening there, and the drone flew and flew and couldn't reach the end of the crowd, going out of range, today in Mersin the drone cannot reach the end of the crowd. Welcome, all of you. Mersin is holding one of the largest rallies in its history, but as we always say, we did not come here to Mersin today to gather or hold a rally. We came to Mersin today to take action, we came to get results.

"WE CAME NOT FOR A RALLY BUT FOR ACTION AGAINST THOSE WHO SQUEEZE JUSTICE LIKE A LEMON"

After the coup attempt against our presidential candidate, Ekrem İmamoğlu, our mayors, our municipal council members, and municipal bureaucrats, and after the disrespect shown to the national will, those who became millions and spilled into the streets, those who could not fit into the squares, came from Mersin today to say together, "I want İmamoğlu's freedom, I want my candidate by my side, I want the ballot box in front of me." We brought greetings to Mersin from Saraçhane, Maltepe, Samsun, Yozgat, and Ankara. Greetings to you, Mersin! Greetings to the beautiful people of the south, the warm and brave people of the Mediterranean. Today, in this square, we came not for a rally but for action against those who leave citrus on the branch and squeeze justice like a lemon. We came to make history and write history together with the people of Mersin who do not remain silent against oppression and who could not fit into Yenişehir Square today. The people of Mersin want justice. They are raising their voices for justice. Truly, Mersin no longer has the patience for the injustices experienced in Turkey or the injustices done to itself. While Mersin is either the fifth or sixth province that pays the most taxes, it is in 25th place in receiving services every year. The projects that have been promised for years are not being completed, and many have not even been started. They abandoned the main container port project. They did a great injustice to Mersin. They did not open even one of the 8 culture and tourism zones for investment. They could not finish the Çeşmeci-Taşucu highway for 10 years. The Akbelen multi-level intersection has not been completed for years. The Pamuklu Dam for the Mersin farmer has been waiting for 8 years; they haven't opened it, they still aren't opening it.

"THE AK PARTY WILL GO, THE CHP WILL COME, PEACE WILL COME"

They are trying to pollute Mersin's water and sea by placing fish farms, which are unwanted in the Aegean and removed through protests, right under Mersin's nose. Oh, people of Mersin! You are making your voice heard today to this government that ignores you. You made your voice heard on March 31, 2019. In 2024, you stood behind this will of yours much more firmly. We want to say from here to Mersin and Turkey that just as there was rent-seeking in Mersin before 2019, there was fighting in Mersin, there was the mafia in Mersin, there was tension in Mersin. Vahap Seçer came in 2019 and brought peace, service, and tranquility. Just as Mersin has become one of the most peaceful cities in Turkey living in harmony today, after the next elections, the AK Party will go, and the Republican People's Party will come. Peace will come to Turkey, tranquility will come. The name who will bring that peace is our presidential candidate Ekrem İmamoğlu, who is watching us today from his dungeon in Silivri, from his tiny phone in his room, with his big heart. We are sending greetings from here to President Ekrem, to Silivri. He sees you, he is watching you with emotion, with excitement. This nation, this nation did not establish this country easily. Neither independence nor the republic was won easily. We have gone through difficult times for 100 years. We have seen many dark winters, but wherever we stumbled, wherever we fell, we stood up stronger together. Now there are those who see themselves above the nation, who want to impose a direction on this nation. We show all of Turkey and the world every day that this nation is much stronger and much greater than one person, one group, or one party. Because this nation forgives everything. It even endures poverty and hardship, but it does not endure those who want to take its will away, it does not forgive them. This nation knows the value of the ballot box and always protects its ballot box and its right to vote and be elected.

"THE END OF THE ONE-MAN REGIME IS DISAPPOINTMENT"

Coups happen. Some are resisted immediately, some are delayed, but in the end, the nation stands behind its will and against the coup plotters. Because it knows that if the ballot box goes, if the right to vote goes, everything is in danger. How does it know this? It knows it from this: In the Gallipoli Campaign, an entire nation gave its life so as not to abandon Gallipoli, so that the navy would not pass through there, so that the invading armies would not pass, so that Anatolia would not be occupied. Tens of thousands, tens of thousands lay under the soil without shrouds, but then, with the will of one person...

When, when our grandfathers lay under the soil side by side without shrouds so that Gallipoli would not be passed, despite that, with the approval and a mistake of one person in Istanbul, those navies came a few years later and Istanbul was occupied. How did the invading armies set foot there with the consent of one administration, one single man? Afterwards, Anatolia was partitioned and occupied by 7 different armies. The boots of the soldiers, the invading soldiers, stepped on the fields, vineyards, and gardens of the farmer in Anatolia. Enemy armies came to their villages. Their property, possessions, and honor were threatened. That day, they stood up with Gazi Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, rose up, saved the homeland from the enemy, and then established the republic together with their savior. Everyone deemed someone worthy of kingship, someone of sultanate for Mustafa Kemal. Someone proposed an American-style presidency, someone a British-style monarchy. The Pasha said: "We established an assembly together with the nation, we brought democracy. The nation makes the decision. Sovereignty belongs unconditionally to the nation." That is why the wise and beautiful people of Anatolia and Rumelia know that the end of every one-man regime is disappointment. It is a disappointment for themselves and a disappointment for the homeland. Wherever there is a ballot box, wherever there is democracy, wherever there is the right to vote and be elected, there is peace, tranquility, and abundance. Therefore, whoever reaches for the ballot box, whoever says "I will make the decision" to take away the right to vote, is an enemy of this nation. This nation stands against those coup plotters.

That is why this nation knows the ballot box as its honor and protects it like its honor. Because if there is no ballot box, there is a one-man rule. If there is a one-man rule, there is a mistake. If there is a mistake, there is an occupation. If there is an occupation, there is no guarantee for property, possessions, or honor. Therefore, we will continue to protect our ballot box, our candidate, and our country like our honor, all together. There are two types of coups in the world. One of them is a civilian coup, and the other is a military coup. This country has seen both in the past, but this world has not seen anything like what is happening in Turkey these days. It is not a coup attempt against someone elected in the past, of course, but against the Istanbul Metropolitan Mayor of the last local election, but essentially against the presidential candidate of the next election, the presidential candidate of the Republican People's Party, the founding party of the country, the future president. Against this coup attempt, there are tens of millions, tens of millions of brave hearts, tens of millions who protect their republic, the ballot box entrusted by Atatürk, and democracy. That is why I see the hundreds of thousands, I see the millions in Mersin, in Yenişehir today, who are standing up for that will.

"THE HEADQUARTERS OF THE JUNTA IS THE PALACE"

As you know, every coup has a junta, a leader, and every coup has a target. The target is undoubtedly Ekrem İmamoğlu as an individual, but essentially it is your will. The headquarters of this junta is Beştepe, the palace. The weapon of this junta is the judiciary it has seized, and the ammunition of this weapon is lies and slander. During a holy Ramadan iftar dinner, we received the news that they had canceled the diploma President Ekrem received 31 years ago. Following that, they unjustly sent thousands of our police brothers to their homes at sahur, detained them. They held them for 4 days and then put them in the Silivri dungeon. Our National Anthem begins with "Fear not!". Greetings and blessings to those who resisted for 7 days and 7 nights in Saraçhane, to those who spilled into the streets in 81 provinces in Mersin, to those who became 2.2 million and could not fit into the squares in Maltepe, to the 15.5 million people who rushed to the ballot box and stood by their candidate; they have taught the coup plotters a historic lesson. However, there are still those before us who want to establish a tutelage regime. They are no longer the government. They are now an illegitimate junta administration. Because it is not possible to call those who fear the nation and run away from the ballot box a government. At most, they are the opposition party of the future, and our nation is counting the days for a change of government, or rather, is exercising patience. The state is what you call the home of the nation, but a handful of tutelage supporters have locked the door of this house today. They are the ones who entered, the nation is the one left outside. The doors of the state have been closed to the nation. This nation first saved itself from occupation. Then it saved itself from scarcity. Now it will save itself from this group of people who want to take its will captive. Just as President Vahap and our mayors in Mersin opened the doors of the municipality to the nation, I swear to you that the doors of the state will also be opened to this nation. I swear!

"DO YOU HEAR ME, TAYYİP BEY, THEY ARE CALLING FOR YOUR RESIGNATION"

Tayyip Bey, we are going to every corner of Turkey. The nation is saying two things from every corner. One: "They are sending greetings to Ekrem İmamoğlu." Do you see? They are sending greetings to Ekrem İmamoğlu. And this nation is saying something to you from every corner of Turkey. Do you hear me, Tayyip Bey? What is this nation saying to you? The nation is calling Tayyip Bey to resign. Resignation is a virtue, but if you are not going to do this, if you don't see a need to resign, if you trust yourself, then you will bring the ballot box, and the nation will make the decision. Are you up for it? Challenge accepted! It has been almost 40 days. They could not prove a single one of their allegations against President Ekrem and our friends. For 40 days and 40 nights, they told lies and slanders on the screens of the pro-government media, and they continue to do so. However, in all the polls conducted, the highest is 30%, and generally, with results between 25-30%, 25%, at most 30%, believe these lies and slanders. We are facing a slandering government that could not convince even one out of four people with so much slander. There is still no indictment. They are looking for false witnesses through pressure and threats. They could not verify the slanders thrown by three pieces of wood named Oak, Plane, and Spruce, the secret witnesses, in a MASAK report, nor could they find a single piece of evidence. Now, they are trying to create false witnesses through threats and blackmail by pressuring the witnesses who have already testified to their prosecutors and the suspects who have testified, using mobbing, saying, "Testify as I want, go home, reunite with your children, but if you testify like this, I will keep you inside for 10 years." They are failing, and they will not succeed!

ÖZEL'S DUEL CHALLENGE TO ERDOĞAN

Those who take female detainees who have tiny children and say, "We are taking you to the hospital," and then stand in front of them and say, "Testify as I say," in short, "Slander Ekrem İmamoğlu. Then go straight home," and say, "If you don't do this, you won't be able to see your child's face for 10 years," cannot be called legal professionals. They cannot be called prosecutors. They are slanderers. We will not say "mercy, have mercy" to them, we will not surrender. From here, from Mersin, from here, from Mersin, I am calling out to Tayyip Erdoğan: Mr. Erdoğan, if you trust your prosecutor, stand behind him. I trust my presidential candidate, President Ekrem, I am fully behind him. If you trust your allegations, let's open TRT. Let's open all the television channels that want to. Let your prosecutor ask the questions, and let my president be judged on live broadcast. Let's see who is honest and who is a slanderer. Are you up for it? From here, I am making a big offer to Mr. Erdoğan in front of the entire nation, and I am proposing the biggest confrontation and duel in our political history. We will do this: There will be a trial on live broadcast. Then we will take the average of all the polling companies in Turkey. If the nation is convinced of Ekrem İmamoğlu's guilt, I will quit politics. If not, are you willing to quit? I am challenging you to a political duel. On live broadcast, I'll even give you a 25% head start. If your prosecutor turns out to be right, I will resign. When Ekrem İmamoğlu's innocence is revealed, will you resign? Do you have the courage? Challenge accepted! But they don't have such a heart, they don't have such courage.

Just this morning, just this morning, while the nation was fed up with these operations and saying, "It is harming the economy," while the nation was saying, "I have an earthquake agenda. Bring the one I elected to sit in his place," they embarked on a new operation today and detained 53 more people, including high-level bureaucrats from the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality. They will now try to do with 53 new innocent people what they could not find evidence for and could not convince a false witness for. Markets and the stock exchange want law and trust. That is why they did not dare to carry out this operation during the week. They are carrying out this operation on a Saturday morning after the markets close so that the stock market does not fall and the dollar does not rise. If there were morality and law in this operation, why would the stock market fall, why would the markets be disrupted?

"IF THERE WERE MORALITY AND LAW IN THE OPERATION, WHY WOULD THE STOCK MARKET BE DISRUPTED"

If there were morality and law in this operation, why would the stock market fall, why would the markets be disrupted? We all know that what is being said is a lie, that this is a slander, that this is a conspiracy made by Tayyip Erdoğan to get rid of his rival, we all know it. The work done today has two goals entirely. The first of these is to seize the nation's will, and the second is to seize Istanbul's rent. So much so that immediately after President Ekrem was put in prison, they took the Kanal Istanbul betrayal off the shelf. While the guardian of Istanbul, President Ekrem, was in Silivri, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan appeared in the lead role in the advertisements of Arab television stations. In 3.5-minute commercials, Tayyip Erdoğan was promising beautiful apartments to those in Qatar, to the Arabs, to the Arab sheikhs, saying "Houses with a view of Kanal Istanbul," "Houses with a lake view in Istanbul," "Houses guaranteed with a Turkish passport," and İSKİ, seeing this, objected to it. The General Manager of İSKİ, Şafak Başa, as the person who objected to this from the very foundation, went to President Ekrem, paid a visit, and presented the information notes. He, the deputy general manager, and the head of the zoning department saw the constructions made for Kanal Istanbul, not the housing built for the poor as they say, but all the work done for the Kanal Istanbul construction, and sent a letter yesterday stating that they had issued a demolition order to TOKİ for these because they were illegal. This news is in the newspapers, in the opposition newspapers today, and this morning, the general manager of İSKİ, the deputy general manager, and the head of the zoning department, who were not named in the operation 40 days ago and against whom there were no allegations, were detained in a dawn raid. We all know that the issue is not corruption, the issue is the lack of Kanal Istanbul. If there is no Kanal Istanbul, there is no Tayyip Erdoğan. That is why he is attacking our friends. I am calling out to Tayyip Erdoğan from here. Istanbul faced the reality of the earthquake, which you forgot and tried to make people forget, once again in recent days. The main seat of AKOM, the Disaster Coordination Center, is standing empty. The people of Istanbul put President Ekrem there. The one who will give confidence to Istanbul in an earthquake panic, the one who will continue and finish the work he has done so far against the earthquake danger, and the one who will protect Istanbul from the earthquake is President Ekrem and our friends. However, even in this situation, Erdoğan, who makes politics out of the earthquake and sits the AK Party provincial chairman next to the deputy mayor elected in place of President Ekrem, has rounded up our bureaucrats, who are most needed today against the earthquake danger, from their homes in the morning.

They are the friends who saved Üsküdar Square, which merged with the sea every time it rained, from those days. They are the ones who resist rent-seeking and fight against illegal construction. Ayamama Creek... Those who rehabilitated Ayamama Creek, where 31 people died in the last flood, are the ones who no longer abandon babies to death in the creeks. Taking these friends and throwing them inside is to leave Istanbul defenseless against disaster, against an earthquake. I am calling out to Erdoğan, who detained the guardians of Istanbul this morning as the sun was rising: What are you doing? At this hour, at this time, a snake doesn't bite a man, a snake doesn't bite. On such a day, in this state, when an earthquake is at the door, when an earthquake is at the door, if you are rounding up these experts, you are truly not a friend to this Istanbul or this nation, but not only them, they went and detained 30 of our young people in Ankara last night. They had detained 2,000 of our young people in Istanbul. They had arrested 301 of our children. Still, more than 40 of our children are imprisoned all over Turkey.

"THEY DETAINED 30 OF OUR YOUNG CHILDREN IN ANKARA"

Now they have detained 30 of our young children in Ankara. Brilliant children. We are proud of all of them. We kiss each of our young people on their foreheads. It's a good thing they exist, it's a good thing they are resisting. While there are hundreds of thousands here, if we found this many people in a district in a side street, we would hold a rally. We love you all very much, thank you. There are mini-rally areas in the side streets for those who cannot enter the square. I would like to thank our Mersin provincial and district chairmen, our Metropolitan Mayor, all our mayors, Adana, Kahramanmaraş, and Hatay from the bottom of my heart for this magnificent rally. It's a good thing you are here, it's a good thing we are all together. These coup plotters intended to break the backbone of our economy, which is already in trouble. Those who do not provide resources to the farmers, workers, and retirees of Mersin burned our dollar reserves that had been accumulated for years to carry out this coup. Exactly $52 billion. Until yesterday it was $50 billion, and yesterday $2 billion was burned. They ruined and destroyed our $52 billion. Supposedly, the interest rate would drop by 2.5 points, and the interest rate would be 40%. Let alone dropping, it increased by 3.5 points and became 46%. After Venezuela with 60% and Zimbabwe with 35%, Turkey has the highest interest rate between the two. Turkey has the second-highest interest rate in the world, and look at what can be done with the approximately ?2 trillion sold from the Central Bank, the $52 billion. Not just in Mersin, but in 81 provinces, the total of the bank debts of farmers in all of Turkey, including interest, is ?1 trillion. Half of the money they burned to carry out the operation against President Ekrem today pays off the farmers' bank debts. With the other half, you can give ?420,000 to each farmer, ?420,000. With this money, with this money, you can appoint all of the 1 million teachers who cannot be appointed and pay their 3-year salaries in advance. With this money, you can pay every one of our retirees the minimum wage, but not the ?22,000 that Tayyip Bey deems worthy, but the ?30,000 minimum wage that we advocate, as the lowest salary for each of our retirees.

"ŞİMŞEK TOOK ORDERS FROM THE US TREASURY SECRETARY"

The March 19 coup plotters, who cannot find money for the farmer, the retiree, or the worker, have spent this money to curb the dollar. Governments make their choices according to whom they love. They act according to what they fear. Because this government is afraid of leaving power, because it is afraid of President Ekrem, because it is afraid of your will, it spent $52 billion. The future government, your government, our government, because it loves the retiree, because it is a friend of the minimum wage earner, because it is a friend of the citrus producer, the farmer, and the youth, will allocate a budget for good management, not for evil. We promise you all. The financial leg of this coup is Mehmet Şimşek. Yesterday, he made the following statements in America: "We are taking the necessary steps to limit the reflections of domestic developments on our economy." What is the domestic development, Mr. Mehmet? Say that we carried out a coup. Say that we sold the nation's money for this coup. Now he has gone and held a meeting next to the head of the IMF, whom they used to say "We got rid of," and at the door of the United States Treasury Secretary. The Treasury Secretary is explaining, the American Treasury Secretary: "I met with Şimşek. I said, 'We will apply maximum pressure against Iran. You will be on our side,'" he says, giving instructions, shaking his finger. Syria is in this state, Iran is next, then Turkey. He says to them: "You will be on our side against Iran." The same meeting... Mehmet Şimşek is explaining what he talked about regarding the same meeting: "We talked about artificial intelligence. We talked about robots. We talked about the economy." Well, Mr. Mehmet, the man has officially announced it, he has told you how he gave you a task, how he gave you a direction, how he gave you an order in exchange for money, and you are explaining it. "Tell a lie, let's turn around and count the believers." He talked about artificial intelligence. He talked about artificial intelligence, you liar! Recep Tayyip Erdoğan received the permission for the March 19 coup from Trump. The March 19 coup was carried out with the support of America. After the March 19 coup, the Cyprus cause was abandoned. In return for remaining silent about the March 19 coup, no voice was raised against the Turkic republics recognizing Southern Cyprus. Northern Cyprus was left alone, and what they call the "little motherland," our brotherly homeland, was sold by the AK Party.

İMAMOĞLU'S MESSAGE WAS READ

After the speech of Mersin Metropolitan Mayor Vahap Seçer at the rally, Ekrem İmamoğlu's message was read. The message was read by the CHP Mersin Provincial Chairman.

İmamoğlu's message is as follows:

"People of Mersin, as vast as the Mediterranean, as strong as the Taurus Mountains, my heart beats with the same excitement as yours. I am writing this letter from the Silivri dungeon to everyone whose heart beats for this country in every corner of Mersin. Mersin is the city of the national will, the symbol city of Turkey's brotherhood. Mersin is the city of those who produce, resist, and share. Mersin, which should be Turkey's strategic city, is not receiving the investment it deserves.

We did not set out on this path for a seat, but to change a system. This system must change. This people deserve better. They are trying to stop our path with judicial coups. They can throw us into dungeons, but they cannot stop our resistance or the nation's favor, they cannot keep us from our path. I trust our nation. This voice rising from Mersin will change the system. The ballot box will come, and a fair, free, and prosperous Turkey for everyone will emerge from that ballot box."