CHP's Günaydın responds to AKP's Usta, who accused them of a 'coup mentality': We have no photos with Fethullah Gülen

Responding to AKP's Leyla Şahin Usta's accusation that the CHP has a "coup mentality," CHP's Gökhan Günaydın replied: "We have no photos with Fethullah Gülen. We have no photos with Kenan Evren; therefore, our history contains only honor, dignity, anti-imperialism, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, and Deniz Gezmiş. You need to face your own history for once."

The Grand National Assembly of Turkey (TBMM) convened under the chairmanship of Deputy Speaker Bekir Bozdağ to discuss the second part of the "Legislative Proposal on Amendments to Certain Laws," which includes provisions for ending the deduction of gambling and betting advertising expenses from the tax base, including certain precious stones under the Special Consumption Tax (ÖTV), taxing crypto assets, narrowing VAT exemptions, and increasing the fee for paid military service.

CHP Group Deputy Chairman and Istanbul MP Gökhan Günaydın responded to the statements made by President and AKP Chairman Recep Tayyip Erdoğan at today's group meeting. Günaydın said, "We are in the middle of a serious economic crisis; at the same time, there is a global crisis, a regional crisis, and a very hot war continuing right next to us; Turkey is practically struggling with these crises. Some were born from the world, some they created with their own hands, but the country's President and the country's AKP Chairman spend all their time dealing with the 'CHP.' It is as if the Republican People's Party has become the only issue in the country in Erdoğan's eyes."

"So we are the ones who carried out July 15, 2016, is that it? One wants to laugh, but one wonders how to even laugh."

Günaydın reiterated the remarks he made at a press conference before the General Assembly, where he responded to Erdoğan's statements linking the CHP to coups. Günaydın stated, "So we are the ones who carried out July 15, 2016, is that it? One wants to laugh, but one wonders how to even laugh, friends. July 15, 2016, was not carried out by those who infiltrated the state, but by your coalition partners. You have been trying to purge them; it has been going on for ten years. Well, haven't you taken on other coalition partners in their place? They, too, will one day ask for more from you than they do now. Do you remember? You used to say, 'What did you ask for that we didn't give?' Now you are saying the same to others: 'What did you ask for that we didn't give?'"

"You continued to support the coup plotters by calling this coup 'a piece of theater'"

AKP Group Deputy Chairman and Ankara MP Leyla Şahin Usta, continuing the "coup" debate, said, "Unfortunately, a coup mentality exists throughout the CHP. There are many dark stains in the history of the CHP, such as the gratitude for the coup that led to the call to prayer being recited in Turkish, and the expulsion of a headscarved MP from Parliament. The political party that finds the coup mentality most similar to itself, both historically and ideologically, is the Republican People's Party."

Usta continued as follows:

"During the July 15, 2016 coup attempt, while FETÖ-affiliated coup plotters were moving to assassinate our President Erdoğan and spreading terror across the country, your Chairman had his coffee in hand. While tanks were opening a path for him at Istanbul Atatürk Airport—not opening a path for anyone else, and while they were firing their weapons, tanks, and rifles at citizens—the tanks opened a path for your Chairman. He went to our Mayor's house safely and securely, sipping his coffee while watching the outcome of the coup. Afterwards, you continued to support the coup plotters by calling this coup 'a theater.' Even now, you continue on your path with the same mentality and the same understanding, using the arguments employed by FETÖ members. Turkey's history of coups is closed; with the final coup attempt on July 15, they were all put in their place, and it was made very clear to them that they could never attempt such a thing again. Thank God, Turkey continues on its path with an AKP government that has successfully emerged from its history of coups."

Günaydın to Usta: "Tell us about your Prime Ministers who hid in the Çankırı tunnel"

Taking the floor after the ongoing debate, CHP's Günaydın responded to AKP's Usta with the following words: "We have no photos with Fethullah Gülen, we have no photos with Kenan Evren; therefore, our history contains only honor, dignity, anti-imperialism, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, and Deniz Gezmiş. You must face your history for once. If you want to bring up July 15, then for heaven's sake, tell us about your Prime Ministers who hid in the Çankırı tunnel, tell us about those who fled to Azerbaijan."