Ekrem İmamoğlu declares 'our place and side are clear': We will pay whatever price is necessary

Ekrem İmamoğlu, in a letter sent to the “The Nation Protects Its Will” rally held in Küçükçekmece, stated, "Either we will use our democratic right as a nation and say ‘we are the source of legitimacy,’ or we will sacrifice this beloved homeland to the dark bargains of those seeking legitimacy from across the ocean. On one side, there is a government that ignores the nation's right and authority to make decisions through political operations; on the other, there are those who derive their power and legitimacy from the national will under all circumstances."

Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu sent a letter from Silivri Prison, where he is being held.

İmamoğlu used the following expressions:

“I have been away from you for exactly 194 days. But my heart and mind are always with you. I see that you still love and support me and my colleagues just as you did on the first day. May God not let us shame you before yourselves. Thank you, long live. Since 2019, we have been demonstrating a populist and action-oriented administration in both the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality and our Küçükçekmece Municipality. On one hand, we are allocating unprecedented budgets to ensure social justice, and on the other, we are making record-level investments in subways, infrastructure, and the environment. We have also done a lot for Küçükçekmece. With the subway lines we opened, nurseries, living valleys, and our fair and rapid urban transformation projects, we have brought Küçükçekmece the value it deserves. We have worked with all our might to be worthy of your will and to deliver fast and high-quality services to you.”

"SOVEREIGNTY BELONGS TO THE NATION"

“Even though we have been deprived of our freedoms, our friends on the outside continue to work with the same understanding. I congratulate our Küçükçekmece Mayor Kemal Çebi, who continues to expand his services, and all his colleagues. For us, politics is, above all, an effort to be worthy of this beloved nation. This government, however, conducts politics by ignoring the nation's will and turning its back on the nation. This is the Republic of Turkey. It is the legacy of Gazi Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. Here, politics cannot be conducted against the nation, and governance cannot be carried out against the nation. Here, sovereignty belongs only and exclusively to the nation. A handful of people who forget this truth are causing great crises in our country and making our nation pay heavy prices. The ultimate goal of the dark political project they have implemented through the judiciary is to make a regime where all powers are in the hands of only one person and one party permanent.

We are at a very critical turning point in our history where every word we say and every step we take will determine our future. Either we will join hands and protect our republic, democracy, and our rights and freedoms, or we will lose many generations in deep darkness. Either we will use our democratic right as a nation and say ‘we are the source of legitimacy,’ or we will sacrifice this beloved homeland to the dark bargains of those seeking legitimacy from across the ocean. On one side, there is a government that ignores the nation's right and authority to make decisions through political operations; on the other, there are those who derive their power and legitimacy from the national will under all circumstances. On one side, there is the voice and will of tens of millions who fill the squares to protect their bread, their rights and freedoms, their future, and their country, growing in waves day by day; on the other, there are those who are afraid to face the citizens and run away, those who cannot go out to the streets or the markets.”

"WE WILL PAY WHATEVER PRICE IS NECESSARY"

“Our place and our side are clear. From the very first day, we have been saying the same thing: As long as Turkey is not a state of law and justice does not prevail in every area of life, there is no peace for any of us. Because if there is no rule of law, if there is no fair politics, fair competition, and fair distribution, there is no common future for us. If there is no justice, there is no happiness, no prosperity, and no abundance. Therefore, in these squares where those who say ‘legitimacy is derived from the nation’ gather, we will always say the same motto: For everyone, everywhere; justice first, freedom first. We will not take a single step back in making Turkey a country of abundance, prosperity, and happy people. We will pay whatever price is necessary, but this beloved nation will surely attain justice and surely attain freedom. Everything will be very beautiful. Ekrem İmamoğlu. Silivri Dungeon.”