Extras hired for 950 liras at CHP membership ceremony: Exits prohibited
Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, who returned to the CHP chairmanship seat by court order, appeared at the party's membership ceremony in Istanbul. It has emerged that he paid 950 liras per person for the slogans that greeted him there.
12punto
Following the establishment of the NEW Party, led by Özgür Özel, it was announced that the badge ceremony held by the CHP had been moved to the Rauf Denktaş Cultural Center in Ayazağa, Sarıyer, Istanbul, due to "high attendance." While casting agencies filled the membership ceremony with hundreds of extras to make it appear as though they were CHP members, the only actual people in the hall were CHP Central Executive Board (MYK) members and those managing the program.
According to a report by Ebru Çelik from Birgün, hundreds of extras from various casting agencies were brought to the ceremony for 950 liras each. Among the extras were the unemployed, unappointed teachers, retirees, Iranian and Egyptian immigrants, as well as individuals who support İmamoğlu.
Hundreds of extras from three different casting agencies gathered at 09:00 at the Trump AVM in Mecidiyeköy and were taken to the Cultural Center in Sarıyer by approximately 20 shuttle buses.
REHEARSALS HELD FOR SLOGANS TO BE CHANTED
The cast members, who arrived in Sarıyer as extras for 950 TL, were taken off the shuttles and gathered in the backyard of the Cultural Center. They were instructed to chant slogans such as "Kılıçdaroğlu, the hope of the people," "Rights, law, justice," "Kılıçdaroğlu, the hope of the youth," and "Hero Kemal," and were rehearsed in clapping and whistling together.
The extras were asked to applaud while Gürsel Tekin and Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu spoke at the ceremony. Before the event, which started at 12:00, casting directors managed the extras placed on the lower and upper floors of the hall to ensure they clapped and chanted slogans. Approximately 50 male extras, including the casting directors themselves, were dressed in CHP Youth Branch vests and told to wave CHP and Turkish flags.
SIGNALED TIMES FOR APPLAUSE
The casting director, who directed the CHP-looking cast employees in the hall from in front of the podium, used hand signals to indicate when to applaud during the speeches of Tekin and Kılıçdaroğlu, while directors among the extras led the chanting of slogans. The extras were frequently dictated to shout louder, clap, chant slogans, and wave flags.
After the ceremony ended, the extras were taken to the casting agency's office to receive their payments. The extras were unable to move from their seats during the total of 3 hours of speeches by trustee Gürsel Tekin and Kılıçdaroğlu. Exits from the hall were prohibited for the so-called CHP members who wanted to use the restroom or step out for fresh air.