Özgür Özel warns that it 'will harm the process'! 'No one is a fool...'

Republican People's Party (CHP) Chairman Özgür Özel made important statements regarding current issues.

Speaking to Medyascope, Özel evaluated the new opening process that the AKP, MHP, and DEM Party have named 'Terror-Free Turkey'.

Emphasizing that he views the process not as a transactional relationship but in terms of the country's interests, Özel stressed that AKP Chairman and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is looking for a way out for himself with this process. Özel said, "Seeking a way out for the AK Party instead of Turkey's interests is a very self-serving attitude."

Özel noted the following:

"Despite the very difficult conditions it is in, the pressures it faces, and the persecution it sees, the Republican People's Party expresses that it wants to maintain its historical consistency and make a positive contribution to this process. In fact, at this point, while all parties—the MHP, the DEM Party, and I respect the parties that keep themselves separate from this process—but all parties that want to contribute to this process say that this is how it should be, suddenly Erdoğan said, 'He will make very important statements, he will make surprise statements.'

He came out at the Kızılcahamam camp and, calling it an important statement, said, 'We have decided to walk the path with the MHP and the DEM,' and tried to portray this as a political alliance. Then, when reactions came from the whole of society and corrections came from the DEM Party, they removed this from the text this time. He said something similar again in his closing speech. But there are serious objections to this issue."

"THIS HARMS THE PROCESS"

"We view this process not as a transactional relationship or party interest, but as the interests of the country. Erdoğan, on the other hand, is looking for a way out for himself," said Özel, continuing as follows:

"Seeking a way out for the AK Party instead of Turkey's interests is a very self-serving attitude, and this both harms the process and no one facing him is a fool. Everyone saw what he was trying to do. This is our approach as well. Seeking a way out for the AK Party instead of Turkey's interests is a very self-serving attitude, and this both harms the process and no one facing him is a fool. Everyone saw what he was trying to do.

This is our approach as well. Of course, on the other hand, no one is obliged to stay within or outside the lines drawn by Erdoğan. The Republican People's Party is not going to consent to autocracy in Istanbul while democracy is being discussed in Diyarbakır."

"MANY OF OUR BUREAUCRATS ARE BEING HELD INSIDE DUE TO THE CITY CONCENSUS"

Reminding of the investigation carried out against his party's mayors and the individuals imprisoned due to the City Consensus investigation, Özel spoke as follows:

"In a process where negotiations with Abdullah Öcalan are ongoing, and options such as some members of the PKK terrorist organization coming into the country, some going to other countries, and some becoming involved in politics are being voiced, those who criminalize the City Consensus from here by taking a Kurdish municipal council member of the CHP and saying 'Their representation was ensured in municipal councils' are both keeping ten people who have previously engaged in politics in the DEM Party in prison because they entered from the CHP's lists, and they are keeping two of our mayors in prison. They appointed trustees to the Şişli and Esenyurt Municipalities. Besides this, many of our bureaucrats are being held inside due to the City Consensus. There is no acceptable side to this in this process either. We are voicing our objections at this point.

This is one part of the matter, but the other side of the matter is that Erdoğan is looking for a political alliance for himself. Despite everything, we want to make a positive contribution to the process. However, Erdoğan's political approaches that sabotage the process from the root, presenting them as a political alliance... We underline once again that it is unacceptable to keep our friends from the City Consensus inside while continuing negotiations with Kurdish politics on the one hand."

RESPONSE TO ERDOĞAN'S "ANKARA POLITICS"

Özel also responded to Erdoğan's words of 'do Ankara politics':

“You always hear these things between the lines anyway. Expressions such as 'They should withdraw from behind Ekrem İmamoğlu, they should end the rallies, they should do Ankara politics' reach us through intermediaries, from time to time through alternative channels. But this is not a formally established dialogue channel like that. That is a separate thing, but let us say this: we are not holding the rallies for nothing.

Look, our goal in these rallies is not to save our friends from being tried. We want them to be tried fairly and transparently, but to be tried without arrest and to ensure that they continue to perform the duty given by the nation. Erdoğan was never arrested, he was never detained. Until his sentence was finalized, no one forced Erdoğan to be taken away, nor did they keep him in detention, nor did they keep him under arrest. We are content with the treatment done to Erdoğan being done to us.”