Harsh remarks from Özgür Özel on the agenda: 'These scoundrels have made a drug dealer the head of the narcotics branch'

The 'Defending the National Will' rallies, initiated by the Republican People's Party (CHP) following the arrest of Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (İBB) Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, continue.

The 43rd of these rallies was held in Tuzla.

CHP Chairman Özgür Özel had called out to citizens for the rally, saying, "We are not coming for polarization, but for embracing. We are coming to bring justice to the worker, the retiree, the farmer, and the civil servant!"

In his letter shared with the public by CHP Istanbul Provincial Chairman Özgür Çelik, İmamoğlu said the following:

“Greetings from one end of the noble city of Istanbul to the other, from Silivri to Tuzla. The beautiful people of Tuzla, a unique and lovely district of our Istanbul, my precious fellow citizens… Our smiling ladies, our esteemed gentlemen, dear youth, and beautiful children; hello! Tuzla has attained the social municipalism of the Republican People's Party after exactly 32 years and has met its action-oriented and pro-people identity. The people of Tuzla trusted our Mayor Eren Ali, one of the youngest mayors in Istanbul, with all their hearts. They believed that he would serve Tuzla with all his might, with his energy and determination. And thank goodness, he has never betrayed your trust, and he never will.”

“WE HAVE CHANGED MANY THINGS IN TUZLA SINCE 2019”

“We have changed many things in Tuzla since 2019. You have experienced and felt this change the most and the deepest. We opened nurseries in Tuzla and tried to end the great injustice in accessing pre-school education opportunities. We found jobs for mothers with children of nursery age and offered them opportunities to work. We opened a City Restaurant (Kent Lokantası) and stood by our citizens who could not be fed sufficiently due to harsh economic conditions and whose budgets were not enough for healthy, quality food. We put our Regional Employment Office into service. We mediated the employment of our fellow citizens from Tuzla, especially the youth and women. With our KİPTAŞ social housing projects, we started to implement a very valuable housing acquisition model. And all this despite all the obstacles from the government. The list of what we have done for Tuzla is very long. Because if you give the nation's money to the nation, if you serve the entire nation and not a handful of minorities, you will produce more actions, generate more work, and provide more services than ever seen before.”

“WHEN THEY HAVE A CANDIDATE WHO HAS BURIED THEM IN THE BALLOT BOX IN EVERY ELECTION…”

“Because they cannot compete with us in action and service, they are afraid to face us at the ballot box. With that fear, they are trying to imprison us and protect their seats. When they have a candidate who has buried them in the ballot box in every election, they seek a remedy in the cancellation of diplomas and in investigations based on lies and slanders. Those who make our state helpless against fake diploma gangs are pressuring the university and the judiciary to cancel my diploma, which is in accordance with procedure and law, and they keep changing the judges. The prosecutor's office, which writes letters to the university and exerts pressure so that my diploma is quickly cancelled, has not been able to complete the investigation it started against me and my friends in October 2024 and prepare the indictment. For exactly 9 months, because they haven't found what they were looking for, there is no indictment. That indictment will come before us, and we will throw all the slanders, conspiracies, and lies in their faces one by one.”

“THE MILLIONS WHO DO NOT EAT RIGHTS AND DO NOT LET THEIR RIGHTS BE EATEN WILL WIN”

“Whatever they do, it is in vain. The remedies for this government have run out. They will not be able to escape the truth. They will not be able to hide the ballot box from the nation. The national will will pass its judgment and justice will be served. With our never-ending hope and courage… With our hearts full of goodness that see everyone as one and equal… We will win with our clean conscience that wants justice and freedom for everyone, everywhere. We will not stop, we will shout: For everyone, everywhere; justice first, freedom first! The millions who do not eat rights and do not let their rights be eaten will win. The unity and brotherhood of 86 million will win. A single mortal person will lose, and this noble nation, which will live forever, will win. Everything will be very beautiful. Ekrem İmamoğlu. Silivri Prison"

STRIKING ALLEGATION FROM CHP CHAIRMAN ÖZGÜR ÖZEL

Here are the highlights from CHP Chairman Özgür Özel's speech:

"Those who fill these squares are here to defend Mayor Ekrem, the municipal council members, and those they elected, to defend their will, for the retired worker, for the worker and civil servant, for the civil servant and the youth, for the tradesmen and farmers. There is no salvation alone, either all together or none of us!

We have shown together to those who say, 'Those squares will not fill up, they will fade away slowly.' Our energy is high, you cannot finish it. Our will is made of steel, you cannot bend it. Our people are brave, you cannot scare them. What was Erdoğan saying? 'In 30 days, they won't be able to show their faces in public. They won't be able to look each other in the eye.' Here is Mayor Ekrem's trust. As the CHP Chairman, I am saying from Tuzla, looking into the eyes of Turkey; our friends are innocent, Mayor Ekrem is innocent. However, we are facing a gang of slanderers. We will unmask them in a moment.

I am all over Turkey, where are you, Erdoğan?! Can you go out on the street? No. Can you visit the market? No. Here is the 'salon man' Erdoğan. Come face us if you have the courage, bring the ballot box on November 2nd.

CHP has been in Anatolia for 4 days in a row in exactly 22 provinces. As CHP, we are both in Ağrı and Aksaray. The party is everywhere. The organization is everywhere. The struggle and work are everywhere. Do you see, we are marching to power.

"WE WILL STOP TURKEY FROM BEING A COUNTRY OF EASY DEATHS"

Tuzla is a district established in 1992. It has seen 7 elections. We were defeated and lost in 6 of them. We had lost in Tuzla since it was established. We trusted Eren Ali, a child of the party who was not even born when it was established in '92 and was 30 years old that day, and nominated him. Tuzla trusted and voted.

The land of workers always comes to the agenda with work-related murders. While someone buys ships and little ships with a ring, those who build those ships get cancer and die every day. In Turkey, where 30 thousand 200 workers died, while 961 workers fell victim to work-related murders in the first 6 months of 2025, Erdoğan did not take the necessary measures to avoid suppressing the production ambition of the capital. Of course, under our government, the country will win, we will bring wealth. But we will stop this country from being a country of easy deaths. We do not accept a country where the life and sweat of the worker are so worthless.

While some look arrogantly from their ivory towers and palaces, I am calling out from here: We have an issue with you. I am calling out to the government that looks down on workers and sees them as ants: The ant has a brother, and that is the Republican People's Party.

"THOSE WHO WITHDREW FROM THE ISTANBUL CONVENTION ARE PRIMARILY RESPONSIBLE FOR FEMICIDES"

Unfortunately, no one is safe. The worker at the shipyard, at the workbench, in the mine is not safe. Newborn babies, our Mehmetçik (soldier) being martyred under the sun, those who lose their lives while trying to save the forest... We experienced one more of the femicides today. Saliha Akbaş was murdered. Femicides are political. They are the result of choices. Those who withdrew from the Istanbul Convention, those who stand in the way of the fight against violence against women, those who even eye the right to alimony are primarily responsible for femicides. We will hold them accountable. We will no longer let you sit in those seats.

"THESE SCOUNDRELS HAVE MADE A DRUG DEALER THE HEAD OF THE NARCOTICS BRANCH!"

Nothing belonging to the state is safe. Those who let FETÖ members steal exam questions for years, those who cast suspicion on the last LGS exam, we have come to the days when everything at hand is stolen. They have arranged fake diplomas, they have arranged fake driver's licenses. Unfortunately, while 1 million teachers who work and pass the exam are not appointed in this country, while 300 unappointed teachers have committed suicide, a system that sells diplomas for 250 thousand liras to some clever people without even taking the exam has existed in Turkey in 2025. Unfortunately, it was confirmed by the ministry after it became news months later.

People say it's enough to drive one crazy. On January 7th in 23 provinces, on May 23rd in 12 provinces, a total of 150 out of 197 suspects in 35 provinces were released with judicial control. Those who detain a 30-year-old mayor of 9 months, a mayor whose seal was found in his safe, have been covering up this scandal for 9 months. On the other side, write at 6 in the morning, here hide it for 9 months. The filth of the AKP is dripping from its pant leg. How are you hiding this? Because the charlatan who says I am a descendant of the Ottomans is here. Your deputy minister is here. He removed the 6 documents he boasted about from his resume. Wherever you go, there is AKP. These scoundrels have made a drug dealer the head of the narcotics branch! Someone sitting in the palace says; 'The nation is hungry, why are you talking about diplomas?' You are the one who leaves the nation hungry, you are the one who leaves them unemployed.

All of these are incompetent, partisan men that this regime has inflicted upon me. We will not let this go until we reveal all of these lists. (He read the fake diploma motion given by the CHP on December 1, 2022) The result, rejected by AKP votes. Now you have come out and say, 'We knew for 7 months.' As if it's a skill.

If he found a crowd like this, he would hold a 'Great Istanbul Rally'. They put Murat Çalık in prison again, making his mother cry. Our eyes and ears are on the Forensic Medicine. Çalık is not a convict. He has not received a sentence, the presumption of innocence is essential, if the trial starts, his innocence will be proven. We are following it carefully.

He filled the stadium with TÜGVA, saying 'Özgür Özel cannot question my sensitivity to Palestine.' You have a Trump sensitivity. The children from TÜGVA opened a banner; 'Al-Aqsa Mosque will come one day, it will remain one day.' Netanyahu occupied Al-Aqsa Mosque. No statement. There is TikToker Hakan. No click to America, TikTok in the evening. He is preparing himself for the post-Erdoğan era with Valley of the Wolves music. He is condemning Israel's plan to occupy Gaza. Trump's plan, he is telling about it. Does he say anything once? We are where we stand. Just as Ecevit was by Yasser Arafat's side, just as Deniz Gezmiş and his friends were in the Palestinian cause, we are there too. Let's say it clearly, all issues have fallen. We held a rally with Necmettin Erbakan's son and the Felicity Party. He took off that National View (Milli Görüş) shirt and threw it away.

"I ANNOUNCE TO TURKEY THAT WE HAVE THE EVIDENCE IN OUR HANDS"

I am announcing to Turkey that we have evidence, not just rumors, that some prosecutors who perform their professions poorly and abuse them, and their messengers, intermediaries, and some lawyers go and meet with people, saying 'The prosecutor sent me. I will be your lawyer. You will give this statement. You will say these things. You will also pay this much money,' creating a gang, an Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality Case Stock Exchange, and that we have evidence of this.

A lawyer, a lawyer's name is M. Y. A lawyer, a lawyer going around to companies, saying 'This might come to you, that might come to you. If you do this, I will save you,' that they have established contact with the families of some detainees, that even a detainee who is inside today has met with them in the past, that he withdrew the money this lawyer said from the bank, the receipt is in hand, he delivered it to the people the lawyer sent at the bank branch, the date is clear, the time is clear, the receipt is clear, the camera recordings are there.

And that these people took this money and brought it to the lawyer, that the lawyer clearly stated the name of a prosecutor and said, "This person will come on this day and give these statements." that what he said actually happened on that day, that he made others do things with this proof, it's not enough, I don't know if he made these people talk to the prosecutor on the phone, even if briefly. I don't know, I have the evidence. I am giving this to the Council of Judges and Prosecutors tomorrow.

You know they said there was 560 billion dollars in bribes, but they couldn't prove a single penny against Mayor Ekrem. It is in all of our hands to expose a stock exchange worth millions of dollars. It is my sincere call. We will give the date, day, time, and receipt to the HSYK tomorrow. I will give the transcript of the lawyer's 40-minute phone and WhatsApp conversation to the HSK. I will give the HSYK transcript.

If it initiates proceedings according to that transcript and wants to reach the evidence, the voice recording is in the hands of HSK Murat Kıplar, at his command. They have also turned this into this form: While searching a house, an envelope, a yellow envelope, 15 thousand liras or 15 thousand dollars in it, the man's money. Four months later, to someone, 'I just want this statement from you,' to that person, 'Say I gave the yellow envelope,' 'Say I gave it as a bribe, save your company.'

In other words, if we surrender to those who are trying to produce lies, proof, and evidence with false witnesses from the old statements at hand, just as the FETÖ members did before, who are now trying to do it at this stage, who have messed it up, who have been involved in forbidden things, then we are cowards.

The lawyer's name is Mehmet Yıldırım. Now we will complain about this lawyer to the bar association, the union of bar associations. We will complain about this prosecutor to the council of judges and prosecutors. And if an investigation is really opened, if these prosecutors, this 'White Taurus' gang is disbanded, if the right prosecutor, the honest prosecutors that everyone trusts are sent here, if the right committees are formed, our foreheads are clear, the live broadcasts are open. The nation will see the truth, and Turkey's path will be clear after that day.

I am calling out to political parties from here. For example, I am calling out to the honest people in the AK Party who will not remain silent about this filth. For example, let the previous Minister of Justice Abdülhamit Gül demand it tomorrow. Let us give the information and documents. The current Minister of Justice is uncomfortable with this gang, let him show courage, let's disband it all together. We are tired of the gang, not the judiciary, my friend.

The renovation, restoration, and alteration cost of the house where the chief prosecutor, who is the head of these prosecutors, lives on the Bosphorus is 56 million in today's money. Let the other prosecutors sit in lodgings, in their apartments, pay rent, let those who come to this operation sit in villas. I said it that day, I said it today, I am saying it. You hit a rock, son.

Come on, make a statement. Announced to the public by the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office: None of our prosecutors, none of our prosecutors, have had phone contact with any detainee's son or spouse. None of our prosecutors have corresponded on WhatsApp through a lawyer.

'I'm bringing you this on Monday,' 'He will give this statement on Tuesday. I'm telling you how to give the statement' correspondences have not happened. No lawyer has demanded money in exchange for a statement. He has not said that the prosecutors are aware of this. He has not proven this to the prosecutor with the work he showed. None of our prosecutors have met with a detainee's family on a lawyer's phone. Write it down, let me see, come on, write it down, let me see."