İmamoğlu's 'diploma' reaction to Erdoğan: 'I could hold a rally, but that man couldn't even find someone to play backgammon with'

Özdağ was detained in Ankara and brought to Istanbul over allegations that he insulted President and AKP Chairman Recep Tayyip Erdoğan during a speech in Antalya; the investigation file opened by the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office was sent to Antalya due to a lack of jurisdiction.

İmamoğlu and Yavaş visited Gönül Özdağ, who lives in Ankara's Çankaya district, the mother of Özdağ, who is currently being held in Silivri (Marmara) Prison. A Zafer Party delegation met Yavaş and İmamoğlu at the door as they arrived to visit Gönül Özdağ.

İmamoğlu and Yavaş answered journalists' questions after the visit.

Yavaş stated, "Our expectation, and as a lawyer myself, is that since detention is a precautionary measure and there is no possibility of tampering with evidence, he must be released. We believe these actions also harm the government, and we have no doubt that this is an unjust detention. We hope he is released as soon as possible so he can return to his family and his party, and share his own demands and wishes with society. We wish him well once again from here," he said.

Key points from İmamoğlu's statements are as follows:

"It is a pity that we are living through days and months where unjust, unlawful trials, detentions, and indictments are a part of the normal flow of our agenda and our daily lives. It is very sad. At a time when our country faces deep problems, the fact that the judiciary, politics, and the government act as tools for one another hurts us all and disturbs the peace of our nation.

If I called my friends from university, I could hold a rally. But that man couldn't even find someone to play backgammon with.

İmamoğlu's diploma documents were shared one by one: All conditions were met, YÖK's decision 'not to recognize the university' was taken after the acceptance of the lateral transfer

Of course, the unlawful detention of a political party leader in Turkey is not and cannot be just the concern of that political party, its acting leader, or its chairman. It is the concern of us all. Because this is a matter of democracy and law.

In this sense, we are of course standing with both Ümit Özdağ and the Zafer Party, and the free practice of politics in this country means the development of our country. In this regard, I am here today, and we kissed the hands of our esteemed Gönül aunt, the very respectable mother of the esteemed Chairman. We received her prayers and listened to her very beautiful suggestions and advice. It was very valuable. They accepted us. We thank them very much. And thank you, I knew that Mansur Mayor had already visited her before. We spoke with him and decided to visit together. We realized that today. I also thank him. Of course, we also thank the esteemed Zafer Party Deputy Chairman who hosted us today.

"We have not received a positive response to our meeting requests for nearly a year"

In the meantime, I would also like to express this: unfortunately, I have also had the desire to visit them in Silivri. Not just him. You know, we have mayors, we have friends from the press. My colleague Tayfun is there. For nearly a year, we have not received positive responses to our various meeting requests regarding various individuals.

I should also state that even though we have made written requests 3 or 4 times for the esteemed Chairman, we have not received a return. We requested again recently. If our meeting request is viewed positively, we will visit quickly. I would like to underline that this is an unlawful and, in my opinion, unnecessary practice. I hope he regains his freedom as soon as possible."

"There will never be a split in the party"

Touching upon the process of determining the presidential candidate in the CHP, Yavaş said, "A primary will be held. There will never, ever be a division or split in the party. I will not participate in the election, but our support will always be there. Beautiful days await us all," he said.

İmamoğlu added, "We have a cause for the country. We are taking steps not for anyone's individual position, but for the benefit of the country. Afterwards, we will talk about every thought and step together and walk together," he said.

What happened?

Özdağ was detained in Ankara as part of an investigation launched by the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office due to a speech made in Antalya. Initially detained on charges of "insulting the President," Özdağ was released from that charge, but was later detained on charges of "inciting the public to hatred and hostility" after statements regarding Syria and refugees were added to the file.