It is a speech that attacks the backbone of the Blue Homeland concept: Çelik reacts to statements by CHP's Tan

Çelik made assessments regarding the agenda at the AKP Headquarters. Çelik stated that the similarity between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government and Hitler's government emerges in every incident.

Çelik said that the expressions used by the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs against President Erdoğan for a long time are systematically similar to the expressions used by Hitler's Nazi foreign minister against others and against Jews, which constitute crimes against humanity and demonstrate war-mongering.

Stating that sensible people all over the world now clearly express that the rhetoric and behavior of Netanyahu, Katz, and similar actors show a one-to-one identity with the Nazis and are in exact similarity, Çelik said, "We see that even those who have been the most hesitant so far are using much clearer expressions within this framework.

The threats against our President have no validity. Ultimately, we firmly believe that people like Netanyahu and Katz will be tried just like others who committed genocide in the past, and that they have been condemned before history and will also be condemned before the law."

"THEY WILL BE CONDEMNED BEFORE THE LAW"

Stating that President Erdoğan has faced many threats throughout his political life, Çelik said, "He has sent all those who made these threats to the dustbin of history through the political struggle he waged. The reason they are so uncomfortable with our President is that the politics our President conducts in the name of human values and truth directly bothers them.

But they will definitely not be able to cover up their massacres with such approaches and such aggression. Just as they have been condemned before history, they will be condemned before the law. We will all see together that all those who make these threats against our President, the head of the Republic of Türkiye, will be tried and condemned just like those who committed genocide in the past."

Explaining that messages of support for President Erdoğan have come from many political parties, Çelik said, "Many political parties condemned and cursed these insolent expressions used by the Israeli government against the President of Türkiye. They demonstrated a strong will by saying, 'Even if we are in the opposition, even if we oppose, if there is an attack on the President of the Republic of Türkiye, we stand with our President.' We extend our thanks to all of them from here. The right thing to do today is to defend the interests of our state, to defend the rights of the oppressed in Palestine, to stand on the side of human values, and to show our national unity in the face of every attack against our President, who is the head of our state."

Criticizing the remarks of Republican People's Party (CHP) MP Namık Tan regarding the 'Blue Homeland', Çelik said, "Indeed, from the moment the statement was made, another CHP Deputy Chairman, Yankı Bağcıoğlu, clearly criticized Namık Tan's expressions. The arguments put forward by Mr. Yankı Bağcıoğlu are extremely correct. CHP Deputy Chairman Mr. Bağcıoğlu stated how the Blue Homeland concept developed, how our sailors, academics, and soldiers have worked for the Blue Homeland concept, and he expressed the arguments that reveal the great effort and labor behind the formation of this national thesis to date, and stated that the expression voiced by Namık Tan was wrong."

Regarding the claims by CHP Spokesperson Deniz Yücel and his colleagues that 'Tan's expressions were cherry-picked', Çelik used the following expressions:

"There is no cherry-picking here. It is a speech that directly attacks the backbone of the Blue Homeland concept. For example, there is a criticism here of Turkey's cross-border operations in the context of the fight against terrorism. There are criticisms of overseas operations. Therefore, if the assessments put forward by Mr. Namık Tan regarding foreign policy had found an opportunity for implementation, Turkey would not have had any territory left to call a homeland. We would have lost our rights and interests in the Aegean and the Mediterranean. Likewise, by not conducting cross-border operations, we would have allowed a terrorist state or terrorist statelets to be established right at our borders. Therefore, the entire text is an extremely poor foreign policy approach, an extremely wrong Turkish foreign policy approach, and a political approach that aligns with the theses of other states against Turkey's national theses."

Responding to CHP Spokesperson Yücel's statement that "AK Party members should apologize," Çelik said, "I have a suggestion for him. Let him publish the full video of Mr. Namık Tan's speech on his party's official Twitter account. And everyone will see it once more, and as a result, there are much more grave expressions there regarding protecting Turkey's rights and interests and its national security, as well as the Blue Homeland."

Then let Mr. Deniz Yücel evaluate it. Have we cherry-picked, or on the contrary, have we put forward our criticism in the most polite way to give them an opportunity to correct it? Therefore, the speech they published and made today actually shows that they have abandoned the theses expressed by Mr. Tan and are putting forward an approach within the framework of the theses of Mr. Yankı, who criticized him. In this case, we are not the ones who should be asked to apologize. On the contrary, whoever made this speech needs to apologize to our nation and to those who have worked for these concepts, for Turkey's rights and interests, for the Blue Homeland, and for cross-border operations to date."

"ONE SHOULD NOT CONFUSE POLITICAL CRITICISM WITH POLITICAL DRIFT"

Regarding the allegations that the AK Party launched a lynching campaign, Çelik said, "This is not a correct approach either. On the contrary, this incident became a matter of public agenda. The attack on the Blue Homeland became a topic of discussion both on social media and elsewhere. We waited, perhaps they would correct it, in accordance with our political principles. I made a statement exactly 12 hours later. I saw that it was not being corrected. Seeing this, we clearly stated our position regarding it. Of course, the problem here is this."

One should not confuse political criticism with political drift. For example, there were many valuable CHP MPs in the past who were diplomats and contributed to politics through their experience there. For example, Mr. Şükrü Elekdağ would put forward his criticisms in his speeches in parliament in accordance with state decorum, both in diplomacy and in the courtesy of the political field, and we would have very deep and productive discussions on these issues mutually. Today, however, we see that neither this state decorum is followed nor these experiences are used correctly. Our basic criticism is about this. Once this is corrected, there is no issue in any way," he replied.

Regarding the approach of some parties to the invitation of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Çelik said, "Our President stated that in order to reveal the truths and to clarify our stance against this wrong approach, we should invite Mr. Abbas to the Grand National Assembly of Turkey, and that we should take initiatives to make this invitation as soon as possible. Our President gave the necessary instructions to our colleagues."

As a result, a mutual consultation was carried out in this way with our Speaker of the Parliament. Mr. Abbas stated that he could not come, citing health problems. Now, according to the new information received, he said that he would visit Turkey at another time and wanted to make this speech. Now, of course, it is meaningful for other political parties to say with good intentions that it would have been good if such an invitation had been made."

This shows our common sensitivity on this issue together. But if someone comes out and turns this into an accusation, questioning the sensitivity of our President, our government, and our party regarding Palestine, it is quite normal for a reaction to emerge there. As a matter of fact, in this context, a deputy from the New Welfare Party (Yeniden Refah Partisi) made an extremely wrong attempt to turn this into an accusation against our President and our party," he stated.

Speaking about New Welfare Party Chairman Fatih Erbakan's words, 'I invite the President to courtesy,' Çelik said, "First of all, I would like to say this to Mr. Erbakan; while the subject of political courtesy has been brought up, I would like to remind him of this. When their deputy chairman used one of the ugliest expressions in Turkish political history, such as 'If Erdoğan cannot change the constitution, he will flee to America,' that was when Erbakan should have remembered political courtesy and done what was necessary regarding that person, that deputy chairman."

He should have clearly initiated the necessary processes in the face of these disrespectful expressions used against the President of the Republic of Turkey. But this was not done. We want to state that when political courtesy is not complied with in any way, the most basic political principles are violated, such an ugly attack is made on our president by the deputy chairman of his own political party, and then we do not see any stance from him, he should re-evaluate the issue of political courtesy and make it operational within his own party," he said.

Regarding New Welfare Party Chairman Erbakan's words, 'Let the President not forget that he was elected President with the votes of the New Welfare Party,' Çelik said, "We are, of course, grateful for the support our citizens from all parties, regardless of which party they belong to, have given to our President. Our President is the leader of a very broad social base and a great political struggle. In the presidential elections, he is supported by receiving votes from many different parties, especially the People's Alliance (Cumhur İttifakı), as well as different parties outside the People's Alliance."

Because it is known that the picture in which our President governs the state means trust and stability for everyone. Looking at it in this context, we extend this gratitude to all parties. But if Mr. Erbakan is using expressions as if they determined the result in the last presidential elections, the May 14-28 elections, this would be an extremely politically reductionist approach. I would like to remind him of this."

Even when the New Welfare Party did not exist in political life, our President achieved high political successes many times as Prime Minister and President. Therefore, it would be an extremely wrong approach for Erbakan to talk about political courtesy on the one hand and to display a political egoism such as 'you were elected thanks to us' on the other. Political courtesy should be put into effect by taking the necessary action against the deputy chairmen who say that our President will flee to America. Staying away from a certain political egoism will be a healthier approach for the future," he said.