Kurtulmuş comments on the 'absolute nullity' crisis in CHP: 'We are not a party to this, we act according to the letters received...'

Parliament Speaker Numan Kurtulmuş answered journalists' questions on the plane before his official visit to Finland. While making assessments regarding developments on the agenda, Kurtulmuş also touched upon the authority disputes experienced in the CHP following the 'absolute nullity' decision.

Stating that the comments suggesting the Speaker's Office would intervene in the process are not accurate, Kurtulmuş said that the Speaker's Office only acts in accordance with official notifications received from political parties and groups.

Kurtulmuş used the following expressions:

The Speaker's Office acts only according to the information received from the groups regarding the management of all groups. This has been the case since the Parliament was established. The Speaker's Office is not a party to any intra-party or intra-group dispute; that is not its duty, nor is it its task. We are careful to protect this with sensitivity, as required by the principle of impartiality of the Speaker's Office.

"THE SPEAKER'S OFFICE IS NOT A COURT"

As soon as the letter regarding the 'absolute nullity' decision sent by Mr. Kılıçdaroğlu reached us, we did what was necessary and recorded Mr. Kılıçdaroğlu in the Parliament records as the Chairman of the Republican People's Party.

Immediately afterwards, we also accepted the letter regarding Özgür Özel's Group Chairmanship following a group meeting held in accordance with the internal regulations of the CHP Group, which came from the Republican People's Party Group. Accordingly, we removed the 'Chairman' sign on Mr. Özel's door and put up the 'Group Chairman' sign. As the Speaker's Office, we have to act within the framework of the letters sent to us. If there is a contradiction in these letters, which seems to be the case, the place to resolve this contradiction is not the Speaker's Office of the TBMM. The Grand National Assembly of Turkey cannot place itself in the position of a court. The Republican People's Party must resolve this issue within the framework of its own internal dynamics and institutional structure and eliminate the problem. We will write a letter to the CHP Chairmanship to request the resolution of this contradiction. The Speaker's Office does not have the authority to take action on its own in future discussions and contradictions, nor is it its duty.

A LETTER WILL BE SENT TO CHP

Stating that the letters sent by both Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu and the CHP Group have been processed, Kurtulmuş said that the incompatibility between the two texts must be clarified.

"We will send that letter to the Republican People's Party Chairmanship as soon as possible. There are letters from both sides. This is regarding the clarification of this situation. The letter from the Group Chairmanship has also been processed. However, the contradiction between the two sides continues, and a letter regarding the resolution of this contradiction will of course be sent.

There are 6 groups in Parliament; we have not had the slightest involvement in how any political party's Parliamentary Group will operate or how it will make decisions, and we will not. Therefore, how a parliamentary group will convene is determined within the framework of each party's own internal group regulations. This is not a matter for the Speaker's Office to say, 'No, don't do it that way, do it this way.' I hope this problem is solved as soon as possible.

If the group meeting is held in accordance with the procedure, of course, TBMM TV broadcasts every group. I mentioned the two letters that came to me. There is a contradiction between the two. A letter has been written to the Chairman of the Republican People's Party regarding the resolution of the contradiction."

"I HOPE THEY DO NOT REFLECT THE INTRA-PARTY FIGHT ONTO THE PROCESS"

Kurtulmuş stated that the internal discussions in the CHP should not be reflected in the second resolution process, called 'Terror-Free Turkey'.

"I hope they do not reflect this fight and division within the party onto a very important, national issue such as ending terrorism, which is the most important problem of the first century of the Republic of Turkey. We have completed the commission's work, but as the Speaker of the Parliament and the Chairman of the Commission, I have paid great attention to one thing with sensitivity. We made an extraordinary effort and put in a great deal of work to ensure that all political parties could openly express their opinions in the commission. It was not easy. When there is such an important achievement, it should not be lost. We must not fall behind the broad consensus formed by the parties."