Minister Yerlikaya's veiled jab at Özgür Özel: 'My silence is from my nobility'

Yerlikaya responded to Özel, who had said, "He is a slippery man. Ali Yerlikaya, who are you to have an assassination of reputation carried out against the CHP? The day will come when I will shame you," by quoting Rumi: "I look at a word to see if it is a word, and I look at the speaker to see if he is a man. I saw that he was an incompetent, ambitious person..."

CHP Chairman Özel reacted to Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya over the trustee appointed to the Istanbul Provincial Presidency and the police barricades in front of the provincial building. Özel said, "I will not accept the political execution carried out against my party. The man called Ali Yerlikaya is a slippery man. If Erdoğan stumbles, these are the ones who will kick him first. They kick those who fall to the ground. They can never, ever be men of a cause."

Addressing Yerlikaya, Özel stated, "Ali Yerlikaya, who are you to have an assassination of reputation carried out against the CHP? They let the dishonorable person who cursed at my mother and targeted my daughter into the CHP building. These positions will change hands, and then you will see how statesmanship is done. The day will come when I will shame you."

Yerlikaya, meanwhile, made a veiled jab at Özel without naming him, calling him an "incompetent, ambitious person" and wrote the following:

"Rumi says: 'My silence is from my nobility. I certainly have an answer for every word. However, I look at a word to see if it is a word, and I look at the speaker to see if he is a man. I saw that he was an incompetent, ambitious person...'"