Muharrem İnce declares his 'side' regarding developments in CHP: My answer to those who ask where I stand

Following the decision of absolute nullity regarding the CHP's 38th Ordinary Congress, after Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, who was appointed as Chairman, and CHP leader Özgür Özel announced they would both speak at the CHP group meeting, citizens went to the TBMM early in the morning to support Özel. When those supporting Kılıçdaroğlu also arrived at the scene, an argument broke out between the two groups.

Kılıçdaroğlu stated, "Efforts to create internal turmoil only pave the way for those eager for external intervention. We will break this game! Now is not the time for fighting, but for standing shoulder to shoulder. I invite all my fellow travelers, the children of this deep-rooted plane tree, to calm and reason. Today is the day to protect the father's hearth!" and called for a group meeting to be held at the CHP Headquarters at 14:00.

Özgür Özel, in his speech to the citizens waiting in front of the TBMM Dikmen Gate, said, "They were going to provoke and sabotage the group meeting, take it over with brute force if necessary, and give the podium not to the elected Chairman, but to someone who came with an appointed decision. Good for you."

Following these events, the CHP witnessed two different speeches at the same time. Özel spoke at the parliamentary group meeting from the assembly podium at 13:30, while Kılıçdaroğlu spoke in front of the CHP Headquarters at 14:00.

Muharrem İnce also made a statement on his social media account regarding the developments in the CHP with the note, "My answer to those who ask where I stand: I am on the side of the CHP," and noted the following:

"The CHP is my 40 years of labor, my tears, my sweat, and the legacy of the democratic Republic struggle that I will leave to my grandchildren. The CHP is Turkey's insurance, its fortress that must not fall. If the founding party is torn apart, Turkey is torn apart; the democratic Republic rising on equal and free individuals will perish. For this reason, the CHP is a target. The government and its media are practically scrambling to tear the CHP apart. Unfortunately, the CHP has fallen into the trap set by the palace regime. A meaningless, unnecessary, misplaced, and unfortunate fierce fight is being waged around the concepts of 'purification' and 'resistance,' which is leading the CHP to fragmentation. One must be politically blind not to see that the actions and rhetoric that fuel the fight and divide the party are against the interests of both the CHP and Turkey.

Politics is a long-term and long-winded field of struggle; one must not give up. One must act with a cool head in the direction that the interests of Turkey and the party require. No one's party membership should be questioned; no one should be the target of harsh insults. The CHP cannot be the party of any religion, sect, social class, or ethnic identity. The CHP can never abandon the founding philosophy of the Republic of Turkey, which sees the legal bond with the state as equal citizenship regardless of language, religion, sect, race, or ethnic origin, and can never stop defending the Republic of Turkey, which is a secular, democratic, and social state of law. Our friends who are disappointed in the process should follow the process with a cool head, never give up the struggle and the party, and should not resort to paths such as forming a separate party. As someone who has experienced leaving the CHP and returning, I must tell my fellow travelers with all my sincerity that leaving the CHP and forming a new party is not the right path or political decision.

So what should be done? The CHP must survive; it must not be fragmented. The CHP must strengthen its position as a party of principles and public interest, not of interests, and must become a party that the voter will embrace and defend with pride. The understanding of enrichment through politics and creating a capital class loyal to its ideology through public resources, which the AKP governments have made ordinary, must not be able to breathe or find life in the CHP. The true owners of the CHP are its members. An emergency Bylaw congress must be convened without any objection. The bylaws should be cleared of articles copied from the AKP bylaws, and a democratic structure should be achieved where the chairman, party assembly, deputies, mayors, and council members are elected by party members. Democracy relies on the will of the people. The CHP, which defends democracy, must also rely on the will of its members and derive its legitimacy from its members. Then, without any delay, a congress where the chairman and party assembly will be elected by party members must be convened immediately, and the trap of the despotic palace regime must be neutralized.

As planned and therefore expected, with the decision of absolute nullity, the CHP has been divided in two; those who came with nullity placed 'purification' and those who left with nullity placed 'resistance' at the foundation of their policies, and in the struggle they engaged in, they showed the world images of the police entering the Headquarters of the CHP, the founding party of the Republic of Turkey, and the CHP Headquarters being evacuated by police. We cannot think of what happened before the group meeting today separately from this process, and we cannot ignore that it caused tears for millions of voters who pinned their hopes on the CHP."