'Kılıçdaroğlu' controversy between Özel and Erdoğan: 'If he says one more word...'

Republican People's Party (CHP) Chairman Özgür Özel attended the Fearless Cities Workshop organized by his party's İzmir Provincial Branch.

Speaking at the event, Özel gave a harsh response to AKP Chairman and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's remarks regarding CHP's 7th Chairman Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu: "We know the source of the grudge held by their former chairman. There are different reasons behind his love for the Ba'ath regime and Assad."

Highlights from Özgür Özel's speech at the ceremony:

"The results he cannot digest are not the March 31 results. They are the October 31 and December 31 results. Both he and we had our municipalities measured in the field. The result he cannot believe is that the satisfaction rate with CHP-run municipalities across Turkey is 58 percent for us, and 59.5 percent in his own measurements. What he cannot digest is that AKP's female voters are rapidly turning to the CHP. What he cannot digest is the fact that in İzmir, where he said they would ruin everything, we won 29 out of 31 candidates, and all 29 are writing a success story. That is why he is so unhinged and so aggressive."

STATEMENT ON LABOR PROTESTS IN İZMİR

"Now let me tell you what he did. On December 31, 2024, the expected planned amount to be deposited into the İzmir Metropolitan Municipality's account from the Bank of Provinces was 3.7 billion liras. Salaries were to be paid with this appropriation. He had 1.7 billion liras of the İzmir Municipality's debt deducted along with interest. He gave instructions to the ministers to 'shake them down.' When this money is deducted, what happens? Salaries cannot be paid. Consequently, employees are unhappy, and the city becomes uneasy. CHP's municipal services will be called into question. On January 7, salaries were paid in 30 of the 32 companies; only İZELMAN and İZENERJİ were put on hold due to a search for funds for a few days. I want all of İzmir to know how those who appeared to be friends, those with whom we danced in celebration when things were going normally, suddenly turned against us that day. We are wounded more by the rose of a friend than the arrow of an enemy, and especially while the enemy has fired that arrow so unjustly and so dishonorably, I want you to know that we have noted those who carried water to his boat. The result: salaries were paid within 2 days."

"I WILL DEVASTATE HIM"

"This is not just any statement. In politics, everything can happen, but there is something that should not: dividing a country's citizens and politicians according to their beliefs, sects, or ethnicities, and involving or using these in politics. Neither Kılıçdaroğlu nor I have talked about religion or sects. Now, by reminding people of Kılıçdaroğlu's faith and sect, and establishing a connection with him through Assad, he is embarking on a very dangerous path—both by isolating and targeting the Arab Alawites in Syria, who are rightfully uneasy, and by knowing that the emphasis on sects is heard from Syria. We say 'stop' to this debate, which we have never engaged in, which we have always been subjected to, but which we have never entered into."

"Looking straight into Erdoğan's eyes from here, I say: Be silent. Do not ever enter into these topics with this insolence and this unnecessary opportunism. From this moment on, I will consider your silence as an apology. If he says one more word, I will devastate him in a way never before seen in history."