Özgür Özel addresses AKP and MHP voters

The CHP's 'Defending the National Will' rallies continue. Today's stop for the gathering was Karabük.

At the rally, CHP Karabük Provincial Chairman Vedat Yaşar read a letter written by İmamoğlu from Silivri Prison. Following this, CHP Chairman Özgür Özel took the stage to deliver his speech.

The highlights from Özel's speech are as follows: 

"Welcome, beautiful people, brave people who protect the Republic and the legacy of Gazi Mustafa Kemal Atatürk."

We are in the squares for justice and democracy. Greetings to the brave children of this country who bloom like saffron flowers in these squares today.

"IF THERE IS A FAULT, WE LOOKED FOR IT IN OURSELVES"

We have not been the leading party in Karabük since 1977. In the last elections, the most recent local elections, we received 6,700 votes in the central district. But we did not hold a grudge against Karabük. We did not lose hope. We did not turn our backs. We did not underestimate this will. We respected whoever they chose, and if there was a fault, we looked for it in ourselves.

"THEY TAKE THEIR COLORS FROM THAT FLAG"

What keeps us standing is the red flag with the crescent and star in your hands. The Turkey Alliance draws its colors from that flag. The Turkey Alliance includes everyone who rejoices when the National Team wins, sheds tears with the Sultans of the Net, and stands up for the victory of a wrestler on the other side of the world. 

"THE DEED TO THE FATHER'S HEARTH IS REGISTERED TO ONE PERSON..." 

Some seek something bigger, others settle for something smaller. But whoever loses their peace of mind knows there is a father's hearth there. A father's hearth with an open door, brewed tea, hot soup, and a smoking chimney. The door to that father's hearth is wide open. Because the deed to that father's hearth is not with me, not with us, and not with anyone else. The deed to that father's hearth is registered to one person; and that is Gazi Mustafa Kemal Atatürk."

"I HEARTILY THANK ELİF KÖSE"

CHP leader Özel touched upon the work of Safranbolu Mayor Elif Köse and thanked her for her achievements. Özel said the following: 

"Despite all the difficulties and all the obstacles, a Republican woman is writing history in Safranbolu. We are proud of her. On behalf of our party, we both thank Safranbolu and take pride in her services.

I have a long list in front of me regarding what she has done over the past 7 years. While there are live broadcasts from here and while Turkey's eyes and ears are here, I want to remind you of some key points about what a Republican woman, a social democratic mayor, can achieve despite all the difficulties.

First of all, you know that when we first won the Safranbolu Municipality, the ratio of debt to revenue was 74 percent. There was debt equal to 74 percent of the revenue. Seven years have passed, and the ratio of debt to revenue has dropped to 4 percent. It went from 74 percent down to 4 percent. This is a tremendous success. These figures would not be possible if you did nothing.

"LOOK, WHAT DID MAYOR ELIF DO WHILE REDUCING THE DEBT FROM 74 PERCENT TO 4 PERCENT?"

But look, what did Mayor Elif do while reducing the debt from 74 percent to 4 percent? She opened a city restaurant, a daycare center, and an accessible cafe. She brought women's solidarity centers, active aging centers, and women's community houses to the city. She removed private firms from the social facilities of the Safranbolu Municipality and operated them herself at the most affordable prices; both the citizens and the guests were satisfied, and the municipality made a profit.

She established markets for women's handmade goods and women producers. She produced goods using heirloom seeds and offered them for sale at affordable prices. She produced asphalt within the municipality and saved 250 million liras on asphalt alone. She began producing landscaping flowers within the municipality; she did not buy flowers or seedlings from others through tenders; she produced them here and used them here.

She opened a stone quarry and stopped paying the district's money to private quarries. She opened a furniture workshop and produced the city's furniture herself. She completely renewed 22 kilometers of water lines, 8 kilometers of sewage lines, and 3 kilometers of rainwater lines. She bought 8 public buses and launched a service that is both environmentally friendly and pro-people with hybrid buses. She established a sewing workshop; for what? For the uniforms of municipal employees. Then she started making them for other municipalities, and then private companies placed orders and she started making those too.

"SHE LEFT NOTHING UNDONE"

In other words, while reducing the debt from 74 percent to 4 percent in 7 years, she left nothing undone in Safranbolu. I thank Elif Köse, a daughter of the Republic, a child of Atatürk, and the pride of this party, from the bottom of my heart. I thank her from the bottom of my heart."

Özel continued his speech as follows:

The founder of this Republic, the founder of our party, Gazi Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, attached great importance to this city. Under his instruction, the late İnönü laid the foundation of Kardemir in 1937, and Kardemir began operating in 1939. Karabük was founded as the 'factory that builds factories.' A very simple example, I heard this from Cevdet Bey in Parliament. And I couldn't wrap my head around it, I couldn't believe it, I said, 'Is this true?' I said, 'Could there be a mistake?' The Karabük Iron and Steel Factory (Kardemir) produces the highest quality steel in the world, the highest quality train springs in the world. Is that right? Turkey is building high-speed trains with a significant delay. It is awarding high-speed train tenders. In the tenders awarded, the rails for the high-speed trains are not purchased from Karabük, but from the British firm British Steel, from a British steel company. That is what they write. This firm they call British Steel was in trouble, it was going bankrupt; they got it back on its feet with the efforts of our people. Kardemir is in a position to produce the world's best train springs, but the country is managed by a mindset that buys high-speed train springs from a British firm.

"CHP WILL PROVIDE PERMANENT STAFF STATUS TO ALL OUR WORKERS"

And unfortunately, there are wagon workers at Kardemir. Are the wagon workers here? Look, the wagon workers are there. There are two types of workers at Kardemir: those with permanent staff status and those working through subcontractors. They supposedly gave permanent status to subcontractors, but wagon work is heavy, difficult work. They have outsourced these jobs to subcontractors. There are friends of ours there whose labor is being exploited under difficult conditions and in heavy jobs. From here, from Karabük, from this square, I am putting it on the record on May 3, 2024: That ballot box will come, this government will change, and the Republican People's Party will provide permanent staff status to all our workers! We promise! I am calling out to everyone working in the public sector in Turkey whose labor is being exploited through subcontracting, and to all public sector subcontractors who were promised status in past elections but were deceived: Wait for the ballot box, demand the ballot box, change the government, and claim the permanent status you deserve with the strength of your own hands.

''IT HAS BEEN OPENED TO AN INCREDIBLE PLUNDER''

Of course, when we talk about the problems and troubles of Karabük... On one hand, it is the second city in Turkey with the most forest cover by percentage, with 65 percent of its land area. But unfortunately, with 5 mining licenses in Eflani, Ovacık, and Safranbolu, and by opening an area the size of 7,200 football fields to mining, both a massive environmental massacre is being committed and forests are being slaughtered in a place like Karabük. We are drawing attention to this issue. As the Republican People's Party, I am specifically calling out to the Black Sea region.

As we enter the final two years of this government - at most, that is, 2 years later, there are 15 days left until the election. Today is May 3, and the elections must be held at the latest in the week of May 14, two years from now - and some are opening the Black Sea, especially Ordu, Giresun, and Karabük, to an incredible plunder by miners on their way out.

''IF THESE FORESTS ARE GONE, THEY WILL NOT COME BACK''

I am calling out to all our citizens who have voted for and supported the AK Party and MHP in the past: If these forests are gone, they will not come back! Cyanide gold mining will further escalate already high cancer rates. They say 'copper' and turn it into gold; it makes no difference whether it is copper or gold. We, as the Republican People's Party, are not against mining, but we are against savage mining, especially the savage mining being attempted in the Black Sea through forest massacres. And I invite all residents of Karabük, regardless of their political views, to stand up and fight against savage mining.

"THERE IS NO STATE HOSPITAL"

Right now in Karabük... I read it, I couldn't believe it, I asked; there is no state hospital. They demolished your state hospital in 2012. In 2015, they also demolished the Maternity and Children's Hospital in 5.000 Evler. Years have passed, and a new one has not been built. Chronic patients, especially cancer patients, are suffering on the roads to Ankara.

They built a hospital in Eskipazar in 2017, but due to a faulty ground survey, it became unusable in 2019. 154 million liras went down the drain. A new tender for 311 million liras is now on the agenda to build a new one.

Construction of a hospital in Ovacık began in 2020 for 10 million liras. The company that won the tender couldn't finish it and abandoned it within four years; now, a new tender has been held to build the hospital for 85 million liras.

"LET OUR SECOND PROMISE BE TO THE FOREST VILLAGERS"

Let us say this for Karabük; there are 2,831 cooperatives in Turkey. 278,000 foresters and forest villagers are members of cooperatives affiliated with this forest cooperative union. It is an issue that concerns the lives and livelihoods of 1 million 150 thousand people. And the importance of the forest villager is extraordinary for the health of the forest, for the prevention of forest fires, and for the national and urban economy.

Therefore, we will open a brand new chapter with a brand new law for forest villagers, supporting cooperatives with a completely new model—not by giving logging jobs to wealthy companies from outside through tenders and turning the villagers into mere laborers, but by having them take on the task of firefighting in their own areas of responsibility, performing rejuvenation and pruning work, and undertaking all kinds of industrial forestry tasks. After our promise to the Kardemir workers, let our second promise from Karabük be to the forest villagers. We love you, we know your worth."

"THEY HAVE ESTABLISHED A SYSTEM THAT KEEPS THE TOTAL OF FIVE RETIREES BELOW THE POVERTY LINE"

Think about it, this government is such a government that the hunger threshold is 35 thousand liras, yet they give the retiree 20 thousand liras. If two retirees come together, they can barely surpass the hunger threshold. If five retirees come together, they still cannot escape poverty. If five retirees go to Ziraat Bank, insert their cards, and all five withdraw their pensions, draw lots among themselves, and give all the money to one person, the other four would die of hunger, and yet that one person still wouldn't receive a salary that would allow them to live humanely and escape poverty. They have established a system where the total of five retirees is kept below the poverty line, and where two retirees coming together cannot even escape hunger.

"WHEN WE FIRST TAKE OFFICE, THE LOWEST PENSION WILL BE RAISED TO THE LEVEL OF THE MINIMUM WAGE WITHIN 100 DAYS"

It is among the things I will mention shortly, but for retirees, our most important, our most important promise... Our most important promise for retirees is this: Under a Republican People's Party government, in the first year, when we first take office, the lowest pension will be raised to the level of the minimum wage within 100 days.

"THE COST OF THE AK PARTY REMAINING IN POWER IS A DROP FROM 42 TO 20"

Today, this may seem like an important promise or a difficult one to fulfill. It is not like that at all. The biggest problem in this country is being forced to settle for mediocrity, for the bad, and accepting it. Why on earth should we accept it? Which one of them is compromising their living standards or luxuries, so that the retiree should have to? Why is it demanded of the retiree? When this government came to power, on November 3, 2002, the lowest pension was not even 1, but 1.5 times the minimum wage. When the triple coalition government of Ecevit, whom they dislike, handed over the duty to them, the lowest pension was 1.5 times the minimum wage. Calculate the minimum wage at 28,000 liras, which we don't like today; retirees were receiving 42,000 liras in today's money. The cost of the AK Party simply remaining in power is a drop from 42 to 20. Furthermore, we have calculated and proposed 39,000 liras as the minimum wage, not 28,000. In that case, the lowest pension should be 57,000 liras. It seems impossible when you look at it today, but that is how it was just before this government.

"I REMIND THE RETIREES..."

I remind the retirees, for those who now think 42,000 is too much and 57,000 is impossible, I remind them: when this government came to power, the lowest pension could buy 8 quarter-gold coins. That is 80,000 liras in today's money. Today, the lowest pension cannot even buy 2 quarter-gold coins. While this country was giving retirees a share of development and prosperity, and giving a prosperity share above the rate of development, this country is constantly stealing from the retiree through various games, through inflation games. Therefore, we are not saying something impossible. The ballot box will come, this square will rush to the ballot box, and will take back its rights by force."