Özgür Özel addresses the crowd at CHP Headquarters: What is happening is birth pains

The Ankara Regional Court of Justice 36th Civil Chamber has issued a "null and void" (mutlak butlan) ruling regarding the CHP party congress case.

According to the ruling, Özgür Özel and his administration, who enabled the CHP to become the leading party after 47 years, are being removed from office as a precautionary measure, while Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu and his administration are set to return to duty.

Finally, an appeal filed with the Supreme Election Council (YSK) regarding the decision was rejected today.

CHP Chairman Özgür Özel is addressing the crowd gathered at his party's headquarters for the second time following the null and void ruling. Before Özel's speech, chants of "Traitor Kemal" were heard.

Highlights from Özel's speech are as follows:

"Family is everything. Whenever we are in trouble, we turn to our family; family is the one who holds our arm when we fall, who touches our shoulder when we stumble; it is hard to endure their absence, but we face the difficulty. We can withstand anything, but we will never allow our family's dignity to be trampled upon. You are my family. All the democrats of this country are our family.

Those who worry about the future of this country, those who fight for its tomorrows, those who hold onto each other's shoulders and resist for the future are our family. We are the ones who stand by our family. We have considered the poor, the retirees, the laborers, the tradesmen, the farmers, and the youth as our family. We have stood by our family on top of these buses and in all the squares. There were days when we were in trouble, when we were attacked; in all provinces, in all districts, wherever the 'father's hearth' (baba ocağı) is, my family is in front of it. My family is with us.

"OUR CRIME IS REFUSING TO BE A CONTROLLED OPPOSITION"

Our crime is rebelling against the establishment, our crime is refusing to be a controlled opposition, our crime is not sitting comfortably in the seat of a compliant opposition, but aiming for power for the sake of the nation. The issue is to hold those accountable for what has been taken from the nation's table, to try to restore the nation's disrupted peace, and to try to grow their shrinking bread. The issue is to object to the establishment and throw a wrench into the gears of the AKP's dark order. That is the issue.

Today, we are not just defending the CHP, but with this attack on the CHP, we are defending democracy, the regime of political parties, the nation's right to be the decision-maker, the legacy entrusted to the Republic by Gazi Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, and the right to vote and be elected. The CHP is the party of the nation. Appointed trustees cannot manage this party. The AKP's 'null and void' wings cannot manage the CHP, and we will not let them.

"WHAT IS HAPPENING TODAY IS BIRTH PAINS"

What is happening today is the birth pains of tomorrow's government. We will endure this pain. We will be aware that this pain is a harbinger. We will suffer, we will be challenged, but we will endure. Because we will be the hope of this nation once again after a hundred years, we will save this nation. Without enduring the pain, the gears of the establishment cannot be broken. Without enduring the pain, the AKP's dark order cannot be defeated. If there is torture in the process, we will endure their torture, and in the end, we will win.

The AKP has aged, the AKP is tired, the AKP is exhausted. Erdoğan sees that he cannot win another election. That is why Erdoğan wants to leave the nation without candidates, without a party, without a leader, without options, and helpless. The entire democratic system is the target of the attack.

All rights, all freedoms are targeted. They want no one to raise their head, no one to object, no one to be a hope for anyone, no party to offer an alternative to the system, for this regime to never lose, for the losers to be the laborers and retirees, and for the rich to smile. The objection is exactly to this; the objection is to the AKP's dark order. The wind is now blowing in favor of labor, the laborer, the nation, and the people.

Since the days of Saraçhane, we have always worked for Mayor Ekrem, for Mehmet Murat Çalık, for other mayors, for other prisoners; we have always lit the lights, we have always saluted them. Mayor Ekrem has sent a message and saluted us. Tonight, all across Turkey, we are saying this together for all our comrades who do not eat forbidden food, who do not take lives, and who are unjustly held in prison, and for all politicians.

With a decision unprecedented in the political history of not just Turkey but the world, they issued a null and void ruling regarding a party congress held 2.5 years ago, using a decision from a completely different branch of law. We are facing a clear conspiracy by those who are trying to divide the CHP, keep it occupied within itself, and protect their power by forcing a decision that even they cannot defend. On the other hand, we need to get out of this trap.

We were not going to do this by compromising with the regime, compromising with its apparatuses, or by making unusual contacts and bargains, or by giving the concessions they expect. That is why I am here, that is why we are here."

HE EXPLAINED HIS CONVERSATION WITH KILIÇDAROĞLU

Özgür Özel explained his phone conversation with Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu this evening with the following words:

"I said, 'Do you see the street, do you hear the nation? Do you see my 80-year-old aunt and the 15-year-old child crying side by side in the garden of this party's father's hearth? Do you hear the rebellion rising from all four corners of Turkey?'

Today, 65 bar associations in Turkey are rebelling; today, all professional organizations, all unions, and political parties of Turkey, all friends from the far right to the far left, are standing side by side, saying, 'This is not a CHP issue, this is a Turkey issue,' and they are expecting something from you. I received a question: 'What do you say?' My answer is clear, I have no concessions. We want the ballot box as soon as possible, we want a party congress."

"THE BALLOT BOX WILL COME"

Özel then continued his speech:

"Atatürk's ballot box will come before the CHP delegates and members. The election ballot box will come before this nation. The government will change. With the power of this square, we will bring the ballot box. We will get the rights of both the laborer and the retiree. We will be the hope of the youth. It is essential to bring your powers together. We are taking action for the party congress right now. First, we will save the party congress ballot box. Then we will save the election ballot box. We will save the future of this country. We cannot leave this struggle halfway.

This march will not stop, that is my promise to you. This march is a march of dignity, a march of honor, and a march to power for the victims, the oppressed, the good, the poor, the hardworking, and the honest. I wholeheartedly thank all political parties, civil society, professional chambers, and bar associations that are growing solidarity organization by organization, square by square, step by step.

A day comes when the world loses its way; those who cannot speak become orators, those who cannot heal become physicians, those who cannot write become scribes. But then a day comes when things turn around; the deceiver one day begs for loyalty, the thief one day begs for justice, the abuser one day begs for compassion. Do not dismiss the pawn; a day comes when it becomes a king, and do not trust the king too much; a day comes when it is checkmated. I am also saying this to the king, and to those who trust the king: do not underestimate this nation; do not say it is alone, it is lonely in this game; a day comes when it becomes a king, and the one who trusts in their kingship one day gets checkmated.

We will make the pawns kings, we will make the feet the head, we will say 'enough' to the arrogant. Do not think that you can crush this nation by seeing it as an ant; the ant has a brother, and that is this square itself. You came here to get rid of trouble and sorrow, you came here to resist oppression, you came here to challenge injustice. You are the salvation of this country, this nation, and these people."