Özgür Özel addresses those trying to 'seize' the CHP at the Lüleburgaz rally: You cannot defeat us

Speaking at the Public Meeting in Lüleburgaz, Özgür Özel said, "Let those who try to seize the CHP know this. You may attempt to seize it, but you cannot bring this nation to its knees. Even if you attack with all the power at your disposal, no matter how evil or ruthless you are, you cannot defeat us."

Key highlights from Özel's speech are as follows:

Let those who try to seize the nation's party, the CHP, know this. You may attempt to seize it, but you cannot bring this nation to its knees. Even if you attack with all the power at your disposal, no matter how evil or ruthless you are, you cannot defeat us.

Today we are here with our relatives. But one of our relatives is currently separated from us. The elected Mayor of Silivri, Bora Balcıoğlu, is currently in custody due to slanders, unjustly, because he stood up for his party and his country, and because he stood tall.

MESSAGE TO MINERS

Today, miners have started a hunger strike underground. The heartless boss cut off the phones and communication. He cut off the electricity. I am warning the relevant ministers from here. If a single miner's nose bleeds, I will hold you accountable for it. We are behind you all the way; we are with labor, we are with the laborer.

'WE WILL PUT AN END TO THIS INJUSTICE'

Today, as a grandson of a gardener, as your brother and son who has worked on a tractor since the age of 12; today they have given a 22 percent raise to wheat. Diesel has increased by 50 percent. Fertilizer has increased by 115 percent. Bread in Kırklareli is 17.5 liras, 1 kilo of wheat is 16 liras.

I am addressing those who drip the sweat of their brow onto the soil: We will put an end to this injustice. We will stand together against this dark order that pays 16.5 liras for wheat that costs 21 liras to produce. We know that the AK Party gives 1/5th of the support stipulated in the law to the farmer, meaning instead of giving 1 percent, they give 0.2 percent. We know about the great injustices done in agricultural loans. We know that in Turkey, an area as large as Thrace, the farmers' assets are mortgaged to banks and have fallen into the hands of the banks.

And we say it clearly from here: This order will change! One era will close and a new one will begin. At the very beginning of that period, the interest on all farmers' loans will be wiped out once! The principal will be divided over 3 to 5 years. In the process that follows, a new page will be turned, and while the guarantees for passage, flight, and income given to the rich will remain on one side, the farmer will be given a livelihood guarantee, a production guarantee, and a purchase guarantee! Let us say this: You will feel the greatest change. A President who tells the farmer 'Take your mother and go' like the last one will leave, and a President who sees the farmer as the 'master of the nation' like the first one will come! Are you ready to end this dark order of the AK Party?

'THERE IS A MAGNIFICENT CROWD'

There is no doubt, there is no doubt that the only victim of this dark order is not just the farmers... Just as they say, there is a different crowd, an unusual crowd, a magnificent crowd, and an interesting excitement in Lüleburgaz today! Today in Lüleburgaz, this energy of yours, this perseverance with which you turn your anger into energy, this determination, this act of standing up for us, this setting out on this path, this standing behind us will bring us victory, will bring you victory, will bring Turkey victory! We will never be afraid, we will never stop, we will never surrender!

'THEY ARE ATTACKING THE NATION'S HOPE FOR CHANGE'

They are attacking the nation's hope for change, the possibility of change. What they are essentially attacking is the Republic's greatest achievement: the ballot box, and the right to vote and be elected. When they attack Ekrem İmamoğlu, they are attacking your right to vote; when they attack our party, they are attacking the democratic regime and the political party system. If they silence us, if they intimidate us, who will walk with these miners? If they silence us, if they intimidate us, if we don't talk about the state of the retiree, who will? If we don't walk with the laborer toward power, who will?

"TODAY THEY WANT TO LEAVE US WITHOUT A CANDIDATE AND WITHOUT A LEADER"

That is why all their efforts today to leave us without a candidate, without an institution, and without a leader are being made to leave the nation hopeless and to ensure that the oppressed accept being oppressed, that the exploited bow down to exploitation, and that those who have no hope left give up the struggle, shrink back, and take a step back. We are at a breaking point in history, in history. They did this. They tried to take Atatürk's party from the elected and give it to the appointed, just as the coup plotters closed it down.

(UPON CHANTS OF 'TRAITOR KEMAL') Of course you are angry, of course you are hurt and resentful. But the issue is not Özgür Özel's issue or the CHP's issue. It is not our internal matter. We say to those who want to report that 'There is a fight, there is a fight in the CHP': The issue is the refusal of the CHP, Özgür Özel, his team, and his fellow travelers to lose, their belief in change, and the determination of this nation's retirees, laborers, workers, and farmers to change the government. The issue is between Erdoğan and the nation. That is why today the Republican People's Party... The Republican People's Party... Friends, I have an objection. Someone is chanting, saying: 'The trustees will go, we will remain'. First of all, we are already here, we are not going anywhere, the Republican People's Party is here! Come on, let's see, come on. Where are the Republican People's Party members? That is why we, that police officer comes and... There is a patient. Where, where is the doctor? Where is the medical team? Where is the medical team?

A huge round of applause for all the healthcare workers who risk their lives in every difficult situation to keep us alive. It was coming from there. The healthcare worker saw the bag was too heavy, grabbed the bag from his back, and ran ahead. A huge round of applause for my lion-hearted Turkish police. A heartfelt applause for the Turkish Armed Forces, from the private to the non-commissioned officer, the officer, and the commander. A round of applause for the prison guards who look after those who will hold the most important duties in Turkey's future like the apple of their eye. I am the child of a retired teacher. A round of applause for the teachers. A heartfelt applause for my dear nation, for the civil servants and workers who perform all the duties of the state, who toil, struggle, and sweat for this country.

"OUR CRIME IS TO WIN AND TO FIND CANDIDATES WHO WILL WIN"

Those who increased the party vote from 25% to 38% in 5 months are under attack today. Our crime is winning elections, finding candidates who will win, and being determined about this for the future. Our crime is opposing the establishment. Our crime is saying 'No way! The short stick will get its due from the long stick' in response to the mentality that says 'The rich will get richer, the poor will sit in their place, the retiree, the laborer, the middle class will settle for what they find and resist hunger'.

"OUR CRIME IS TO PROMISE THE RIGHT TO STRIKE AND UNIONS"

Our crime is to promise the Turkish working class a union where everyone has a collective bargaining agreement and the right to strike. Let us know this, there is no fight in the CHP. The main issue is that the trustee will go, and the elected will come. Of course, that is how it will be. The elected have not gone anywhere, and they will not go.

"ERDOĞAN WILL GO, THE NATION WILL COME"

But the main issue is not 'The trustee will go, we will come', which I objected to earlier, but the issue of 'Tayyip will go, we will come'. Erdoğan will go, and this nation's government will come. Otherwise, it is not a debate in the party, a squabble in the party; the main issue is the end of the exploitation order that has lasted for a quarter of a century, the departure of the Erdoğan government, and the issue of the people becoming the government.

"I WILL NOT WASTE MY BREATH ON THOSE WHO SURRENDER TO THIS DARK ORDER"

If there is a fight in this country, it is between the nation and the AK Party's dark order. That is why I will not waste my breath on those who compromise with this dark order, who surrender to this dark order, or who become tools for this dark order; I will spend all my breath on the great march to make the nation the government. We are not those who seek areas of dominance in the party or the state; we are those who derive legitimacy from the squares, who draw strength from the squares, and who give hope to the squares.

Because in the dark order, the goal is to determine one's own opponent. In the dark order, there is no real ballot box, no real opponent, no real election, and no possibility of change. The dark order, the AK Party's dark order, targets the Republic order of Gazi Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. The AK Party's dark order, with Trump's calculations, talks about conscientious monarchies and one-man regimes, and imposes on Turkey a system where America decides who is at the head of the country, just like in the Middle East.

"I AM NOT AFRAID! WHY? BECAUSE I SEE THIS SQUARE"

Here, here we are the elected Republican People's Party, we are your children, Özgür Özel, the child of a retired teacher, Özgür Özel, is targeted because he objects to American imperialism. Am I afraid? I am not afraid. Why am I not afraid? I see this square, I am filled with courage, I draw courage. On the day they tried to appoint a trustee to our party and the police came to try and forcibly remove us from that party, we left a building behind, we left an old-generation mentality behind, we left an aged, dilapidated, and corrupt dark order behind, and we started a march under the rain and hail where our goal was the march, our compass was the nation, and our target was power. For this reason, we are physically separated from our father's house, which we love very much.

However, the father's house is Atatürk's house, and wherever his children are, that is where the house is. The father's house is the Lüleburgaz square! Erdoğan is in a panic, and Erdoğan sees this change, this excitement, this reaction, and the nation's act of standing up for us. Erdoğan sees the excitement on the street and the nation's awareness. That is why he is in a great hurry, saying 'We are not involved in this, we are not part of it anywhere, this is between the CHP members'.

"ERDOĞAN, YOU ARE RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF THIS"

I am addressing Erdoğan from here: You say 'Where am I in this?', you are right in the middle of this, right in the middle of this. But let me give him this good news, and you are giving him this good news today: Erdoğan and those who think like him, they are at the end of the road, we are still at the beginning of the road. None of the mud they throw, thank God, touches us, sticks to us, or can stick to us.

They called us, the children of this party, thieves, they called us corrupt, they called us terrorists, they called us spies, they called us FETÖ members. None of these stick to us. They are trying to smear the dirt on their hands onto us, that dirt does not stick to this body. Get out of here! Stay with your own dirt, your own filth. Get out of here! Now that what they said didn't stick, they have all come out in one voice, sir

VERY HARSH REACTION TO ERDOĞAN AND KILIÇDAROĞLU MEETING ON 'UPRISING' RHETORIC

'The CHP wants to stir up the streets, the CHP wants to start a popular uprising', different people from different channels are saying the same words. Do you know what this is? This is cowardice, this is a great baseness.

We have held 63 rallies today. This is the 263rd one since I became Chairman. Do you know what the characteristic of these rallies is? There might be one person who faints from the sun, one who shivers from the cold, but there is not one person who looks at another with an evil eye. Not one person's nose has bled, not one person's wallet has been stolen, not one person has disturbed the person next to them. Turkey's hope is the beautiful will of the beautiful people in these squares. That is why these squares, where no one breaks or destroys anything, where no one hurts anyone's feelings, where no one looks badly at the person next to them, and where no one leaves unhappy, are the squares where the foundations of Turkey's future hopes are laid. In these squares, in these squares, there is a new founding will. Whatever the AK Party has destroyed, or whatever those who disappointed us have caused to be lost, these squares are seeking it, finding it, and establishing it. It is the will of this square that will bring back a strong Republic; a strong social state; democracy; a Turkey without bans; and finally, a Republic of Turkey passport that will travel visa-free. You are the tens of millions who have abandoned the old, who are building the new, who have put your hearts and bodies into the foundation, and who have sworn to raise this Republic of Turkey to its feet once again. I am proud of all of you, all of you!

"THIS NOBLE NATION IS WAITING FOR THE BALLOT BOX, THE BALLOT BOX"

Every member of parliament, every political friend of mine who goes to the field and comes back, who goes to their hometown, to the district, to the village, and every one of you I talk to says, 'What is happening has brought together not only CHP members but people from all political views, AK Party and MHP people too; everyone is behind us, behind you against what is being done'. Is it true? Is it true? This inclusiveness, this nation's wisdom, and standing in the right place against injustice is this country's second greatest hope. The first hope is the existence of you who put your bodies, your will, and your labor into the squares. The second hope is the wisdom and the patience for the ballot box of the silent majority of this nation. Some call this a deep wave, some make sociological readings, but one thing I know is that this noble nation is waiting for the ballot box, waiting for the ballot box, waiting for the ballot box! This noble nation is waiting for us, waiting for its own government, waiting to speak its own word, waiting to make its own voice heard. Is it true? Then, the founders, the founders of the new government, the founders of the second century of Gazi Mustafa Kemal Atatürk's party; are you ready for a great struggle, a great liberation, a brand new beginning, to join arms with everyone, not to separate anyone, to call everyone to the front, to convince everyone, just like the War of Independence? Are you ready? That is, that is the only thing I trust, it is you.

"THEY HAVE BATONS AND JUDGES IN THEIR HANDS, BUT THEY SHOULD NOT FORGET THAT THE SQUARES..."

They have their states, their water cannons, their gas, their batons, their prosecutors, and their judges in their hands, but they should never forget that whoever controls the square will win in the end! And we are not reducing the entire Turkish judiciary to a handful of judicial gangs, actoros gangs, or AKP judicial branches in this country. We know that a 98% majority is following this with shame, disapproval, and knowing that these actions produce disaster, with a sense of warning, fear, and patience. I am saying it clearly from here: The Republic of Turkey state is not a state that a handful of groups can seize.

"WE LEFT THE BUILDINGS, WE ARE WALKING WITH THE NATION"

As the elected Chairman of this country's founding party, I say: The nation is with us, the state is our state. In the end, you are neither soldiers, nor servants, nor subjects, nor members. You, I am saying to all of Turkey from Lüleburgaz from this moment on, everyone who stands up for this, you are my family. Family is everything. Whenever we are in trouble, we take refuge in it, we turn our faces to it. Family is everyone. And let me say that from this moment on, all the democrats of Turkey who have complaints and who do not find what is being done to be right are also our family. I embrace all democrats, all democrats. I am among the lion-hearted social democrats, we left there and are walking. Conservative democrats, nationalist democrats, Kurdish democrats, liberal democrats, socialist democrats... But as long as we change this government together and establish the people's government, we see all democrats as our family, we know them as our family. We left the buildings, we are walking with the nation.

We left the buildings, we are walking with the nation. A person knows their friend best on the road, in the journey. The nation will also get to know us and you much more closely on this road. We will become acquainted, we will become friends, we will become brothers. This story is neither Özgür Özel's nor just the Republican People's Party's; this story is the story of everyone in the Republic of Turkey who loves each other, it is the nation's story. And believe me, we have not left any work unfinished, we will not leave this march unfinished, we will eventually carry this party to power. Now I saw those beautiful red flags with the crescent and star waving, and I had said for years in the election campaign in Lüleburgaz: We are the Lüleburgaz Alliance, we are the Turkey Alliance, I said. The Turkey Alliance takes its colors from the red flag with the crescent and star. I said that everyone who stands up when the national team wins, whose throat tightens while this flag is waving, is in the Turkey Alliance. Tomorrow, our national team's match, where Turkey will not be divided, where we will all be together, is tomorrow night at 10 o'clock. We are sending a strong applause of support to our national team from here. We wish them success against Austria, and we are all calling out from here to there, to the distance.

"WHEN THE DAY COMES, I WILL NOT FORGET TODAY, AND HISTORY WILL NOT FORGET EITHER"

The national team belongs to all of us. It is not a party's, not a politician's, it is the team of the entire nation. May their path be clear, we believe in them, we support them. Dear people of Lüleburgaz, we are on the bus for the 263rd time, but after that bad decision, this is our first meeting in this square, taking refuge in the nation, leaning on the nation, and embracing each other. When the day comes, I will not forget today, and history will not forget either. Each and every one of you is welcome here today, you have brought joy. Health to your feet, your labor, your hearts, I am glad you exist! Our password is the march, our compass is the nation, our route is power! We set out on a path together, we will reach power. Are you ready? Are you ready to walk with me? Are you ready to walk with Mayor Ekrem? Are you ready to walk with Mayor Mansur? Are you ready to walk to power? Come on then, let's walk, friends, let's walk, friends!"