Özgür Özel explains the steps they will take following a potential sentence for İmamoğlu: 'It would be a kind of referendum'

CHP Chairman Özgür Özel attended the Arena program, hosted by journalist Uğur Dündar, in Adıyaman, which was struck by the February 6 earthquakes centered in Kahramanmaraş.

Özel answered Uğur Dündar's questions regarding the current agenda there.

Highlights from Özel's statements are as follows:

"I watched a very beautiful documentary about the earthquake today; it was truly very impressive. One of the things I heard most was that no one heard the name or voice of Adıyaman for three or four days. It was said that it was too late, yes, this is true. We have talked about this issue a lot.

There is an army ready for war at any moment. We have hundreds of thousands of soldiers trained to dress and board vehicles within minutes with an instruction, a whistle, or a siren. However, while several hundred thousand soldiers could have reached the wreckage immediately, perhaps within a day, an absurd approach was adopted, such as taking this army out of the barracks and putting it back in for three days. Is it possible for the glorious Turkish army to say, 'Let's get out of the barracks during the earthquake and take over the management'?

We must not forget the experience the Turkish army had during the August 17, 1999 earthquake. At that time, whoever was saved, the army had already saved them. This was a big mistake, a big deficiency.

NEW MINISTRY PROPOSAL TO ERDOĞAN

CHP Chairman Özel proposed a new model for "Earthquake and Disaster Management." Drawing attention to the delays experienced after the February 6 earthquakes, Özel emphasized the importance of precautions that should be taken before such events.

Stating that the interventions made immediately after the earthquake were also critical, Özel expressed that he had voiced the 'Ministry of Earthquake and Disaster' proposal in his face-to-face meetings with Erdoğan and that he (Erdoğan) had specifically taken note of this issue.

Özel continued his words as follows:

"But I would like to say this: The first 24 hours and the first 5-7 days after an earthquake are very important. However, the most critical thing is what you do before the earthquake happens. That is why I repeated an idea today that I also proposed to Mr. Erdoğan in our face-to-face meeting. He took serious notes the first time, but I want to express this here, on live broadcast, through you.

The duty that falls to Mr. Erdoğan today is to appoint a competent, fully authorized, and well-equipped person whose merit, skill, and experience are not in doubt, and who is not affiliated with any political party, as the Minister of Earthquake and Disaster Preparedness. This person should not be political.

Then, we should appoint deputy ministers to the leaders of the political parties that have groups in parliament, and even to the leaders of the political parties that make up the groups, by appointing them to his own party as well. It is necessary to appoint a deputy minister from the AK Party, CHP, DEM, IYI Party, and the New Way group, and even from the parties that make up them.

With these five deputy ministers, together with all the powers of that supra-political minister, without playing political games with each other, will resources be found? By deciding together what needs to be done, will resources be found from the world? We must put politics aside and carry out these works, by activating all our political relatives in the world, using all our relationships, whatever measures are to be taken, whoever is to be convinced, whatever will happen in urban transformation.

Of course, the earthquake also has a politics, but making a resilient city and committing to the nation is the business of election squares. But we don't have time to wait for an election. Perhaps the Istanbul earthquake could happen long before the election.

The Aegean Region is shaking like a cradle. Yesterday, I sent my relevant deputy chairman there. All our metropolitan mayors, their high-level officials, and valuable academics held an emergency situation meeting. They determined a roadmap, but this is our partner roadmap."

ABOUT THE İMAMOĞLU INVESTIGATION

A state of total exhaustion is a reflection of the anxiety and indigestion of losing the offices that are seen as deeded to oneself... Before the March 31 elections, there was a view that the AKP and MHP would sweep all municipalities in the local elections due to the CHP's severe state of depression among voters. But when the exact opposite happened, we saw that Erdoğan cannot digest the success of CHP municipalities with the steps taken and the effort to 'shake them up'.

I was by Mr. İmamoğlu's side when he was making his speech regarding the investigation in question. He made promises that no young person would be left hungry or homeless due to their membership in different parties after we came to power. In fact, I congratulated him when he finished his speech. I said that this trust should be given to young people. However, shortly after his speech, the news of the investigation reached us...

I can easily say that there is no 'threat' or targeting in İmamoğlu's statement! Everyone knows that İmamoğlu is Erdoğan's target...

DEBATE ON DETERMINING CANDIDATES THROUGH PRIMARIES

If we want an early election, we must determine the candidate early...

We had a productive conversation with Mayor Mansur last Sunday evening. He also conveyed his concerns to me about 'Are we rushing?'. I don't know if he will enter a primary, but I know he will do whatever duty the party gives him.

I don't know who the candidate nominees will be, but today I am once again convinced that our idea is correct and that we need to act in a short time.

We will determine our candidate, and let's say our candidate is Ekrem İmamoğlu. I say this because there is an operation there. If there were an operation regarding Ankara, I would say the same things for Mr. Mansur...

IF İMAMOĞLU RECEIVES A POLITICAL BAN OR PRISON SENTENCE...

Let's say our candidate turns out to be Ekrem İmamoğlu... Then we will see how Erdoğan acts for his rival.

We will see if he resorts to such tricks for his rival!

If he continues to take such steps and imposes a political ban, we will field another candidate, and that election will be a referendum for both the Presidential election and for İmamoğlu's ban and prison sentence.

We will all see how the public reacts to this.