Özgür Özel: You have been victims, but you never knowingly victimized anyone

Özel attended the groundbreaking ceremony for the Mamak Municipality Culture Center and Cemevi. 

Highlights from Özel's speech:

We had to open a new path because there was no other way left. We set out on this journey with your support, with you clearing our path and standing by our side. 

We are in a neighborhood whose essence is the struggle for rights and equality. Today, we will lay the first foundation stone of our Culture Center and Cemevi. Our mayor had expressed that they designed a space where everything that should be inside—from soup kitchens to nurseries—is considered, a space where all areas for our Alevi brothers and sisters to perform their worship in the best way possible are provided, a place where every day will be lived together, and that they wanted this to be the first opening ceremony of a YENİ Parti municipality. We are here together to hold our first opening in this historic process. 

Cemevis are doors where souls become one and remain vibrant. They are places where faith, tolerance, and justice are established. Even if some turn a deaf ear, for us, Cemevis are places of worship. 

"YOU HAVE NOT CAUSED ANYONE PAIN"

In recent months, there was a 'City of Consent' (Rıza Şehri) meeting in Çorum as part of the Alevism Congress. The City of Consent is a symbol of the march toward a society without exploitation or injustice. This city is built on consent and mutual agreement. To be frank, those who govern this country and those who will govern it in the future owe a debt of consent to the Alevi community. Because Alevis have suffered greatly and paid a heavy price. From Karbala to Çorum, these massacres have continued. But the Alevi community lived through these pains in silence. They did not do evil to anyone, with the determination to overcome pain not with weapons, but with pens and words. You are those who try to overcome pain with words, not weapons; you are those who stand by the oppressed in every era's Karbala. You have been victims, but you never knowingly victimized anyone. You have suffered, but you have not caused anyone pain. 

When Gazi Mustafa Kemal set out for the War of Independence, to lead the War of Independence and realize the founding of the nation, he visited Hacı Bektaş last and received material and spiritual support. You stood tall behind Atatürk during the War of Independence. You are in the mortar of the foundation of the modern Republic of Turkey. 

As the Chairman of YENİ Parti, I have come to seek your consent. I promise that when we reach power at the end of this journey, we will seek consent from the Alevis on behalf of the state. We will accept that they have problems until the last Alevi says 'I have no problems left,' and we will fight to solve them. We will definitely ensure social peace and consensus. We will fight to the end for the unshakable peace of Kurds and Turks, and for Alevis and Sunnis to feel like completely equal citizens. 

"ALEVISM IS A FAITH, NOT A CULTURE"

I record it once again: if a mosque is a place of worship, then a Cemevi is also a place of worship. Alevism is a faith, not a culture; the semah is worship, not music. It is contrary to equality for the Sunnis' Presidency of Religious Affairs to be connected to the Presidency, while the Alevis are connected to the Ministry of Culture. It is blatant discrimination. 

We are with you in this struggle until the day Madımak becomes a museum of shame, and until the day the 'Madımak Shame Museum' sign is hung by the state at Madımak.

We have been under attack since we won the local elections. We are under attack because they want to turn us away from our path. We are under attack with operations, threats, and blackmail. But I will answer them from here; I shout it out while looking you in the eye: let those who will turn back turn back, I will not turn from my path!

We have left behind an obsolete politics, a politics accustomed to defeat, a politics conducted within boundaries drawn for itself. The path is greater than us, the path is greater than the travelers. What matters is to be on the right path. To be on a path of justice. I am honored to walk this path with you.