Özgür Özel's statement on 'municipalities': I will make thank-you calls

Republican People's Party (CHP) Chairman Özgür Özel inaugurated the Will Knows No Obstacles National Chess Tournament for the Visually Impaired, organized for the December 3 International Day of Persons with Disabilities. 

Özel said, "We intend to learn from this first organization and improve it a little more each year. The very first table I stopped by said, 'It's very nice, but your municipalities should do this too.' We will convey this to our mayors as a task."

The "Will Knows No Obstacles National Chess Tournament for the Visually Impaired" was held today at the CHP Headquarters, organized by the CHP Shadow Ministry of Family and Social Services. 

CHP Chairman Özgür Özel and Deputy Chairman Aylin Nazlıaka attended the tournament, which was organized for the December 3 International Day of Persons with Disabilities. CHP leader Özel made the opening move of the tournament. Özel's opponent was Fermani Kurtel, Chairman of the Six Dots Association of the Blind.

NAZLIAKA: "WE HOPE THIS EVENT WILL BE REPEATED EVERY YEAR"

In her statement before the tournament began, Nazlıaka said, "Dear guests, our very precious guests who have come from all four corners of Turkey, we are currently experiencing the great honor of being with you alongside our Chairman. Our Chairman will make the opening move shortly. We hope that this event, which is being held among the visually impaired this year, will have a traditional structure that is repeated every year, including the hearing impaired and the orthopedically impaired in the following years."

ÖZEL: “FOR US, THE GREATEST HAPPINESS IS TO BE ABLE TO CONTRIBUTE TO FRIENDSHIPS”

Participating in the symbolic match at the opening of the event, which featured 56 visually impaired chess players, Özel said, "Today, we are hosting you on the ground floor of the 'father's house.' The CHP is one of the works that Gazi Mustafa Kemal Atatürk described as 'my two great works.' The other is the Republic of Turkey. Therefore, just as the doors of this father's house are wide open to everyone, it is a great happiness for us to host you in today's organization. You have come from all four corners of Turkey. I visited half of the tables a little while ago, and I will visit the other half during the matches. Two friends, one from Giresun and the other from Konya Selçuk, both visually impaired, are playing chess. They met and got to know each other here for the first time and joined the tournament. For us, the greatest of happiness is to be able to contribute to such friendships and such socialization."

"I WILL NOW GO OUT AND MAKE THANK-YOU CALLS TO THOSE FRIENDS"

Özel stated the following:

"As you know, tomorrow is the Day of Persons with Disabilities; we will all be at Anıtkabir in the morning. Then we will be waiting for you at our group meeting. You will listen to my speech there regarding the agenda, your agenda, and the country's agenda. We will present the awards to the first, second, and third place winners of the mini-tournament that started today and will conclude today at our group meeting. This is the first organization, so there have certainly been shortcomings, but we intend to learn from this and improve it a little more each year. For example, we hope to study how a visually impaired person and a hearing-impaired person can compete in a match, benefit from the experiences in this regard, and include all disability groups here next year.

Furthermore, at the very first table I stopped by at this organization, they said, 'It's very nice, but your municipalities should do this too.' We will convey this to our mayors as a task. In general, I asked at the tables I walked by; for the municipalities we recently won, our friends said, 'Our faces are smiling, we are glad they were elected.' I will now go out and make thank-you calls to those friends. Because what matters is not just coming to an office; it is not what your relatives or party members say to you in that office; it is the expression of satisfaction with that municipality's service by a random and vulnerable group, by a disabled friend, which is the greatest happiness for us."

"THIS TOURNAMENT WILL BE A GUIDE FOR US IN TERMS OF BEAUTIFUL EXAMPLES IN THE FUTURE"

"This tournament will be a guide for us both in terms of creating awareness and in terms of beautiful examples in the future. I would like to thank our international referee, our friend, our elder, who bore the whole burden. It is a great honor for me to play the opening match and make the first moves together with the Chairman of the Six Dots Association of the Blind. Once again, welcome, you have honored us, I thank you all."

Upon Özel's proposal for a draw with the words, "May the winner of this match be all the visually impaired," the match ended in a draw.

KURTEL: "DO NOT LOOK AT US WITH PITY"

Kurtel conveyed the demands of the Six Dots Association of the Blind to Özel.

Upon Özel recounting his memory regarding the fact that the term "blind" (kör) in the association's name was not changed, Kurtel said, "This is our brand. We do not get hung up on concepts. We accept whatever the public says because the public says different things. If we get hung up on these concepts, we will drown and remain there. What is important is to produce solutions to our problems and find solutions. The perspectives of the central government, local administrations, and political parties should not be with a sense of pity, but rather they should look at us the same way they look at normal citizens. Because we are also individuals within this society. As people living within this society, we demand that we be looked at not with pity, but normally, just as other people are looked at. That is what is important."

Özel then received the 'Invisible Newspaper' (Görünmeyen Gazete) gifted to him.