Statement from Özgür Çelik in front of Üsküdar Municipality: We are facing a time-adjusted, dirty operation

Speaking at the gathering, YENİ Party Istanbul Provincial Chair Özgür Çelik said, "We are facing a time-adjusted, dirty operation," and asked, "Can the country's judiciary be used to win a deputy mayoral election in a district? How will you conduct future elections?

When the ballot box comes before the nation tomorrow, will you lock up half of the 86 million, or 60 million people, in prisons just because they won't vote for you? Can there be justice or democracy like this?"

Explaining that the father of council member Amine Cansu Çelik, a mother of a 3-year-old child who is still in custody, has suffered a blood clot in his brain, Çelik addressed the AK Party and MHP council members, saying, "Do not be a partner to this cruelty and darkness; listen to your conscience. Such heartlessness does not suit Üsküdar."

YENİ Party members gathered in front of Üsküdar Municipality in the evening regarding the court-ordered cancellation of the August 5 deputy mayoral election—which Sibel Tan Çetinkaya had won, replacing the arrested Sinem Dedetaş—the decision to renew the election, and the recent detentions and developments. The gathering, where messages of respect for the national will were delivered, was attended by YENİ Party Istanbul Provincial Chair Özgür Çelik, YENİ Party Deputy Chair Responsible for Local Governments Yaşar Tüzün, YENİ Party MPs Suat Özçağdaş, Gökan Yüksel, Özgür Karabat, Özgür Erdem İncesu, CHP Üsküdar District Chair Zerrin Civandağ, YENİ Party Üsküdar District Chair Berk Tütüncü, and numerous party members and opposition party representatives.

Welcomed with the slogan "Free Istanbul, Free Turkey!", YENİ Party Istanbul Provincial Chair Özgür Çelik said the following:

"You chanted a slogan just now while our council members were on stage: 'Üsküdar is proud of you.' They deserve this slogan to such a high degree that I cannot describe it to you. I will explain it in a moment. A council deputy chairmanship election took place here; they summoned 8 of our council members to the Courthouse. With the calculation of the new election to be held, our council members were pressured inside the courthouse; an election was attempted to be designed through the grip of the judiciary. And behold, Üsküdar's council members did not bow to those pressures. Üsküdar is truly proud of them, Istanbul is proud, Turkey is proud. Üsküdar is proud of you! Üsküdar is proud of you! Üsküdar is proud of you!"

Saying, "We have come to speak openly with you about what is happening in Üsküdar," Çelik provided the following information regarding the process:

"But first, a thank you: For 2 years, we have been showing great resistance and a great struggle in the squares of Istanbul. You have never left us alone; from Tuzla to Silivri, you have always been with us in the squares of Istanbul. You were here when our mayor Sinem Dedetaş was arrested. We thank you from the heart for standing up for democracy, justice, and freedom.

What is happening in Üsküdar? Those who cannot stomach losing Üsküdar after 30 years, those who cannot digest losing Üsküdar, have taken our Üsküdar Mayor Sinem Dedetaş, our populist and action-oriented Mayor, prisoner. Let us send a strong greeting together from here to the Silivri dungeon! From here to the Silivri dungeon, to the Çorlu dungeon, to our mayor Sinem Dedetaş. And let us send greetings to our chair Amine Cansu Çelik and our chair Ekrem Baki, whom they detained to hijack the will of the people of Üsküdar and who are currently in the basement of the Vatan Security Directorate.

Now we will speak openly: What is happening in Üsküdar? Why is Sinem Dedetaş currently a prisoner? Why are our municipal council members in custody? And a matter that saddened you all yesterday: news of a transfer involving 4 municipal council members. We will speak openly about why these things are happening. We are facing a time-adjusted, dirty operation. However, as our Group Deputy Chair Murat Emir announced yesterday in the Grand National Assembly of Turkey, within this operation: 'The Justice and Development Party is involved in this dirty operation, the Governorship is involved, and unfortunately, the representatives of the Ministry of Justice in Istanbul are involved. Now, what happened here?

An operation was carried out in Üsküdar on April 7. 9 people were detained here. Our mayor continued to be on duty after April 7. And later, on July 29, they detained our mayor Sinem Dedetaş, and her arrest took place a few days later. And they scheduled the deputy mayoral election for the earliest possible time, at 8:00 AM, in a way that had never happened before. Previously, they used to schedule them for later in the day. They used to schedule them 7 days later, 10 days later. For the first time, they scheduled the deputy mayoral election for the earliest possible time and early in the morning, at 8:00 AM.

So, what happened there? The first round of voting took place. We received all of our council members' votes, with 1 being invalid, in the first round. The second round of voting took place. We received all of our council members' votes. In the third round of voting, we saw that all of those who transferred today voted for the rival political party's candidate in the third round of voting. So what did they do? So what did they do? Look, between the first operation and the second operation, they had the council members under surveillance. They swayed their minds with threats, pressure, and offers. They told them, 'If Özgür Çelik comes, if party officials come, don't tell them anything.'

Because we, because we held meetings with each of them one by one, repeatedly. None of these issues were discussed. But in the third round of voting, we saw that a portion of our votes was missing from the ballot box. Then, between the third and fourth rounds, a meeting took place in this hall, in this building. There were 40 people in that meeting, including 27 council members and party officials. Look, I will underline a very important point now. Among the 40 people, our municipal council members took the floor one by one. They said they would vote for Sibel Tan Çetinkaya in the fourth round. Out of 27 people. When it came to one person, our Group Deputy Chair Murat Emir announced it yesterday in the Grand National Assembly of Turkey.

When it came to one person, that person said: He said: 'The Ministry of Justice promised me. My son received a sentence within the scope of an organization membership, a terrorist organization membership. He has been in England for 15 years, he hasn't been able to return to Turkey for 15 years. The Ministry of Justice promised me. The Ministry of Justice told me: 'If you vote for the AK Party's candidate, we will bring your child, who has been sentenced for terrorism for 15 years and cannot come to Turkey, to Turkey,' he said. 'I said, I said, I voted in the third round to reunite with my child, and I will vote in the fourth round too,' he said. (Upon slogans) It's not over yet. With a little calm, with a little calm. It's not over yet. We have very important topics.

Another council member, Hüseyin Kazan, left the hall when the municipal council members promised one by one that 'I will vote.' And later, there is an allegation being discussed in Üsküdar. Our Group Deputy Chair Murat Emir announced from the parliamentary podium: 'There are allegations that they released Hüseyin Kazan's son from the prison where he was held one week before the elections on conditional release.' Now, our chair Murat Emir has explained how the Ministry of Justice and prosecutors were involved to win the Üsküdar Municipality elections. It's not over yet. So, the fourth round of voting took place. What happened after the fourth round of voting took place? The two council members whose names I mentioned earlier did not vote for us, but all the others voted for Sibel Tan Çetinkaya.

Even though a portion of our votes was counted as invalid, Sibel Tan Çetinkaya was elected as deputy mayor. So, so what did they do? They couldn't stomach this either. Those who couldn't stomach this filed a lawsuit to cancel the election. They filed a lawsuit for the cancellation of the election. Since the day that lawsuit was filed, they have summoned 8 of our council members to the Kartal Courthouse. They said, 'Come, you will testify as a suspect.' They said, 'Come, you will testify as a witness.' What is the purpose? The purpose is, a lot of operations have been taking place for 2 years. Those operations are taking place at the Çağlayan Courthouse, at the Kartal Courthouse. Let's summon them here.

Let them be afraid, let them be anxious, let them go and change their votes. The state's courthouse has become used for this. We are continuing. It's not over yet. And what else did they do? We arrived, 8 council members under pressure, under threat, under judicial harassment, they detained 3 of our municipal council members on September 2. Now they have detained 3 council members. And as I said earlier, the Istanbul Governorship scheduled the election for 8:00 AM in the first election. They canceled the election on the day the 3 council members were detained. They made a new election decision. The same Istanbul Governor, the same governorship scheduled the election for this Saturday during the detention period of the friends. We will talk about the Governor shortly.

He scheduled an election. Now, now, during this period, when this operation took place, when the election decision was made, those who announced an election calendar in a hurry like stealing goods from a fire on a Saturday while people were in custody, meanwhile transferred 4 municipal council members through threats, pressure, blackmail, and offers. They transferred 4 municipal council members. Hundreds of thousands of dollars, millions of dollars are being talked about in the business. The streets of Üsküdar are talking. In the business, in the business, in the business, it is alleged that some of the council members were threatened through the prosecutor's office. Now, as I said when I started my speech, we are facing a dirty game, a setup."

Özgür Çelik also showed this reaction regarding the statements of Istanbul Governor Davut Gül:

"As our chair Murat Emir announced yesterday in the Grand National Assembly of Turkey, 'The AKP is involved, the governorship is involved, the courthouse is involved.' Istanbul Governor, first of all, Istanbul Governor Mr. Davut Gül. I have been the Istanbul Provincial Chair for 2.5 years. We have a working relationship with you, Mr. Davut Gül, I am speaking for the first election. In the first election, you announced an election calendar 10 days later after the arrest in Ataşehir. Because you needed time to convince the council members there. Here, however, you scheduled the election for the earliest time, at 8:00 AM, Mr. Davut Gül. Why? Because enough pressure had already been applied to the municipal council members between the two operations. You were a tool in this for the election to take place as soon as possible. You scheduled the election for the earliest time, at 8:00 AM.

We came to these last few days. What did you do? While 3 council members were in custody, in a hurry, Mr. Governor, you in a hurry, what did you do immediately? You made an election decision. Two of our friends are still in custody and the deputy mayoral election will be held here tomorrow morning. What else did he do? One second. What else did the Governor do? The Governor said, 'Political parties without a group cannot enter the municipal building. Their provincial chair or MP.' So what did we do? The YENİ Party did not have a group here. What did we do? As the YENİ Party, we formed our group. We wrote our letter to both the district governorship and the governorship. They saw that they could not legally prevent our entry into the building. What did they do this time? Through the prosecutor's office, through the Governorship, a letter saying no one can enter.

Why? Why? Because Özgür Çelik won the election by talking to the municipal council members everywhere he went, by chatting with them. YENİ Party members won the election everywhere they went. Our deputy chair Yaşar Tüzün, who will come here shortly, our MP Gökan Zeybek won the council election everywhere they went. The Governorship resorted to all sorts of things today so that they would not enter the building. I am telling Mr. Davut Gül from here; Mr. Governor, I am one of the 16 million Istanbulites. You are my Governor too. You are not the governor of a party... You are the governor of 16 million Istanbulites. Be the governor for 16 million Istanbulites. Give up these practices. State institutions are not managed like this.

Now to the courthouse prosecutor issues that Mr. Murat Emir announced. We are a 103-year-old republic. We have a thousand-year adventure in these lands. We have 600-700 years of state experience in these lands. Something like this has never been seen in these lands. Can the country's judiciary be used to win a deputy mayoral election in a district in Üsküdar Municipality? Can the country's prosecutor be used for this? Can an election be set up in the country's courthouse? What will happen? How will you conduct future elections? Can there be democracy like this? Can there be democracy like this? When the ballot box comes before the nation tomorrow, when the ballot box comes before Turkey tomorrow, will you lock up half of these 86 million, 60 million people, in prisons just because they won't vote for you? Can there be justice like this? Can there be democracy like this? Can a municipal council election be designed with such a judiciary? A state is not managed like this. Look, I am the child of a teacher who served this country for 30 years. I grew up with the money of this state. We are tied to this state with unbreakable roots. A state is not managed like this. If you manage a state like this, if you design a ballot box through the judiciary, if you pursue winning a municipal council election through the judiciary, you shake the foundation of the state. Look, you are damaging democracy. You are destroying democracy."

Özgür Çelik concluded his speech by addressing the AK Party and MHP council members with these words:

"Now I kiss the hands and foreheads of my council members here one by one, those who resist all pressures. Good for them. Good for them. Greetings to our two council member friends in the basement of the Vatan Security Directorate. Now I am addressing the AK Party and MHP council members of Üsküdar from here; dear Üsküdar council members, I know there are people with conscience among you. I have also witnessed this. I have also witnessed this. In the first election, they first submitted a petition. AK Party members, they said, do not enter the voting booth with a phone. In the voting booth. In the first round, a council member from the AK Party MHP group cast a blank vote. Then they gave a phone instruction in a hurry right before our eyes. They asked for photos from all of them. Now I am addressing the AK Party and MHP council members from here. I know there are people with conscience among you. This is Üsküdar, AK Party and MHP council members. This is the district of conscience. Üsküdar observes the rights of others. The people of Üsküdar carry the fear of God in their hearts and are people of faith. I am addressing you from here. Do not be a partner to this cruelty. Do not be a partner to this darkness. Do not fall into this mistake. AK Party and MHP council members, listen to your conscience. Decide with your conscience. Look, the elected mayor of Üsküdar is in captivity, council member Amine Cansu Çelik. Currently, her father has suffered a blood clot in his brain. Her father has left intensive care and is at home. She has a 3-year-old child. Look, this heartlessness does not suit Üsküdar. In this respect, I express that AK Party and MHP council members should not be partners to this cruelty and should not become a part of this dirty game.

Our final word is to 16 million in Istanbul and 86 million of our citizens in Turkey. Let no one fall into despair in the face of these cruelties. We are not hopeless. Our chair Mr. Özgür Özel is very hopeful. Our presidential candidate Mr. Ekrem İmamoğlu is very hopeful. Our 86 million citizens are very hopeful. Whatever the cost. Whatever the cost, we will not take a single step back in the face of this cruelty. We will continue our struggle with determination to the end. We will fight this darkness to the end. We know one thing very well. We are fighting for freedom and democracy. We know one thing very well. If there is no democracy in a country, there is no freedom. If there is no democracy, there is no justice. If there is no justice, there is no social peace. If there is no social peace, there is no tranquility, no abundance, no prosperity. All of these are interconnected. For this reason, we will never give up our struggle for democracy. We will continue our resistance with determination. One Sunday, the ballot box will come before the nation. We will all go to the ballot boxes together in a festive atmosphere, in a celebratory atmosphere, and we will put an end to this cruelty. We will build the democratic republic in these lands together with you all."