Striking messages from Özgür Özel in Şile: 'When we come to power, we will never allow partisanship and discrimination'

The CHP continues to hold its 'Standing up for the national will' rallies, which it launched following the arrest of Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality Mayor and presidential candidate Ekrem İmamoğlu.

The 40th stop for these rallies, which are held in a different province every weekend and a different district of Istanbul every weekday, was Şile today.

Citizens filled the area from the early hours for the rally.

Citizens from various walks of life, holding flags, chanted 'Everything will be very beautiful' in the square to protest the detention of their presidential candidate, Ekrem İmamoğlu.

ÖZGÜR ÖZEL: WE ARE GOING TO ŞİLE NOT FOR A RALLY, BUT TO TAKE ACTION

After İmamoğlu's message was read, CHP Chairman Özgür Özel took the stage to deliver his speech. Greeting the people of Şile, Özel said, "They said, 'How can you hold a rally in Şile, where will you find that many people?' We said, 'We are not going to Şile for a rally, we are going to take action.' Could we have been more crowded? We could not have. Whoever is here is in Atatürk Square this evening."

Continuing his speech, here are the highlights from Özel's address:

“WE WROTE AN EPIC IN ŞİLE, WHAT IS HAPPENING NOW IS BLACK COMEDY”

“A handful of coup plotters have had their eyes on the national will since March 19. They are trying to interfere with the will of Istanbul, the will of Şile, those we elected in the last election, and those we will elect in the next. Here, we stand with those we elected and behind our will, against this handful of ambitious people consisting of three prosecutors, three judges, and a junta, by maintaining our righteousness, our morality, our moral superiority, and our psychological superiority, and by standing behind this with the majority energy of these squares. Şile is standing up for its will. Those who see the sea and nature of Şile, those who look at Şile from afar, should not think that this is a CHP stronghold. The Justice and Development Party had been governing this place for three terms. We did not say anything about the decision the nation made. We did not turn around and challenge Şile. We said, 'We must do better ourselves.' We said, 'As an organization, we must embrace each other and listen to the voice of the nation.' We nominated one of your own, my namesake. We received the vote of one in every two people. We wrote an epic in Şile in the last elections. Now, I unfortunately visited the mayor elected by that Şile in prison today. I brought you the greetings of my namesake, the mayor of Şile, your own child, Mayor Özgür, people of Şile. The situation is actually such a black comedy... Today, I spoke with Mayor Özgür in Silivri. He says, 'I arrived, they handed over a municipality with a 1.2 billion lira budget with 1 billion in debt. I assigned the Inspection Board. In five years, they detected 580 million liras of irregularities in 30 files. I brought these out. In October 2024, I looked them in the eye and explained it to the entire municipal council; no one said anything. However, the prosecutor's office did not take these files and take action.' He said, 'But let me give you one example out of 30 files'; 'The mayor before him is someone who does flooring. He enters the new municipal building, he doesn't like the floors. He says, 'Three-dimensional patterned flooring will be purchased.' 720 thousand liras worth of flooring is purchased. The invoice is recorded. Payment is made. Look, Mayor Özgür said it that day, he told me today. Tomorrow, I invite all of Şile to that municipal building; to the municipal building where the invoice was issued and 720 thousand liras were collected, to look for the three-dimensional patterned floors. There is no such thing. There is an invoice, there is no flooring. Look, this is just one of 30 files. I challenge you. A prosecutor; you know, the mobile guillotine sent to Istanbul from a political position... The AK Party era comes before him, he says, 'Skip that,' he says, 'Bring me the last six years.' They say, 'Don't tell the truth, tell me if there is anyone slandering Ekrem.' I am addressing the AK Party and MHP members and voters of Şile from here. You are not my enemy. The money spent, the money stolen is all of our money. I am speaking clearly. I saw the questions asked to Mayor Özgür. They slandered him with a secret witness, I saw the answers given to that. But I saw with my own eyes that everyone who was asked questions specifically said, 'The Mayor has no knowledge of this.' In fact, in one video recording, they refer to the mayor by cursing his dear mother, certifying that he has no knowledge of these matters. MHP member of Şile, AK Party member, Özgür is in the middle. A thief has no party. I say this with great self-confidence. If there is any corruption anywhere in this operation, if the person who did it is from the CHP, may God damn them, if they are from the AK Party, may God damn them too. But you, to our child who is as clear as water, as pure as milk... What are they saying? To our child who is as clear as water, as pure as milk, just for political purposes, you saw it last week... A displacement, a move. They are trying to slander our mayor, eat his rights, and usurp your vote in order to take back with games the authority they could not take, after governing for three terms and exhausting the people, and leaving the municipality this year. We are saying it clearly from here. Let these games stay on one side. But while 30 files from the past period are waiting, we will not let you eat our Mayor Özgür, who has not a single lira of fault, and the will of Şile, you coup plotters.”

“THEY EQUALIZED THE NATION IN INJUSTICE AND POVERTY”

“Unfortunately, the country is number one in Europe in poverty and income inequality. They equalized the nation in injustice, they equalized them in poverty. I was following this from below a little while ago. The retirees are here, the minimum wage earners are here, the tradesmen, the fishermen, the villagers are here. No one is smiling. Unfortunately, they condemned retirees to a 16 thousand lira pension. The lowest pension, which bought 8 quarter gold coins when they first came to power in 2002, now buys 2 quarter gold coins. They condemned the laborers to a 22 thousand lira minimum wage. They did not raise a single penny for the minimum wage, which they promised to adjust 'four times a year' before the election. For the first time, they confronted our laborers with a minimum wage that was below the hunger threshold, even in the month it was first set. The country's average rent is 25 thousand liras, Istanbul's is 30 thousand liras. With this salary they give, they are telling the citizens they pay, 'Either rent a house and stay hungry, or feed yourself and stay on the street.' But they themselves take two, three, four salaries. They stay in the most beautiful places, they live off the back of the nation. I am saying this clearly and plainly from here. There is no escape. You will not be able to escape anywhere. That ballot box will come. The nation will run to the ballot box, will reunite with our candidate you are holding inside, and will make Mayor Ekrem President. After that day, the era of ministers' children will end, and the era of the nation's children will begin. We are taking action here. When there is action, there is a slogan. We should all chant the slogan together, but let's do it this way. When we say, 'The day will come, the cycle will turn. AKP, AK Party will be held accountable by the people,' Tayyip Bey is very pleased. He says, 'Oh, that was very good.' Why? The AK Party had 12.5 million, at one point 13 million members. He says, 'When they say this,' he says, 'Even if the man is hungry, poor, unemployed, or aggrieved, when he hears this slogan of the angry squares, he says, 'Well, we are members too, maybe they will do something for us when they come,' and he votes for us again, fearfully and reluctantly.' I know how they make members in the AK Party and MHP, I am saying this especially for the AK Party. You want social assistance, membership is a must. The son will go to an interview, they ask, 'Is there membership?' The grandchild will be a police officer, they ask for membership. Sometimes they collect IDs without you knowing and make you a member. Or maybe you registered for the better, but you saw the hunger, poverty, unemployment and you regret it. Do not be afraid at all. This square, this party, especially Mayor Ekrem, Özgür Özel, none of us have a problem with the AK Party member or the MHP member. I have a world of relatives who voted for the AK Party in 2002 from the village of Hacıhaliller in Manisa. They are all full of regret. We promise you from here. Of course, they will be held accountable. Thieves, corrupt people, coup plotters, slanderers will be held accountable. We have absolutely nothing to do with the members of the AK Party and MHP, your honest fellow citizens, ordinary citizens, retirees, tradesmen. We will not create a 'devr-i sabık' (a period of settling scores with the past). On the contrary, we are leaving polarization behind, we are coming to embrace all of you.”

“WE WILL NOT CREATE A 'DEVR-İ SABIK', WE ARE COMING TO EMBRACE”

“Therefore, let's say this clearly. This AK Party era is exactly a period of 'kara düzen' (black order). What you call a black order is an order that is not well prepared, started randomly, poorly managed, and where the system is poorly established. Those who named themselves 'AK' (White/Clean), those who set out as the 'Movement of the Virtuous,' have today confronted Turkey with a black order. Even if you are a member of the AK Party today, you are unemployed, hungry, poor. Because you are not one of the elites of that black order. You are one of those exploited by the black order. You are the one whose poor son from a brick house has no job; he becomes a specialist sergeant, you put henna on his hand and send him off. Then, because of some ignorant act, they put him in a cave without proper measurement or precaution, and send him to the front of the house with a red flag. His mother faints, they give her an injection. They give advice to his father. If he has a brother, they put him in a job. 15 days later, no one looks back. In this black order, they force the retiree who barely gets by with 8 quarter gold coins to get by with 2 quarter gold coins at the end of 23 years of power. In this black order, they hold interviews, and the elites whose names are on the lists are selected. The citizens' children are eliminated. In this black order, money is just paper. It comes from Bulgaria, exchanges the Lev, and takes Edirne away. It comes from the Sarp border gate, exchanges the money. It takes away by the sackful what you cannot look after. In this black order, the children of the homeland have become servants. The ministers' children have become those who sit at the very top, arrogantly. Therefore, we will fight together against this black order imposed on this nation, which the AK Party brought, which it received support from in time with the nation's halal votes, which it turned its face to during the election, and turned its back on after the election. Believe that the ballot box will come, the black order will end. The AK Party's black order, the palace order will go. This nation will hold the coup plotters accountable, not the AK Party members. He watches our rallies every evening. He gets happy when we say 'AK Party will be held accountable.' 'Oh oh, our people will vote for us again out of necessity.' When he hears these 'Government resign, Tayyip resign, Erdoğan without a diploma,' he switches to A Haber. The one who leaves people so hungry, leaves them out in the open, leaves them poor, commits a coup, and is so ruthless, and does this cruelty to my brother Mehmet Murat Çalık... For example, 13 of our mayors are currently in prison. One of them is Muhittin Böcek. He lay in a coma for 105 days due to Covid, was intubated for 85 days. He was saved from there with the prayers of Antalya. He became the only mayor in the history of the Republic to win Antalya twice in a row. He was using various medicines for both Covid and other illnesses. Now, he has become, officially in one day, meaning from the infirmary of the prison in Antalya, he drinks 14 pills a day. Let's send a strong applause from here to Mehmet Murat Çalık, to Muhittin Böcek, to all sick prisoners and convicts, and to the mothers who are kept away from their children and the fathers who are held hostage, to my Mustafa, whom I sacrifice myself for, let's send a strong applause to all of them.”

“A BLACK ORDER WITH NO ONE SATISFIED”

“This order is a black order with no one satisfied. This order is a black order where everyone inside is exploited, and a handful of people exploit. Police officers want a raise, want overtime, want compensation, no one hears. They make them work day and night, they exploit their labor, they do not give them their rights. Those who are not appointed as teachers, those who graduate from economics and administrative sciences, those who graduate from sports schools, BESYO, become police officers and are on one side of the oppression. Then one day they stand them in front of the youth in a square. On this side, a child of the homeland, on this side, a child of the homeland. Retired non-commissioned officers, majors want their rights, they cannot get them. Internship, apprenticeship victims, those waiting for justice in retirement, the civil servants' contract negotiations have come, now there are those who are trying to make civil servants apprentices by agreeing with the cronies of the civil servant unions. They still haven't made the framework protocol for 600 thousand public workers. They wrote and showed another paper to the TÜRK-İŞ Chairman, they went to Mehmet Şimşek and returned, they said, 'We won't give inflation for the second six months, we will give the inflation that Mehmet Şimşek intends as a raise.' Today we heard that TÜRK-İŞ is taking to the streets. When they did bad, we said 'Bad.' When they did wrong, we criticized. But whether it is DİSK, TÜRK-İŞ, or HAK-İŞ, since they have decided to take to the streets for the rightful demands of the laborer, since they say 'There is a strike in 500 workplaces in August.' I am addressing all laborers from here: Do not be afraid at all, the nation is behind you. We are here, we are in the squares with you. We are addressing everyone who values my word, everyone who values Mayor Ekrem's word, the members of the Republican People's Party, the voters, all the democrats of Turkey, all those seeking rights, that we will definitely win together. Support the workers and civil servants who are taking action in August. Be with them. We will win all together. Do not forget that unless the worker is saved, the retiree will not be saved. Unless the student finds peace, the police will not find peace. Unless the tradesman is saved, the villager will not be saved. There is no salvation alone, either all together or none of us.”

“THEY CONCENTRATED POWER IN ONE MAN”

“Dear friends, dear people of Şile, we must get rid of this black order that has befallen us with this Presidential Government System as soon as possible. They came with unstamped votes on a dark night. They concentrated all power in one man with an unsupervised system, they did not look at anyone's tears. The black order is irregular, baseless, arbitrary, broken. It came and settled on the country like a nightmare in one night, just like a shanty house. The black order is the AK Party's order. Its name is 'AK' (White), the order it brought is black. On that referendum day when the People's Alliance came together, it came with tricks, with intrigue, and by mocking this nation, by saying 'The one who took the horse passed Üsküdar,' and since that day; it has not been good for women, femicides have increased, child abuse has increased. Forest fires have increased, it has not been good for the insects and animals living in the forest fires, nor for the trees of the forest, nor for the laborers who went to extinguish them. This black order is, in the end, an order that enriches a handful of greedy people who have seized the state, exploits national feelings when necessary, calls everyone a 'terrorist' when needed, licks what it spat when it suits its interests, and tries to establish an order with the one it turned around and called the 'terrorist leader.' As the Republican People's Party, we have respected the choice and the right to choose of the Turk and the Kurd, yesterday and today. We did not separate the Laz, the Circassian, the Sunni, the Alevi, the Arab, the Albanian. If today someone comes and says 'Kurd, Turk, Arab. Turk, Kurd, Arab' at the beginning of every two words, and considers one party responsible for the Turks, one party for the Kurds, and himself for the Arabs, and returns to the Greater Middle East Project and enters into various plans, the Republican People's Party, which has established the most secure roof against it and has embraced this country for a century under that roof, is there, the guardians of the Republic, the lovers of the Republic are there. In recent days, regarding a commission that we have stood behind for years, saying 'If the Kurdish issue is to be solved, it will be solved in Parliament,' well, 'Let the CHP not enter, we are afraid it will be deceived, it will be like this, it will be like that.' I am addressing you from Şile Square with great self-confidence from here. Do not be afraid of where the CHP is, but where it is not. Where it is not. Do you trust your party? Do you trust me? Anywhere Özgür Özel is, anywhere the Republican People's Party members are, if we let them drive a nail into the column of the Republic, let alone cutting its columns, we are dishonorable. If we let them drive a nail. Tayyip Efendi is trying to leave us out, to provoke us with the bad language he uses, to keep us out of this business, to establish a triple alliance he dreams of inside. But denials came immediately. This nation survives the winter, but it does not forget the frost it ate. It does not forget the frost it ate. We are saying it clearly. His dreams are the attempts of someone who has received a failing grade, a low grade, and has stayed in the class to cheat. He is in such a state; we have the moral superiority, we have the psychological superiority, we have the majority energy. Tayyip Erdoğan got 29 from 28.5, he stayed in the class, he is trying to cheat. On one side, there is the Turkey Alliance consisting of all the democrats of Turkey, with its Turks, Kurds, Laz, Circassians, Alevis, Sunnis, Social democrats, conservative democrats, nationalist democrats, Kurdish democrats, liberal, socialist democrats. On the other side, together with his alliance partner, he has fallen to 30.5 percent and he himself is after a 29 Tayyip triple alliance. We will not leave him alone there, neither to play as he wishes, nor to play with the codes of this country. We are here. Trust the Republican People's Party, Atatürk's party, which is the guarantee of peace, the guarantee of brotherhood, the guarantee of struggle, which resists square by square, resists street by street, and fights in parliament when necessary. And let everyone be sure that the Republican People's Party is the guarantee of the rights and laws of everyone in this country, whether they vote for it or not, not just its own party or the people in its own party. The struggle that these Republican People's Party members are waging in these squares is not for themselves, but for the country's future. The resistance we are showing is not a search for a seat for Mayor Ekrem, but a search for a president who is fair, honest, upright, and worthy of the Republic of the veteran Mustafa Kemal.”

ÖZGÜR KABADAYI'S MESSAGE WAS READ

District Chairman Aras Arslan took the microphone to read the message of the imprisoned Şile Mayor Özgür Kabadayı.

Kabadayı's message is as follows:

"My very precious fellow citizens, my aunts, my uncles, and all our citizens living in our Şile who want justice and stand tall against injustice, I present my respects and love. You know best; you know that your child Özgür Kabadayı will not engage in any irregular work, will not act unfairly, unlawfully, or unjustly. My late father Mustafa Kabadayı did not let a single morsel of haram (illicit) pass through our throats. I have not let a morsel of haram pass through my children's throats, and I will not.

The truth will come out and very soon your child Özgür Kabadayı will continue to serve his own country with his head held high and with dignity. Until this process is over, my children, my wife, my whole family, and my Şile are entrusted to you. Özgür is as clear as water, as pure as milk. I love you all very much. Everything will be very beautiful."

ÖZGÜR ÇELİK READ İMAMOĞLU'S MESSAGE

CHP Provincial Chairman Özgür Çelik read the letter of the imprisoned presidential candidate Ekrem İmamoğlu.

İmamoğlu's letter is as follows:

“Hello beautiful people of Şile, its villagers, farmers, fishermen, tradesmen… I greet you all with love and longing. Even if there are walls and iron bars between us, being able to meet you in the squares gives me hope. My belief in tomorrow, in the beautiful Turkey of the future, is further reinforced. You are becoming a hope for everyone who has been subjected to injustice and whose rights have been taken away. Thank you, long live… Those who ignore the national will, those who try to protect their seats by hiding behind a guided judiciary, have also usurped the will of the people of Şile. The concern of those who took away the freedom of our Mayor Özgür Kabadayı is not the law. If their concern were the law, they would have pursued the 30 irregularities that our Mayor Özgür Kabadayı detected regarding the period before him.”

“IF THEIR CONCERN WERE THE NATION, THEY WOULD NOT ARREST THOSE ELECTED BY THE NATION FOR FLIMSY REASONS”

“Their concern is not the nation. If their concern were the nation, they would not arrest the administrators elected by the nation for flimsy reasons. Those who cannot tolerate us being tried without arrest have no tolerance for the law, no tolerance for the national will. Their concern is that they lost Şile after exactly 20 years. Their concern is that they will lose the government after the municipalities. Governments come and go; this is democracy. Whatever the nation says, that happens; this is the republic. Our nation does not accept those who cannot digest the republic and democracy, those who cannot accept the national will. It does not accept it in Şile, nor does it accept it in Şırnak.”

“WE DID NOT ENGAGE IN A DUST PARTICLE'S WORTH OF DISCRIMINATION OR PARTISANSHIP”

“Dear people of Şile; you know very well the tremendous investments we have made in Şile since 2019, the services we have brought. Our services to Şile's villages, roads, infrastructure, drinking water, and farmers are endless. In spite of those who neglected Şile, we solved the problems of Şile that were said to be 'unsolvable' in 6 years. We offered our 'Yuvamız İstanbul' (Our Home Istanbul) nursery to the service of our children and families. We supported agriculture and the producer. We opened our Regional Employment Office Şile branch. We supported our families in need in Şile, we provided scholarships to our youth. We did not leave anyone behind. With whatever eyes we looked at Şile after 2024, we looked at it with the same eyes before. Without even thinking about which party the Şile Municipality belonged to, we acted with a complete sense of equality and justice. We did not engage in a dust particle's worth of discrimination or partisanship.”

“WHEN WE COME TO POWER, WE WILL NEVER ALLOW PARTISANSHIP AND DISCRIMINATION”

“When we come to power, we will never allow partisanship and discrimination. Because our concern is; to ensure justice for everyone, everywhere. We will ensure justice not only in the courts, but in the income earned and the taxes paid. We will ensure justice for children who go to school hungry and cannot get equal quality education opportunities. We will ensure justice for those who cannot access quality health services because they do not have enough money. We will ensure justice for young people whose hopes for the future are exhausted and who are losing their joy of life. We will ensure justice so that no one is a victim of interviews, so that everyone can enter the job they deserve on their own merit, and can work in peace. We will ensure justice for all producers and entrepreneurs who cannot benefit fairly from public resources. We will ensure justice for all employees who do not have the working conditions and rights in developed countries. We will ensure justice for our retirees who envy the income and living conditions of retirees in other countries. We will ensure justice for everyone who is subjected to discrimination or feels they have been treated unfairly due to their gender, origin, belief, or lifestyle.”

“THESE OPPRESSIONS WILL END, THIS DARKNESS WILL DISPERSE”

“Our concern is; to build a state that rises on the foundation of justice and knows its place before the citizen. Our concern is; to make the state the guarantee of everyone's rights and freedoms without exception. Our economy, our technology, our industry can only develop this way. Our state, our country, can only become strong this way. No power can bring to their knees the self-confident citizens of a country where justice and freedom prevail for everyone, everywhere, and who are bound to each other with heart. This is what we understand by a strong state, a rich nation, free citizens, and a great Turkey. As we explain our government program and our power projects one by one, you will see that we are coming to make a great democratic revolution, which has justice and freedom in its soul. These oppressions will end, this darkness will disperse. We will always remain standing. We will always be together, always shoulder to shoulder. And everything will be very beautiful. Ekrem İmamoğlu. Silivri Dungeon.”