Is Bahçeli calling for an early election? A striking call from Özgür Özel: 'I will not keep my door closed to him'

Republican People's Party (CHP) Chairman Özgür Özel spoke to Medyascope.

Making notable statements, Özel said, "I see that in certain messages, even if they are still quite harsh—harsh enough that I would never use them for an interlocutor—Devlet Bey carefully chooses some words within his own criteria and provides some subtext messages. But is this a political tactic? A political move? Or is it another step and search? I don't know. In fact, everyone who follows politics in Turkey sees that there is a discord between Devlet Bey and the AK Party."

'IF DEVLET BEY IS GOING TO TAKE A STEP IN THIS REGARD...'

Stating, "But engaging in political fortune-telling, like reading political tea leaves, is not suitable for my position," Özel continued as follows:

"While there are so many problems, if Devlet Bey is going to pave the way for an early election—with the goal of leading this country to an election and subsequently governing it in accordance with the Constitution and the law, remaining loyal to the first four articles of the Constitution, and without compromising the CHP's six arrows—then I am extremely open to that. It is not just my rhetoric; my entire past life is a guarantee of that. Power will change hands in this country.

If, in this change of power, he wants an election instead of this downward trend, followed by a much stronger administration, and if Devlet Bey is going to take a step in this regard, I will not keep my door closed to him. It is that clear."

"THERE IS NO FUTURE BY EXCLUDING KURDS"

"But I do not think anyone should leave anyone out. We cannot build a future by excluding Kurds or other political parties," continued Özel, proposing a "joint struggle" for opposition parties. Mentioning the names of the DEM Party, IYI Party, Future Party, Felicity Party, and DEVA Party, Özel said, "I am not talking about those old, exhausted Six-Party Tables. I am talking about the opposition uniting on minimum common denominators and waging a joint struggle. We want to be part of such a struggle."

"WE CAN ALSO DISCUSS THE CALENDAR WITH TAYYİP BEY"

Emphasizing that his words should not be understood solely as a call to Bahçeli, Özel spoke as follows:

"If Devlet Bey also wants to pave the way for this country while there is so much scarcity and poverty, our door is open to Devlet Bey as well. If Tayyip Bey is considering going to an early election within a calendar, we can discuss that calendar too. I had mentioned November of next year. But an early election is now inevitable. We are calling for it. We want to take over power in Turkey through an election with high democratic standards. And afterwards, we want to act in accordance with the law."

"BAHÇELİ'S ORGANIZATION IS NOT BEHIND HIM"

Evaluating Bahçeli's 'Öcalan' remarks, Özel said, "Unfortunately, at the point we see today, Devlet Bey is chasing a utopia of his own. Either he made a tactical move, wanting to show Erdoğan the impossible—that is also a possibility. Or Devlet Bey is making a technical error.

It is not possible to get results from this either. That is why he says 'I stand by my words' every week. But neither your organization is behind you, nor is there social support. And your alliance partner is not behind you either. There is some lip service paid to Devlet Bey, but they don't say, 'Let's solve it with the method Devlet Bey suggested.' They are waiting; everyone is waiting. We have a responsible but determined understanding of politics here. Our own line is very clear."

"NORMALIZATION IS BEING ABLE TO TALK TO AK PARTY AND MHP MEMBERS"

Regarding whether he will continue his line expressed as "normalization," Özel said the following:

"In this normalization issue, perception and fact are swapping places. Some truly malicious attributions are being perceived as if they were real. I am saddened by that. Normalization itself is this: establishing relationships with political interlocutors when necessary, and instead of harsh personal fights, waging political fights and thus being able to address their voters as well. In other words, normalization is actually being able to reach beyond Tayyip Erdoğan to talk to AK Party members. Being able to overcome the Devlet Bahçeli obstacle and barrier to talk to MHP members. And the way to do this is through practicing real politics and staying within the country's real agendas."

"IF 32 PERCENT IS BECOMING PERMANENT, IT IS VERY IMPORTANT"

When asked if they are getting a return on the "normalization" policy, Özel responded with poll results showing that the CHP is maintaining its position as the leading party, stating:

"We won in many places with voters who said, 'Since the IYI Party won't win anyway, let the CHP win instead,' who said, 'This is not a general election' regarding the guarantee we gave them, and who voted because the DEM Party did not have a candidate. A world of Kurds voted in Istanbul. Even in Ankara, a world of Kurds voted for us. I said on election night, these are not our registered voters. The support we received here is the Turkey Alliance. If they had told me about the CHP's vote measured in polls right now, that is, 'You will receive 34, 33, 32 percent of the vote in the following months,' I would have been happier about that than the election. This is something beyond what I expected."

Reminding of the 2023 parliamentary elections, Özel said, "You went with five parties 10 months ago and got 25 percent," adding, "If 32 percent of the 38 percent you received 10 months later is becoming permanent, it is a very important thing. I will try to push this forward." Özel continued:

"Even though the voter gave a historic punishment to the AK Party on election night, the vote gap between us is 2.28 points. I mean, we didn't go and beat the AK Party by 20 points. We received votes, but they did too. The AK Party is also behind its vote on March 31. The AK Party is not getting 37 percent; it is getting 30-29."