Joint press statement from Ahmet Davutoğlu and Özgür Özel

Republican People's Party (CHP) Chairman Özgür Özel responded to the lawsuit filed against him by President and AKP Chairman Recep Tayyip Erdoğan over his use of the term "junta leader" by recalling past statements made by Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) Chairman Devlet Bahçeli.

Özel stated, "The first person to call Erdoğan a coup plotter is not me, but Mr. Bahçeli. In a group meeting in 2012, he called Erdoğan a 'junta member' and the AK Party administration a 'junta administration.' Therefore, I will step aside; let them resolve this issue between themselves and Mr. Bahçeli."

Meanwhile, Özgür Özel hosted Future Party (Gelecek Partisi) Chairman Ahmet Davutoğlu and his accompanying delegation at the CHP Headquarters. Following the meeting, the two leaders held a joint press conference.

Davutoğlu made the following statements:

'Let us establish a commission with the approval of all parties to investigate all mayors, including those from the government, the opposition, and past terms.

A national will has been formed in local governments. This national will must also be respected. When you say, "I respect the national will when it elects me, but I am suspicious when it elects someone else," you destroy the national will.

Our youth want more freedom, justice, and law.

Even if Mr. Mahir Polat is to be tried, the process should be continued with him released.'

Highlights from CHP Chairman Özgür Özel's speech are as follows:

'Don't we all know the first point where the Chairman diverged from the AKP's line at that time? While European Union criteria were being prepared for free movement, the issue ultimately rested on the Political Ethics Law, which the Prime Minister also insisted on at the time. We all know who opposed Mr. Davutoğlu when he advocated for the enactment of the Political Ethics Law and what processes they initiated. Had the person who staged a coup against his successor today not also staged an intra-party coup against his own successor at that time, the person elected after him, the Prime Minister of the Republic of Turkey who followed him?

The fundamental distinction is political morality and political ethics. What I remember from that period is Mr. Davutoğlu saying, "If my brother were to commit theft, I would cut off his arm." What is left of Erdoğan? It is necessary to see all of these carefully. We benefited from the very valuable views of both the Chairman and his delegation, and we exchanged views. Our findings are common. There is a great injustice in Turkey. Those who defend autocracy and those who defend democracy in Turkey have become two separate lines. But this line; the people who gathered in Saraçhane are not just Republican People's Party members, nor is Saraçhane a square where those who voted for the government in the past are absent and only opponents are present.

Saraçhane is a struggle that gives hope to all of us, showing that the hundreds of thousands who defend democracy and the rule of law have reached millions, and that despite all the obstacles during those 10 days when it was forbidden for even two or three people to come together... in conditions where subways did not work, buses were blocked, barriers were placed, and bridges were lifted, the million-strong night rallies show that Turkey protects its democracy and opposes this hand that tries to take the ballot box away, just as it breaks every hand that reaches for the ballot box. This struggle, in which young people are at the forefront, is an extremely important social event, an uprising, showing how young people protect those they have elected or will elect when one day someone intends to abolish freedoms, the law, and democracy, and appoint trustees in place of the elected.'

'I AM NOT THE FIRST PERSON TO CALL ERDOĞAN A ‘COUP PLOTTER’'

In his response to a question about the criminal complaint and compensation lawsuit filed against him due to his "junta" rhetoric toward the government, Özel stated:

'Dear friends, if I am penalized in the lawsuit filed over the words "junta" and "junta member," I will refer it to Mr. Bahçeli. The first person to call Erdoğan a "coup plotter" is Mr. Bahçeli, not me. In a 2012 group meeting, he calls Erdoğan a "junta member," he calls the AK Party administration a "junta administration," and if I receive a political ban today because I called Erdoğan a "junta member" and "junta" after he called Erdoğan a "junta member," I will file a recourse lawsuit. They need to demand this from Mr. Bahçeli. I will step aside. Let them settle it between themselves and Mr. Bahçeli. My reason for calling Erdoğan a "junta member" is exactly this: The title he received in the last general election he entered is President. I have also used the term "Mr. President" for him many times. His latest coup attempt, the coup attempt repelled by the nation, the coup against local election results, the appointment of trustees to many mayoralties elected by the people in local elections, the appointment of a trustee to my Esenyurt and Şişli Mayors, the attempt to appoint a trustee to the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality, and the attempts to appoint a trustee to my party are coup attempts. Regardless of whether those who commit a coup are civilian or military, those who attempt this are called a junta, they are called junta members. Therefore, I have no worries about non-pecuniary damages. The People's Alliance will reach an agreement among themselves. If calling someone a "junta member" is a crime, they will take the money the court will rule from Devlet Bahçeli. I won't tire myself out. But what happens if I do? This happens: Just as when I said that his friends did not forgive Hulusi Akar when he was Minister of National Defense, he said he would file a 500 thousand lira lawsuit, he announced it himself, that lawsuit was filed, and at the end of the whole process, 224 comrades-in-arms testified, saying, "We do not forgive him, and our friends died without forgiving him," and just as the whole process ended and I won the court case, and I proved it through the court, they shouldn't push me too hard. There is very serious evidence that will prove through the court that he is a junta member.'