AKP Spokesperson Ömer Çelik answers questions in live broadcast

AKP Spokesperson Ömer Çelik was a guest on Mehmet Akif Ersoy's program on Habertürk.

Making statements on many topics regarding the agenda, Çelik's remarks are as follows:

CAN ATALAY RULING

"There is a contradiction between the high courts. This is the situation that has emerged regarding this agenda. Parliamentary immunity is in question. There are also exceptions to this. The Constitutional Court (AYM) says, 'It has not been specified clearly enough.' The Court of Cassation says, 'There is established case law on this matter. There is a unity of case law.' The AYM says, 'Constitutional Court decisions are binding.' There are conflicting provisions in the Constitution. The issue we will move away from all of this is to create a new constitution in Turkey. As long as a new constitution is not made, it is inevitable that these contradictions will arise between state organs. Something else could come up tomorrow. Various contradictions can arise in various issues of social life. Where are the boundaries of the Court of Cassation and the Constitutional Court? This is not an issue where we can say this side is right and this side is wrong. Our President said, 'I am in the position of an arbiter here.' Beyond that, it is a matter related to software. What is software? It is the constitution. Therefore, as long as there is no new constitution, many crises that we can predict now will come before politics and state life.

"WE OWE A NEW CONSTITUTION TO NEW GENERATIONS"

He stated that as the Presidency, he is in an arbiter position in the crisis between the two judicial institutions. It is not a pleasant situation for there to be a contradiction between high judicial bodies. What will resolve this is the creation of a new constitution. We call it a junta constitution; many interventions have been made. The debt of those who engage in politics is to gift a new constitution to new generations. I think that a text possessing the basic qualities that a constitution should have can be produced in any environment. If we do not want a text that will become a part of ideological fights. In our constitutional tradition, constitutions have sometimes prioritized the legislature, sometimes the judiciary, and sometimes the executive. In the previous experience, they went as far as the provinces, met with citizens, and after all the data was taken from the bottom up, examined and evaluated, a point was reached. After that, unfortunately, it was not possible. We also did it in the party, we produced drafts. Here, the emergence of a will that will meet on common denominators stands before us as a great responsibility.

SUPER CUP CRISIS

We were all preparing to watch the match. Then news started to come that the match would be canceled. When we looked at 'what is happening,' developments that all of Turkey knows occurred. If we say it very clearly here, ultimately you will play this match according to FIFA rules. Notifications according to the demands of our clubs have been accepted here. When new notifications were in question, it was said, 'We are all bound by FIFA rules, if it had been done on time, we would have tied it to a protocol, now we cannot take steps outside the protocol.' Here, rather than the debate of 'this side is right, this side is wrong, is it the federation, the clubs, or Saudi Arabia,' if all demands had been tied to a protocol, this crisis probably would not have happened. The issue suddenly turned into an Atatürk debate. It was said that the National Anthem, the Turkish Flag, and the Atatürk picture and signature on the jerseys were not accepted. Actually, when you look at it, the National Anthem was tied to the protocol. Atatürk came to the agenda later. It turned into a campaign to blame our President, our government, and our party. Independent of all this, our citizens expressed their sensitivities regarding the flag, the national anthem, and Atatürk without being part of any crisis.

"A PLANNING ERROR WAS MADE HERE"

The match was not played, and the crisis turned into something else. I am sure everyone has learned a lesson from this. Going there happened with everyone's approval. It would not have been desired for such a picture to emerge. I wish the notifications regarding Atatürk had been made at the very beginning along with the National Anthem and the flag. Look at the statements of the CHP chairman and spokespersons that day. Whether you stood by Atatürk or not. Without knowing what happened regarding Saudi Arabia, approaches that would be wrong and hate crimes aimed at degrading a certain race or country through social media. What binds us and that country are FIFA rules. When something is talked about regarding Atatürk, one must speak in an integrative way. I said we thank all citizens who stood by the sensitivity regarding Atatürk. CHP started to turn it into a campaign like 'We stood by Atatürk, the government did not.' If someone says Atatürk and attacks others, this is not standing by; it is an attack. Atatürk, the flag, and the National Anthem are the common values of the country. One should not go towards segregation. This is an operation to radicalize this society. It needs to be done more calmly, reasonably, and cool-headedly by fully understanding what the issue is. One should not enter into segregating discourse over common values. One should not do this for the countries we are in a relationship with either. We already show our reaction when something wrong is done to Turkey.

"LET THIS BE A LESSON, LET NOTIFICATIONS BE MADE CORRECTLY"

Saudi Arabia made a statement saying, 'I wish it had been played by sticking to the protocol.' We are not in a position to rewind the film. Everyone should learn a lesson from this and tie it to the correct protocols. A planning error was made here. One should not enter into a situation of saying who is responsible. From now on, especially national values should not be the subject of such debates. When our national values and symbols are to be used, the sensitivities on these issues must be written in all their details in the protocols signed mutually with the foreign country. This is where I stand. That night, they tried to make this a material for political polarization. If emphasis is placed on sensitivity regarding Atatürk and integrative language is used for society, it is sincere. But if there is an attempt to blame the Presidency and our party immediately without understanding the issue, which segregates society, we have seen many times that this is exploitation. Everyone makes their own assessment. My assessment is that all of this should have been tied to a protocol from the beginning.

"WE REJECT IT BEING SABOTAGED"

The resignation of the TFF President is not a subject I will evaluate. Rather than looking for a culprit, there is a planning error here. Both in the calendar deemed appropriate by FIFA and when the decision to go to the match was made, it is said that certain decisions were made when playing with the Greek side. Here, your choice is either to have everything you said done or to play the match. Here, some people coming out and going beyond being against Saudi Arabia, producing some visuals that almost amount to degrading the Kaaba in a campaign-like manner, and trying to extract fascist sentiment from this shows that the crisis is being tried to be evolved into something else. One should not enter into anything that will engage in baseless hate politics against any country. The clubs had already accepted it from the very beginning, and the invitation of the other side had been accepted. Later, we categorically reject the sabotage of our relations with Saudi Arabia. They also see these messages mutually. They also say, 'There is a protocol we are bound by.' They already call Turkey a 'brother country.'

"WE HAVE NO ISSUE WITH ATATÜRK"

Of course, we have no issue with Atatürk. Our first President, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, is the founder of our country. Our President frequently expresses this. He says, 'We commemorate everyone who has served this country and done good with mercy. We show the necessary respect to the founder of the country in the way it should be shown.' It is a debate between us and those who exploit Atatürk. It is a problematic mentality that sees the authority to decide who is legitimate and who is not by establishing an inquisition court in their own minds. This mentality cannot stand side by side with democracy. Just as we oppose it when there is disrespect towards Atatürk, we also oppose it when there is exploitative behavior regarding Atatürk that segregates society. There is an operation here trying to create artificial polarization. The republican regime has been established. Atatürk declared the Republic. We are celebrating its 100th anniversary. The most basic principle of the Republic should be democracy. Coups have been carried out many times. Let them say they did it many times to protect Atatürk. This is the greatest assassination organized against Atatürk's memory. How do you put a coup and Atatürk side by side?

"I GAVE THE FIRST REACTION WHEN THE ATATÜRK FILM WAS REMOVED"

There are points where we have not brought identity debates to sufficient maturity. Actually, a lot of distance has been covered. The historian, the intellectual stands on this side, stands on that side. If you are in a position of political responsibility, there are places you need to be careful about. Your legitimacy is based on these values and the constitutional order. Someone has come to Parliament within a democratic state of law but defends a terrorist organization. Then they put themselves in a contradictory situation regarding their legitimacy. We exempt the managers of the CHP, of course, the citizens who vote for the CHP, this is not a debate about these citizens. That night, instead of calm, integrative, and unifying messages, a lot of accusations were made one after another, starting from the Presidency. I won't name it, but when a film platform removed the Atatürk film, I made the first statement saying, 'We condemn it.' The CHP gave the reaction with a delay.

"DEBATE IS ONE THING, PRODUCING HOSTILITY IS ANOTHER"

I care about the language of politics. When expressing these values in the language of politics, it must be expressed towards an integrative goal. Rejecting expressions towards polarization and social sensitivity are necessary. Why does it constantly express in an exclusionary, polarizing way? Every event, every period in history has been debated. Debating these is one thing, these coming face to face and producing hostility is another thing. If a political fight is being extracted today over history here, those who do this are exploiting history to fortify their current government positions and political positions. Why does a certain party or segment in Turkey constantly start by blaming a certain segment of society, certain parties, and political organizations when talking about Atatürk? By establishing an inquisition court, are they entering into something like who is acceptable and who is not? We should not allow society to be poisoned in this way. We should give integrative messages on issues like Atatürk, the flag, and the anthem, and we should not give segregating messages.

CALIPHATE DEBATE

When the election period approaches, we sometimes see performance regarding the intensification of these debates. Sometimes it comes to the agenda by itself. Someone punches a citizen coming from the Gaza rally, saying 'This is a caliphate flag' to the Kalima-i Tawhid flag in his hand. This is both ignorance and barbarism. What does the Kalima-i Tawhid have to do with the caliphate flag? The bar associations are also the ones filing this absurd criminal complaint. The flag in the hand of one of our citizens says, 'La ilaha illallah Muhammadur Rasulullah.' What does this have to do with the demand to change the regime? They revealed an image from another place. People in the world have come together on the common foundation of humanity's conscience for Gaza. Those who try to insert Gaza solidarity rallies in this way are taking sides with the mental error in Israel's policy. The issue here is something with human conscience. If it does not result in a Palestinian state, no one can talk about humanity, and no one's words will be taken seriously. Christian people are standing by it, tears are coming from their eyes. The US Secretary of State says in Israel, 'I came as a Jew.' What did our President say? He spoke, saying, 'It should have been said, I came here as a human.' What did our citizen do here? He supported Palestine, participated in the rally. What does this have to do with the demand to change the regime? There is no need to put forward so many arguments for the ignorance displayed by the bar associations.

PUNCHING INCIDENT AT THE PALESTINE RALLY

Our citizen was punched, his face was covered in blood. In my opinion, there must definitely be a sanction for this. We must have a firm principle regarding opposing violence. I cannot evaluate how the judicial decision is made. What was I most saddened by? Some female politician friends in some opposition parties who oppose violence against women defended this violence. I was very saddened by this. Instead of saying to the young man who threw the punch, 'What you did is wrong, you went and applied violence to someone, you should not do this again,' saying 'You did well, you protected the Republic' has been proposing a path that could be extremely wrong for young people. One should not do evil to this country. If someone somewhere is defending violence, whoever says the punch this young man threw is a good thing is doing evil to this country and its youth.

"WE ARE AGAINST REGIME CHANGE"

We do not have an agenda like the caliphate. If what is meant by this debate is to demand a regime change in Turkey, we would be against it. The regime and constitutional order of the Republic of Turkey are protected by the state. The constitutional order is essential here. Some bring this to the agenda as a mechanism of cooperation between Islamic countries. The past was lived in the past and is over. There is no such thing as a caliphate flag. In whichever country it was, the caliphate was the flag of that country, it was the caliphate flag. Having a policy regarding the development of cooperation between us and Islamic countries is one thing; thinking that they can unite under a single mechanism is something that is not possible. It is something that has no historical validity. Turkey is a part of the Turkish world as much as it is an Islamic country. It is also a Mediterranean and Black Sea country. For centuries, it has been a powerful European state. Some bring it to the agenda for reasons such as the existence of an authority by observing a Vatican-type union and the elimination of its scatteredness. We are outside of these. Why does someone shout this slogan at Anıtkabir? Is it possible to accept this as natural? Our society is mature enough to overcome all of this.

"WE TALKED ABOUT QUANTUM PHYSICS, NOT THE CALIPHATE"

We gave our most important struggle with glory and honor for our Republic to be crowned with democracy. We gave it for the removal of the tutelage over democracy. Our basic issue today is that the democratic, secular, social state of law quality of the Republic of Turkey needs to be strengthened. For years, they brought the issue of secularism to the agenda as the elimination or suppression of freedom of religion and belief in society. This should be applied not as an ideology but as a matter of social peace. Turkey has reached a very competent point in freedom of religion and conscience. We talked about quantum physics, but we never talked about the caliphate. But we have talked about this a lot. We talked about what needs to be done for democracy to deepen in social life, especially for the relationship between city politics and democracy to be stronger as we go to the elections.

"IS THERE FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION IN TURKEY?"

One of the greatest principles of our political struggle is the removal of political bans and bans based on mentality. As long as it is not a hate crime, we can talk comfortably, of course. If our young friend here says, 'I cannot express myself,' I would still listen to that friend with sensitivity. Why is he having trouble expressing himself? We say the Century of Turkey is the century of youth. The development of freedom of expression and being able to explain one's own issue with a high depth of expression is extremely valuable. The survival of the country is built on these. Being able to talk is the most valuable thing. We are doing this in Turkey. As a politician, I say it with the highest voice; our prejudices, our names, our sects, our ideologies may be different, but all of our surnames are the Republic of Turkey. Look around us, there is blood, there are tears, there is no ballot box, there is no republic. Let's evaluate our common values to shake hands. There is nothing we will talk about fist to fist. Violence is an expression of mental and emotional inadequacy. The greatest future principle we will give to children is a world without violence. We will value the act of talking itself, not the place we reached by talking. The path itself is more valuable than the stops.

ALLEGATIONS OF NEPOTISM IN THE PUBLIC SECTOR

Let me say this regarding this current event. When we go to a meeting, believe me, nearly 100 notes are given. Due to our responsibility, we have assigned one person in our private offices. We said, 'Forward the ones you find appropriate.' Some are daily work, hospital, work-life related. An injustice is being done to our deputy minister friend there. We all have hundreds of notes in our hands. Notes do not come from a certain segment. Our citizen conveys this. This is one of the communication channels of democracy unique to us. He writes his note nicely and conveys it. Is a position opened specifically for a person? We follow all of them. It is necessary to act with fairness here. There were those who tried to block the way of each of us. We fought with them. God willed it, we reached a point. We do not want to reach the same point as those who blocked our way. We also talk about this among ourselves. Reducing the concerns of our citizens on this issue is one of our agendas. This is not something systematic. When it happens somewhere, we go over it. We have notification lines. Our citizens can convey these issues to both ministry units and our party as they wish. Conveying them to us makes our tracking system easier.

HÜDA-PAR'S "FEDERATION" OUTBURST

What is essential here is this. The principle of one homeland, one state, one nation, one flag expressed by our President. We do not find demands other than this correct. I would also like to say this: principles such as federation, autonomy, and regional administration, which have been brought to the agenda to develop democracy in other countries of the world, are brought to the agenda in Turkey as a mechanism that poisons democracy and is anti-democratic. Our state was established as a unitary state. The problem here was the elimination of inequalities in practices in past times. This happened with the elimination of this tutelage and the deepening of the democratization perspective. All citizens in Turkey are first-class citizens. It is wrong to suggest federation and autonomy as a good thing in Turkey. These issues, which come to the agenda as a peace model in other places and geographies due to other dynamics, result in dynamiting social peace and poisoning democracy in Turkey. We think that the protection of the unitary state and the inequalities that arise around the developments brought by life should be handled with a total democratization perspective if there are any. The reforms made are within the framework of expanding the democracy perspective. I think these models will not be successful in our near geography either. There is a terrorist organization that makes ethnic claims, but there is no ethnic issue in Turkey. There is no sectarian segregation in Turkey either. Our basic principle is the one homeland, one nation, one homeland, one flag stated by our President.

"ISTANBUL CANDIDATE HAS BEEN DETERMINED"

We will announce our Istanbul candidate on Sunday. The work regarding the announcement is largely completed. We say our candidate is not determined until our President announces it on Sunday. Our President has been intensely continuing a meticulous work for weeks. It is said that it is late compared to the previous local elections because it was announced around November. There is no disruption in our calendar. Our President will make a speech this week, and Istanbul and the provinces adjacent to Istanbul will have been announced. Later, we will have announced our election manifesto and our remaining candidates. Then we will have gone down to the field for the local elections. We are going to a new election. Our President has come through great struggles and obstacles. What is important is to walk the path. Which stop you stop at and which stop you arrive at is not very important.

"THEY WILL EXPERIENCE THE SAME DELUSION IN THIS ELECTION TOO"

In the previous stage of our political movement, it is the Recep Tayyip Erdoğan municipalism that has been an example to Turkey and still has no rival in its field. Since we are the unit where we have direct contact with our citizens, and because we care about doing politics from the bottom up, we see local elections as an important part of our democracy struggle. Everyone has the right to live in civilized cities. We see these complaints of our citizens in municipalities that are in the opposition. We will give an intense struggle to bring those places together with this municipalism understanding. One should look at the statements coming from the CHP front in this way; they were saying Mr. Kılıçdaroğlu is the president before the election results were announced, they will experience the same delusion in this election too. There is no problem in the work with the MHP delegation. Work with other delegations is also continuing.

"OUR PRESIDENT LISTENED ONE BY ONE"

Every city has its own identity. Istanbul has a very special identity. Our organizations have a tremendous organic structure. All organizations look to our chairman. Our chairman listens to all organizations and makes his decision. We always do a tendency survey. Our friends go to the provinces, we do surveys. Our Election Affairs and Local Administrations Presidency has been looking at these matters for 5 years. It knows all of Turkey down to the cells, so to speak. Despite such a large data treasure, our President, saying 'we must listen more,' met with all metropolitan cities one by one at the headquarters, and afterwards, envelopes were distributed to places that are not metropolitan cities, and opinions were asked for candidacy notification. That evaluation was also made.

MEETING WITH THE YENIDEN REFAH PARTY

Whatever you decide, every election brings its own character before you. It depends on political parties, the political environment, and developments in the world and in Turkey. The great revolutions, reforms, and services we have realized in Turkey are a whole. Our municipalism is also something evaluated with its positive aspects in this respect. Which perspective will be looked at will be shown by the speech this Sunday and the upcoming election manifesto. Our friends are holding their meetings with the Yeniden Refah Party. It will be clear in a few days. Everyone has demands, we have sensitivities. Every negotiation has its own nature.

"THE 6-PARTY TABLE SHOULD APOLOGIZE TO THE NATION"

The six-party table had produced a freak method. The point reached is an opposition picture where everyone attacks the other with the harshest sentences. The 6-party, 7-party table needs to apologize to the nation. 7-8 months have passed from May to today. Those who have revealed such a heavy delusion in such a long time have serious debts of apology to the nation. When driving a car, you look at the rearview mirror with the corner of your eye. This is something else. But if you build your main strategy on these, the outcome will not be very good. We have many years of election experience. As far as we understand, the IYI Party is nominating a separate candidate. Let the other party become clear. Of course, we have things to say.

"CHP HAS FALLEN FURTHER BEHIND THAN THE KILIÇDAROĞLU ADMINISTRATION"

Do not call it political change for the CHP. This is at the level of change of office. Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu was at least pretending, acting like a democrat. The current CHP administration, the chairman, has fallen further behind than Kılıçdaroğlu and his administration. After putting forward an attitude that supports violence. The CHP has become an organization that supports punching. It doesn't make much difference to us which one it is. Our intensity is high. Whether it is this, that, or someone else, it doesn't matter. We will continue to do what we know well. Our registrar is the nation. Starting from the villages, neighborhoods, and towns, we will go to our citizens and say, 'What is your instruction to us?'

"TURKEY WILL ATTAIN GREAT PROSPERITY WITHIN 1 YEAR"

Our President clearly expressed that he is behind the economic management. We have managed Turkey in conditions much better than today's conditions, and we have managed it in conditions worse than today's conditions. We have a high political capacity. Today we are going through a kind of turbulence. Within 1 year, Turkey will attain prosperity and abundance in terms of reaching foreign capital and investments. Turkey is moving forward knowing what it is doing with a master captain.

WILL APPROVAL COME OUT OF PARLIAMENT FOR SWEDEN?

Until now, various measures have been taken in Sweden and other places. On issues related to terrorism. These were evaluated as sufficient at the commission stage. I cannot say anything to the will of the supreme parliament. It will evaluate this. When the supreme parliament passes it in accordance with the opinion of the commission, the process will be completed from our perspective. There is an increase in cooperation regarding terrorism, measures taken in the fight against hate crimes, the process is continuing. That framework was found sufficient at the commission stage. Even if the administration does not think so, F-16 is making a wrong assessment. The US President says he can influence Congress. The main issue here seems to be the confusion that needs to be updated in NATO's software. Giving the weapon system to Turkey would be a threat to common security in the NATO concept.

WHAT IS THE AGENDA IN BLINKEN'S VISIT?

There are millions of reasons for them to trust us, and millions of reasons for us not to trust them. Relations with Gaza must be maintained closely. The course is bad, the war is dragging on. The place Blinken needs to go and come to the most is, of course, Turkey. If Germany had taken the lead here and created a diplomatic bridge with our President on the basis of the EU. Unfortunately, they could not manage this. There is only one strategic country and leader in the grain agreement. Turkey and our President. The only country that needs to be talked about in the genocide in Gaza is Turkey, and there is one leader, our President. If you send an aircraft carrier without saying what is happening, you surround diplomacy with an aircraft carrier. They cannot pass the class in terms of putting forward sufficient diplomacy.

OPERATION AGAINST MOSSAD AGENTS

Foreign services were carrying out a settling of accounts operation on Turkish soil. Second, foreign elements carrying out operations in Turkey. Preventing these is the result of a 20-year great political struggle. This is a dimension of our sovereignty. During the AK Party governments, foreign services cannot carry out their settling of accounts with each other on our soil. MIT is one of the most capable organizations in the world today. Both in terms of institutional and intellectual capacity. And it is so in terms of intelligence practice, it is a heroic organization. Today, the Turkish intelligence school is one of the important intelligence schools in the world. We do not allow any intelligence that will damage our sovereignty on our soil.

"NETANYAHU IS TRYING TO SPREAD THE WAR"

The incident in Beirut, the explosion in Iran. They say ISIS claimed responsibility today. One should not run immediately to the shown address. Someone wants to spread the war to the region. A picture emerges as if the US is involved in this war by putting a state in a position to attack Israel. It is clear that Netanyahu wants to spread the war by saying promised lands, Eretz Yisrael, David corridor, we will accelerate the coming of the Messiah. He said, 'We will change the maps in the region.' Does a state deal with tidying up the place or with a map? The things Netanyahu does are war crimes. There was an explosion next to Qasem Soleimani's grave. The US says, 'We have no connection, we don't think Israel has an effect.' We are not asking you about Israel. As soon as the event happens, without making a statement about security and defense, he says, 'the maps in the region will change.' When someone comes out and says, 'Why are we interested in Gaza, it is our national issue,' they should remember this word of Netanyahu.

"THE US'S CAPACITY TO SPEAK IS BEING ZEROED OUT"

Turkey is doing its part. In terms of the international community, there is only spectatorship. For this reason, they removed the president of Harvard University from his post. They brought a president who supports Israel's massacre to the presidency. America's capacity to speak on the basis of legitimacy is going towards being zeroed out. In Germany, when the Russia-Ukraine war started, they fired the symphony orchestra conductor. Because he has a friendship with Putin. Our President opposed this. Opposing war, opposing occupation is another thing. You are making the Palestinian flag a criminal element. You are saying, 'All of you be slaves to massacre politics.' Very noble actions are being taken in the West. Messages that we will be proud of our humanity are being given. The death of those children brought human conscience together. Can such a thing be? 10 children are dying per minute! As a result, humanity will also defeat this massacre. God willing, humanity will prevail again. We will see them being judged like Karadzic, like Milosevic. South Africa filed a criminal complaint. The first hearing will be held on January 11-12. Human consciousness has defeated this mentality by seeing the small bodies of the children in Gaza. This created a consciousness that all of humanity has not come together for a long time.

"HUMANITY WILL ALSO DEFEAT THIS MASSACRE"

The UN Secretary-General is being invited to resign because he opposed the massacre. You bomb while taking refuge in a hospital. It has gone out of humanity. The fact that human consciousness rejects this shows that it will also be defeated physically. Netanyahu and his government are the main culprits. Beyond that, there are many politicians who share Netanyahu's mentality. By saying promised lands, he can excuse killing children. The most dangerous are some clergymen. Rabbis assigned to the army. What comes out of this whole picture is that this Zionist madness, if it does not stop here, will sign more massacres. This genocide, murderer politics is trying to spread the war to the region. A picture is being drawn with assassinations.