Breaking News... CHP leader Özgür Özel holds group meeting in Silivri! 'İmamoğlu will emerge from here and become the President of this country'

CHP Chairman Özgür Özel held his group meeting in Silivri this week due to the corruption case against the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (İBB).

We are holding our party's group meeting in Silivri. https://t.co/Tb2sUhdnXt

— Özgür Özel (@eczozgurozel) March 10, 2026

Highlights from Özel's remarks are as follows:

"History is repeating itself. Turkey recognized this prison during the Ergenekon, Balyoz, and many other conspiracy cases. The AK Party, hand-in-hand with the Fethullahist Terror Organization, tried, punished, and imprisoned this country's soldiers, intellectuals, journalists, and politicians here. And at that time, they owned up to all of these actions with great determination.

Time passed, and history proved one of the two sides right. Those who were tried back then walked out of prison with their heads held high. Some were sentenced to prison twice or three times. In other words, if the death penalty had not been abolished, the AK Party's dark order, together with the Fethullahist Terror Organization, would have hanged the country's Chief of General Staff twice.

"JUST AS WE FOUNDED THE REPUBLIC, WE WILL SUCCEED IN THIS TOO"

In those days, Erdoğan would say, 'I am the prosecutor of this case,' and they would play football together. He would provide his own official vehicle. Then, the one they spoiled attempted a coup against him as well. He said, 'May my Lord and my nation forgive me.' If you have asked for forgiveness, you must behave and become wise to be worthy of this forgiveness. You must avoid repeating it. The judicial apparatuses of that time fled abroad.

But those who provided them with the same opportunities are today making the same mistakes again. They spent 47 million TL on the renovation of the house where the prosecutor, whom they recently made a minister, resides. He was the chief prosecutor; he would remove any judge or prosecutor he wanted from a hearing; now he has become the head of the HSK (Council of Judges and Prosecutors). They sent judges who said, 'Trial without detention is essential here,' and issued house arrest, to the enforcement and bankruptcy court. They sent them from the high criminal court to the enforcement court.

What brings us here, and who are the ones creating this process? We are present in the struggle, and we are present in the march to power. Tomorrow, we will make all our citizens feel this determination in our 81 provinces and 973 districts. We will not be occupied with this case and abandon our march to power. If we leave our friends alone, they will win. Just as we saved the homeland against the seven powers, we will do that too, and we will save the Republic. No one will be able to stop us from walking against this unjust struggle and marching to power, with this party's deputies, provincial chairs, district chairs, council members, and members.

"EKREM İMAMOĞLU WILL EMERGE FROM HERE AND BECOME THE PRESIDENT OF THIS COUNTRY"

During the Ergenekon and Balyoz era, there were secret witnesses named Poyraz and Efe. Prosecutors and judges used the testimonies of these secret witnesses, claiming that Kemalist officers had buried bombs and that they should 'hide our faces.' Most of these secret witnesses are currently in prison. Now, there is an indictment created by secret witnesses. They said, 'We have a brick-like indictment, and we stand behind it.' At that time, they called Kuddusi Okkır the 'treasurer of Ergenekon,' and his funeral was held by the Silivri Municipality. They called the country's Chief of General Staff İlker Başbuğ a terrorist, and Türkan Saylan an agent.

Those who stood behind that indictment said, 'I was also deceived.' Now they call the indictment under which Ekrem İmamoğlu and our friends are being tried 'brick-like.' 60 percent say this case is political, while 25 percent say it is not. There is one thing I swear on my honor: Ekrem İmamoğlu and our friends will be acquitted in the conscience of this nation.

Both Ecevit and Demirel were tried. Those who tried them were later tried themselves. Ekrem İmamoğlu will emerge from here and become the President of this country.

"SO THAT SOMEONE REMAINS PRESIDENT..."

They were tasted defeat for the first time, and their chemistry was disrupted. Those who thought they would never be held accountable, those who distributed even the nation's livelihood in small portions while reserving the lion's share for themselves and their cronies, saw that they had seized the nation's future. They acted as if a normal election had been lost—we have never seen such a government—and they adopted a mindset of a struggle for existence. They returned to their past practices. They needed another Zekeriya Öz. They took someone whose justice they had murdered in court after court for years and whom they later rewarded with politics, and brought him to Istanbul as chief prosecutor. They did this just 7 months after the election they lost. They saw that they could not defeat the CHP's self-confidence, its presence among the people, and consequently, its unprecedented political success.

Atatürk put the Republic at the head of their duties! They entered into searches where they would come to prosecutors' offices and say, 'Come on, tell me, I'll solve your problem.' Suddenly, a diploma obtained 35 years ago, and obtained with hundreds of other people. They write to the university saying, 'Hurry up, cancel it immediately, make a decision,' otherwise, it will be given, including to the YSK (Supreme Election Council). When does the YSK ask for a diploma? It doesn't ask from a village head or a deputy, only from a presidential candidate. What is the chief prosecutor busy with! They have a diploma canceled on the evening of March 18 by a committee they appointed themselves, whose professorship is controversial, instead of the Business School dean who was forced to resign and the Business School that did not convene.

Can there be an investigation where there is secrecy in every part of it, my brother? If judges, prosecutors, police, and the university are all coordinated at the same time as if one hand is managing all the puppets, isn't the purpose political? These are slanders, and these actions are character assassination. Where is it written to commit so much violation of rights just so someone remains president? I need the foresight of AKP and MHP members who fear God, not those who fear Tayyip. I only trust them. Just as when we won the election on March 31, they said, 'Are we going to give the election to him with a 13,000-vote difference?' and 806,000 Istanbulites balanced the scales that justice had broken in 45 days, I trust them today as well.

For 1 year, they said there was 560 billion in corruption. They couldn't find 560 kuruş. On the day the hearing was to start, 3 pro-government newspapers said, one about 30 million, one 35, and one 40 million, 'They will be held accountable.' Not a single one of them is in the indictment. Those who were stomping around saying 560 now say, 'That's what we heard.'

We asked TRT where the dollar image came from. They said, 'We didn't have the real thing, we used it from stock, and by chance, it turned out to be dollars.' Our righteousness, the secret witnesses' slanders—they have nothing else left in their hands. They are making offers to bureaucrats left over from the AK Party era and to dishonorable people who have lost their jobs. They are making offers to those who have previously committed crimes and are at the Court of Cassation stage, saying, 'Let's save you.'

"HERE I AM. LET THEM EMBARRASS US!"

They arrested Mayor Ekrem and many of our friends with the testimony of secret witness 'Meşe' (Oak). The indictment came out, Meşe is not there. What will happen to the arrests regarding Meşe? We found Meşe's testimony. We searched for it in the indictment. We found someone named 'İlke' (Principle). İlke told exactly the same things that Meşe told. They had promised Meşe, 'We will reduce your sentence, we will provide this and that.' When these things didn't happen, Meşe climbed to the courthouse and eventually withdrew from being a secret witness. There are people arrested based on what Meşe said; what will they do? They have pasted the exact same statements onto a secret witness named İlke.

In theater, there is a line someone is supposed to say. Actor A plays it; if he gets sick, Actor B plays it. There is no such right as changing a secret witness. If it has been changed, it is not a text written there, it is a lie. When I said we are going to Silivri not to be tried, but to try, this is what I meant. Let them say we didn't do it. Let them say, 'We arrested İmamoğlu with Meşe, but we are not trying him with İlke.' Even the grammatical errors are the same! Here I am. Let them embarrass us!

"HE TOOK THE FLOOR BY FORCE AND MADE A DEFENSE THAT WILL GO DOWN IN HISTORY"

A person does not resist for 11 months at the cost of being crushed. If he knows he will be proven right today, he stands right for 11 months. This case either falls to one or to the 40th. According to the law, the same case falls to one of the high criminal courts by lottery. First, the Aziz İhsan Aktaş case fell to the 1st. We said this case would fall to the 40th, and it did. This probability is 2.4 percent! This probability came true. The prosecutor was assigned by Tayyip Erdoğan, an impartial, independent, and supposedly prosecutor deciding in the name of the Turkish nation... A prosecutor with 'republic' in his name will do these things for a year, and then this court will fall to the court that has been talked about for 1 year. At the head of the 40th High Criminal Court today is a judge who is talked about a lot. 'Son TV' is their operation site. In August, it praises the judge of the 40th and says, 'His friend next to him is very successful, we sent him to the 35th too.'

As Tayyip Bey used to say, 'They won't be able to look into their wives' eyes.' They were having that site write about those affairs, which turned out to be all blackmail. That judge is not alone; there is a panel. They don't trust those on the panel, so they appoint two more friends from outside. Yesterday, three people were going to start the trial. It is one of the three most difficult cases in Turkey's political history. What would you expect? You would expect a very experienced judge and panel. The judge they put there becomes first-class by adding the time they worked as lawyers to become first-class. He has established decisions side-by-side with Akın Gürlek. All of them have returned from the Constitutional Court (AYM) as rights violations. For example, the Sırrı Süreyya Önder decision, it was overturned. The condition for being separated into the first class is not to overturn the AYM decision. All ECHR and AYM decisions have been overturned. While this gentleman was standing there with all his incompetence, the two members next to him were saying things like, 'I'm preparing for the judgeship and prosecutor exam.' Two friends who have been in office for 1 year and 9 months by lottery! While they were working to be successful somewhere in Anatolia, they are at the head of one of the most important cases. The total decision-making experience on the bench is 15 years!

From calling the indictment 'brick-like' to those who committed all of FETÖ's conspiracies, they started the court like this; they said to İmamoğlu, 'Defendant Ekrem, sit down.' They used to say this to Adnan Menderes. When he sees a straight will in front of him, he doesn't know what to do. Yesterday we said all the mistakes, today he is compensating for all of them and starting.

There should not be a shred of doubt in the court panel you give to such a case so that we can say we are being tried fairly. Mayor Ekrem says, 'I have a word regarding the procedure, I must speak first.' He says, 'I will not listen to you.' Today he wore the robe inside and checked if it was okay. When Mayor Ekrem said I will speak, he says I will speak first. It was said that the judge did not allow him to show off. Today he allowed it just fine. What's up? He took the floor by force and made a defense that will go down in history. To those who are puffed up against us with Erdoğan's power and the misuse of public power, we say this: we are speaking by showing the power of the nation to those who stand against the state with moral superiority and the energy of the majority!

HE RESPONDED TO THE INVESTIGATION OPENED AGAINST HIM!

I made a similar statement yesterday, and they opened an investigation before I even arrived at where I was staying. Why? Because I said ineffective, incompetent. I opened an investigation for insult, he did it publicly, I want an increase, he did it to a public official, I'll pull the lower limit to 1... He skipped the law. Right to prove! Bring it on! Are they competent or incompetent? Let's see who is what if he doesn't prove it in court. You will put 1-year judges there to decide the future of my presidential candidate, and I will come out and say, 'I followed the court,' is that it? Did we curse the judge? We said, 'Incompetent, unskilled.' Who says this? Erdoğan's media.

The year is 1989. Beyoğlu elections. Erdoğan raids the district election board, insults the judge, grabs him by his tie, and slaps him. The judge files a complaint. They go to the police. He is taken and brought in, he serves 7 days for the crime of slapping a judge, and is released on 500,000 TL bail. He receives a 6-month prison sentence, which is converted into a fine. You are going to give me a sentence for saying two words to a judge whom you brought before me by paying a fine and getting out of prison with a finalized court decision that you grabbed by the tie and slapped? Get out of here!

Mr. Bahçeli, there is no F35, it will be bought. Integration with Europe will be achieved. Turkey is strong, no one will look askance. As long as those who created this incompetence go and a strong republican government comes in their place. We are here to strengthen the internal front. We are here to stand tall against the USA and Israel. As a party that is part of Europe but a good neighbor to Russia, a brother to Azerbaijan, and has logistical interests in its solution, we are also a party that advocates for the democratization of Iran. If there is a party that leads the region, we are ready. If a president is needed, yours are trying him, we will take him out of there and bring him to the head of the republic."