Breaking News... CHP leader Özgür Özel speaks from Kütahya: He addressed the pro-government media

The 103rd of the "The Nation Protects Its Will" rallies, launched by the CHP with demands for freedom for Ekrem İmamoğlu and early elections, was held today in Kütahya.

CHP LEADER ÖZGÜR ÖZEL IS SPEAKING

CHP Chairman Özgür Özel is speaking at the rally site.

Özel's statements are as follows:

"Kütahya, the city of labor; Kütahya, the city of tiles; Kütahya, the home of Evliya Çelebi; my dear Kütahya with a beautiful heart, beautiful words, and beautiful people. My dear fellow citizens, my precious neighbors; hello to you all.

This is the city of liberation, resistance, and the place that did not surrender to occupation, moving forward without ever looking back; it is the city of the Great Offensive, of victory, and of the beautiful days to come after victory. Greetings to you, Kütahya.

These lands have seen and endured great hardships from Phrygia to the Ottomans, from the Germiyanids to the Republic; but in the end, they have always reached beautiful days. It has overcome many dark winters and many troubles. Many tyrants have come and gone; but this city has never surrendered, never lost its hope, and never brought shame. It has never abandoned what it stood for and has reached victory every single time. Greetings to Kütahya, the city of victory.

And so, I have come here today; from the very heart of resistance despite great attacks, and by taking the feelings of solidarity in your beautiful hearts; trusting not in seats or offices, but in the wisdom of Anatolia, trusting in the conscience of Kütahya; I have come to Kütahya, which protects those it elects, which protects the most important achievement of the Republic entrusted by the Gazi, and which protects the ballot box, to resist, to struggle, and to take action together with Kütahya."

"SUCCESS DOES NOT BELONG TO ANYONE ALONE"

We were unable to win the municipality of this beautiful city for 74 years. But we did not find fault with this city, we did not turn our backs on it, we did not hold a grudge, and we always tried to understand Kütahya. We worked, we strove, we struggled, and finally, after that great change in 2023, we made Eyüp Kahveci the candidate for the people of Kütahya on March 31, 2024, and entrusted it to him. Kütahya embraced him, gave the mandate to Mayor Eyüp, and gave it to our party. I thank all of Kütahya from the bottom of my heart.

In 2019, we had no municipalities in Kütahya. In 2024, we won Şaphane with Lütfi Mutlu, Domaniç with Engin Uysal, and Dumlupınar with Zekeriya Yılmaz. I congratulate the mayors and thank all our voters.

Success, success does not belong to anyone alone. If there is success, there is a lot of effort in it. First of all, when we lost those May 14 and 28 elections—while everyone was hoping that in the second century of the Republic, all of us would once again see the party of the Gazi defeat poverty, defeat unemployment, and bring smiles to faces—everyone had their heads bowed and morale was low. We set out on a path to become a hope for Turkey by changing our party in a new, vigorous way, hand in hand, shoulder to shoulder. On the very first day we intended to set out on that path, we found our fellow traveler Zeliha Aksaz Şahbaz by our side. I thank my fellow traveler.

"WHEN YOU LOOK AT SATISFACTION SURVEYS, KÜTAHYA IS SATISFIED WITH HIM"

The Kütahya organization, together with all my district chairs, their executives, the provincial administration, and our chair, is putting up a significant fight behind our mayor. I thank our entire organization in the person of Tamer Yerlikaya. There came a day we called it a journey of democracy; we sent him on a journey of democracy so that parties that lost their parliamentary group would have the right to the podium in the party and in parliament. He went, did his duty, and returned to his father's house; I thank our Kütahya deputy Ali Fazıl Kasap. And I just listened to the valuable speeches of our provincial chair and our mayor. They acknowledged a right, and I would like to underline it: In Kütahya, it was not one party, that party's candidate, or that party's leader who won. Kütahya was won by the democrats in Kütahya, the alliance of democrats in Kütahya, the Kütahya Alliance. The Kütahya Alliance; I thank from the bottom of my heart all the components of the Kütahya Alliance, which includes Kütahya's social democrats, conservative democrats, nationalist democrats, Kurdish democrats, socialist democrats, and liberal democrats; regardless of their views or beliefs, those whose hope is in democracy and who seek salvation together.

Mayor Eyüp was tasked with serving Kütahya. Mayor Eyüp is going through a difficult period in this city; he walks the streets of this city, breathes its air, knows its troubles, knows the remedies, and carries the burden of debts left to him because it is one of the opposition municipalities that the government unfortunately tells to "shake down." But when you look at the satisfaction surveys, Kütahya is satisfied with him; Kütahya rewards his efforts and labor. I have before me what he has done in Kütahya with these limited means in the last two years; I was truly surprised when I saw it. First of all, the opening of a Public Market in Ilıca, offering affordable shopping to citizens, two City Restaurants, children benefiting from the renovated nursery moved to its new location, Public Bread aid to those in need, the Yaman Türk Disabled and Elderly Day Living Center, and the opening of neighborhood bakeries in Kirazpınar, Kumarı, Civli, and Bölücek, which women needed and which he promised during the election, are among these services. In addition, despite all the difficulties of the municipality, 56 million liras of support was provided to those in need with the Public Card, free transportation support was provided to more than 1,300 students, free services were offered to citizens who cannot afford it at the living barber and hairdresser salon, exam application fees were covered for students taking the YKS, and important works such as the Family Living Center for those experiencing housing problems and the Men's Living Center established for homeless citizens were carried out. I asked today; 18 homeless people are staying in this center with a capacity of 24, and more have been helped to hold onto life by creating employment. In addition to these, local flavor points with Gastro Kütahya, a gluten-free cafe service for celiac patients, and two separate caravan camps in Ilıca and Yoncalı were brought to life. Today, there are valuable mayors and deputies of Eskişehir here; with God's permission, Kütahya will now walk on the path of Eskişehir, which Yılmaz Büyükerşen and our mayors made bloom like a flower in the middle of the steppe.

"FORGET ABOUT PROTECTING KÜTAHYA, THEY HAVE TAKEN FROM KÜTAHYA WITH A SCOOP"

They are working with all their might for tourism. They are doing their best to protect the city despite all difficulties so that visiting students can say, 'I'm glad I went to Kütahya.' They are doing their best to support the poor. And now we have seen that whenever the necessary opportunities are provided in Kütahya, this vision, this effort, and this dedication will bring the 'Eskişehir miracle' to Kütahya this time.

As the Chairman of the party, I want to share some information with you first and then say something important on this matter. Today in Kütahya, these beautiful people; I look into their faces and eyes, and I see something. They are saying: 'We deserve much better.' This is Kütahya. This is a place in the middle of Anatolia where, for 200 years, the Ottoman Empire retreated, lost territory, lost territory, and finally stopped; the situation had reached Ankara, beyond Polatlı.

If Kütahya were not here, if it did not stand its ground, if it did not support the armies of the Gazi and İsmet Pasha, if it had resisted and not surrendered, there would be no Kütahya and no Turkey. There would be no bus here, no Chairman on top of it, no waving red flag, and no independent Turkey. We owe so much to this city of victory, this city of the Great Offensive.

You say that Istanbul is working; Kocaeli, Bursa, and Denizli are working; Konya and Kayseri are working; the ports are working, exports, opportunities, and mountains of collected taxes... Kütahya should get its share of these; Turkey should support and back Kütahya. I turned around and what did I see: In 2025, Kütahya paid 18 billion liras in taxes. You would expect it to receive four times that in services, right? Kütahya has an investment budget of 7.5 billion liras. Forget about supporting Kütahya; they took from Kütahya with a shovel and gave back with half a spoon.

There is an unbelievable situation here. In Kütahya, there is such a situation that when the AK Party came to power, that is, on November 3, 2002, Kütahya's population was 657,000. That day, Turkey's population was 68 million. Since then, Turkey has grown by 19-20 million. Looking at Kütahya with the same calculation, you expect the population to be 850,000, to become a metropolitan city, to receive investments accordingly, and to grow and develop accordingly. You look and see that instead of increasing by 200,000, it has decreased by 87,000-90,000 people, and Kütahya has remained at 570,000.

Look, Afyon also has many problems, but Afyon has surpassed 700,000 and met the conditions to become a metropolitan city. But in this process, let alone becoming a metropolitan city, Kütahya has shrunk and regressed. Etigümüş, well, why has it regressed? Etigümüş, KÜMAŞ, the Seyitömer and Tunçbilek Thermal Power Plants, the Kütahya Nitrogen Factory, and the Kütahya Sugar Factory have been privatized. The fertilizer in Kütahya has been privatized, the Nitrogen Factory...

That factory, years ago, Demirel comes to this city; Demirel says: 'They say the Nitrogen Factory is losing money. Of course it will lose money,' he says. 'It will lose money, it will produce fertilizer, it will give it to the farmer, and abundance will come to the soil with that fertilizer,' says Demirel. The ones that Demirel did not sell and Ecevit protected, they sold the ones that were profitable and the ones that were not, saying 'these are not making a profit,' along with the fertilizer factory and power plants in Kütahya. They shrunk Kütahya, they weakened it.

Just think, highway connections from the city center to the districts are insufficient. Imagine a city where there is a highway on the Istanbul-Antalya route, but it does not pass through Kütahya. They promised a high-speed train in 2011; 15 years have passed, and it hasn't happened. The high-speed train came, but it bypassed Kütahya.

"WHEN THE FARMER NEEDS MONEY, THEY GIVE HIM ONE-FIFTH OF THE SUPPORT HE DESERVES"

If there are no roads, no trains, no investments, and no jobs, what happens to the economy in a city? This is what happens to the economy. What happens to the future of a city? Its future becomes dark. For years, Kütahya remained distant from populist municipal governance and could not grow in a planned manner. Great damage was done to agricultural lands and irrigation areas. Unplanned zoning permits were issued. Citizens in areas declared as high-risk were left to their own fate. The government neither addressed the grievances nor did anything to pave the way for this city.

That is why, precisely for that reason, Kütahya decided to pave its own way in the 2024 elections and give one of its own children a chance, at least in the local elections; that is how the election result turned out. Now, as the Chairman of the Republican People's Party, I raised Mayor Eyüp's hand during the local elections and said: "You stand by him, and we will stand by him too." I give you my word, I swear that this bus will come here again. We will climb onto this bus again; this time, I will climb onto this bus as the Chairman of the ruling party! And I promise you; I will do whatever it takes to create an Eskişehir out of this Kütahya, and I will provide whatever support is requested. I swear it, I swear it to Kütahya!

Meanwhile, Kütahya is also an agricultural city. I have expressed the injustices done to agricultural lands and zoning in Kütahya. We are in such a process that there is a system established by the AK Party in Turkey, the AK Party's dark order. In the AK Party's dark order, the money given to farmers in the first two months of this year is 2 billion liras, while the money paid for interest is 640 billion liras. In other words, there is a government that pays 320 times the money given to farmers in interest, and there is a dark order established by that government.

But on the other hand, there is the Zafer Airport, which they opened with faulty calculations and planning. They built this Zafer Airport for 50 million Euros; at today's exchange rate, that is 2.5 billion liras. And in the past, they used to say: "We are building airports, highways, bridges, and hospitals without a single penny coming out of your pockets." Then it turned out that there were guarantees for patients, tests, MRIs, and X-rays for hospitals; passage guarantees for roads; passage guarantees for bridges; and flight guarantees for airports... Those who could not calculate well have already paid 4.1 billion liras in passage guarantee payments for an airport that cost 2.5 billion liras.

And unfortunately, they signed such a contract until 2044; until 2044, the money for the passengers who do not fly and the planes that do not take off will be paid from your pocket, my pocket, and all of our pockets. And another 10.7 billion liras will be paid there; meaning, six times the cost of the airport, which cost 2.5 billion liras, will be paid. They have paid twice the amount so far, they will pay four times more from now on, and they will make us all suffer this great loss from our own pockets.

But when you look at the other side, when the farmer needs money, they give him one-fifth of the support he deserves. From here, from Kütahya; given this great loss caused by Zafer Airport and the situation the villagers are in, we say it clearly: When the AK Party's dark order ends, when the Republican People's Party's populist government comes to power, and as the founder said, when the nation, the peasant, becomes the master of the nation again, there will no longer be guarantees for those who fly, run, or land; instead, guarantees will be given to the farmer, the villager, and those engaged in animal husbandry.

"WHEN THE RICH WANT MONEY, THEY FIND IT EVEN IF THEY ARE IN DIRE STRAITS"

I am telling those who do not adjust the milk parity: A purchase guarantee will be provided for milk prices at a 1.6 parity. Farmers will decide what to plant in advance based on subsidies, and that subsidy will be paid to the farmer under any circumstances. From now on, income guarantees will be given to farmers and those involved in animal husbandry, not to roads and airports built by the wealthy with loans found abroad. We promise.

Naturally, when looking at the figures in Kütahya, one sees a reality in every number, a sorrow in every number, and an injustice in every number. Kütahya is a city where the number of workers is 160,000 and the number of retirees is 143,000. They turned Kütahya into a city of retirees, but they left the retirees hungry. They condemned the laborers in Kütahya to the minimum wage.

Let the retirees in this square raise their hands! You are only one ballot box away from getting rid of the AK Party's dark order, which does not feel ashamed of the calluses on your hands from working, the worn-out elbows of your sleeves, or your increased eyeglass prescriptions, and which has committed the greatest injustice in history against you; just one ballot box away!

I ask the retirees: Are we going to tear down the AK Party's dark order? Are we going to take our rights by force? We will all take your rights together. Look, those in this square hear and know this. Let us make those who do not hear, hear; let us inform those who do not know: Poverty and hunger in this country... Wait a minute, hold on. That cannot be done alone; wait a minute. Our strength lies not in being alone, but in being organized and being together; that is why things do not happen with what one group does, we will do it all together.

I am saying something very important here: This country is trying to teach its retirees hunger. Through the hand of this government, it is trying to teach its minimum wage earners to bow down, to surrender, and not to speak out against the exploitation of labor. Yet, this country is one of the countries that should have the strongest economy. It is surrounded by seas on three sides, and its seas are full of abundance. The land beneath is like an unparalleled treasure in terms of minerals. The land above is so fertile that if you planted a man upside down, he would grow straight. Its young population is a blessing for all of us. And if all the resources in this country were used correctly, spent correctly, if this country developed correctly and shared fairly, no one in this square today would be living what the retirees are living.

But they do it this way: When the wealthy want money, they find it even if they are in dire straits. They provide all kinds of favors to the world's richest and Turkey's richest; when it comes to the retiree, they say, "there is no budget left." Let us explain this to all AK Party and MHP retirees; we are not telling a fantasy: On November 3, 2002, when the AK Party came to power, the lowest pension was 1.5 times the minimum wage. If you calculate it based on the minimum wage that we dislike and object to today, it amounts to 42,000 liras from 28,000. In other words, they say today, "we are giving 20,000 liras and cannot give more"; the government they disliked before them—Ecevit, Bahçeli, Mesut Yılmaz—which they always badmouthed as if they were not in an alliance with Bahçeli now—that government was paying 42,000 liras by that calculation.

We advocate for the minimum wage to be 39,000 liras; in the short term, we say the lowest pension should be one minimum wage, and the calculation comes to the same point. When the calculation goes back to the period before the AK Party, when the lowest pension was 1.5 times the minimum wage, it comes to 58,000 liras. Look at the 20,000 liras in hand today and look at the 58,000 liras mentioned in the past calculation, the 58,000 liras that should be received. Today, all AK Party and MHP retirees; on the day this government came to power, the lowest pension could buy 8 quarter gold coins, now it cannot even buy 2 quarter gold coins.

"THIS IS CALLED THE AK PARTY'S DARK ORDER"

Those who did this enacted Law No. 5510, changed the pension calculation coefficients, and played all sorts of tricks on retirees. Every year, TÜİK—what is TÜİK? The 'Statistics Institute That Doesn't Upset Tayyip'—who does it upset? It upsets the retiree. The real inflation is 80%, they report 60%; 20% comes out of your pocket. The real inflation is 45%, they report 30%; 15% comes out of your pocket. The real inflation is 32%, they report 20%; 12% comes out of your pocket. It accumulates, accumulates, and accumulates; your savings drop from 8 gold coins to 2, then to 1.5.

The same math applies to minimum wage earners. When the AK Party first came to power, the minimum wage was worth 7 gold coins. Today, the minimum wage is worth 2.5 gold coins. There is no other country in Europe, or perhaps even in the world, where the sweat of one's brow is exploited so unfairly. This level of injustice is unacceptable; such cheap exploitation of labor is unacceptable. For this reason, the minimum wage was once a starting salary that one would quickly move beyond with seniority. As my provincial chair, party assembly member, mayor, and deputy just explained: This is a city where people earn the minimum wage or just slightly above it, and where the majority of workers are employed at or near the minimum wage.

Under a Republican People's Party (CHP) government, the minimum wage will be a living wage, and everyone will quickly move beyond that level; under a CHP government, everyone's pockets will be full, everyone will be fed, and everyone will look to their future with confidence. I am saying this clearly: Let everyone look at the world; who stands up for the retiree, who stands up for the minimum wage earner, who raises wages? This is the job of social democrats in this world. Just as our brother and comrade Pedro Sanchez fights poverty in Spain today, and just as he works for those in lower income brackets, we will do the same.

I am saying this clearly: The Republican People's Party is not an enemy of capital, not an enemy of bosses, and not an enemy of investors. But it is pro-development; it is in favor of creating all the necessary conditions for development, exports, and production. However, the Republican People's Party is the guarantor of higher earnings; it is the guarantor of a fair tax system and equitable distribution.

Today in Kütahya, I say to this precious crowd looking at me with hope: For every 100 liras of tax collected in Turkey, 89 of them are collected from this square. How? Through indirect taxes, which are the most unfair taxes in the world. They don't distinguish between rich and poor; they take the same indirect tax from the richest as they do from the poorest. Whether it's electricity, water, natural gas, the clothes you buy, the boots you buy for your child, the school bag, or even a nail clipper, indirect taxes are collected under the name of 'Special Consumption Tax' or other labels. From whom? From all of us, 64-65% of it.

Then there is income tax; where is that taken from? It is taken from you again. Income tax is the tax taken from salaries. And if you have a few pennies saved in the bank, the withholding tax taken from the interest earned is also income tax. When you add this up, it reaches 23-24%, and combined with the rest, it hits 88%. There is another 1% item; corporate tax is 11%. The tax taken from those who produce, earn, and make a profit is 11%; the tax taken from the common person is 88%. This is what is called the AK Party's 'black order.' We will change this order, we will dismantle this order; we will take more from those who earn more, less from those who earn less, and we will not take any tax from those who earn nothing.

"PRICE HIKES ON EVERYTHING FROM A TO Z; PRICE HIKES ON VEGETABLES, FRUIT, PRICE HIKES ON EVERYTHING"

We are currently in such a period in the economy, and we are facing such incompetence; this government has made the Turkish economy fragile and vulnerable to crises... Let's look at the simplest example, last year, or even further back: The pandemic. During the pandemic, inflation was rising worldwide, and the measure taken everywhere was to raise interest rates. Only Turkey didn't do that. They said, 'I know best,' and sent inflation, which was approaching single digits, skyrocketing up to 80%. While inflation was soaring in those days, they told the wealthy who wanted to exchange their money, 'Be careful, don't buy dollars, buy currency-protected deposits,' and they transferred the world's largest source of wealth from your pocket and mine to the rich. Then they went into elections, got past them, and afterwards, they tightened the noose around all of our necks again, saying, 'You must tighten your belts.'

Now, in this period, once again with great incompetence, those who gave billions of liras to the rich in the past period attempted a coup on March 19 last year, thinking that Ekrem İmamoğlu would win the elections, that the Republican People's Party would win. In return, they sold off Turkey's vast resources. They burned 150 times the money needed for retirees, 110 times the money needed for minimum wage earners, and 90 times the money needed for farmers; they created an unprotected, fragile, and helpless economy. Under those conditions, they were caught in the war in Iran. That is why now, when oil prices in Turkey skyrocket, it is immediately reflected at the pump.

I immediately convened our Economic Coordination Board; an 11-member board consisting of Turkey's most valuable economists. We said: "What needs to be done? What will we do when we are in power? What should they do now?" They said: "The oil price increase must absolutely not be reflected at the pump. If it is, inflation will explode, and you won't be able to contain it." "What should we suggest?" "There is a Special Consumption Tax (ÖTV)," they said, "up to 40 percent. Implement a sliding scale, cover it from the ÖTV, and don't let it reflect at the pump." Remember well, cars were lined up for 1 kilometer in front of the gas station. They were going to implement the price hike that night; I suggested, we suggested, "Don't do it," we said, "It would be suicide." They stopped the hike that night. The next day, they implemented three-quarters of what we suggested; meaning if it was going to increase by 4 liras, only 1 lira would be reflected, and 3 liras would be covered by the ÖTV.

From that day to this, it was kept this way, but the share to be covered by the ÖTV was exceeded. Now they keep loading it onto the pump; they saw 80 liras, and we warned them again: There is a 20 percent VAT, cover it from the VAT, don't let it reflect on the citizen. Why? Because of this: Tomorrow the Strait of Hormuz opens, Brent oil drops, and you can lower the gasoline price. Your loss would be equal to the ÖTV, your loss would be equal to the VAT. But if you don't do this, if the price of everything increases, this will later turn into inflation, and even if oil drops, you won't be able to lower the prices. What happened? This time they didn't listen to us. Prices soared, and unfortunately, yesterday, due to the hikes in fuel, there was a 25 percent hike in electricity and a 25 percent hike in natural gas. Now, it's all gone up in smoke.

From here on, you are the one who hiked electricity? Let's see, a hike in bread. You are the one who hiked natural gas? Let's see, a hike in bread. You are the one who hiked electricity? A hike in everything from needles to thread; a hike in vegetables, a hike in fruit, a hike in everything. Then, even if the Strait of Hormuz opens, who will take back those hikes? Who has ever seen a price hike reversed in Turkey? They didn't listen to reason; they are introducing a new wave of inflation into our lives starting next month. Furthermore, the inflation target in the Medium-Term Program is 16 percent. In three months; January, February, March, it exceeded 10 percent. It is understood that their annual target will be far exceeded in 6 months. Who will suffer? It will be the retiree again, it will be the minimum wage earner again.

I am addressing Tayyip Erdoğan from here: Either protect the citizens by taking the measures we suggested, or step down; you cannot handle these matters, let the Republican People's Party come and protect its retirees and its workers.

Look, in 2018, Tayyip Erdoğan was saying: "If inflation is in double digits, that is, higher than 9 percent, adjusting the minimum wage three or four times a year can be considered." The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus does this, Europe does this, the world does this. By updating the minimum wage every three months, it protects its minimum wage earners and retirees from price hikes, and protects them from poverty. But here, our people only protect the capital groups close to them.

That is why I am asking Kütahya now: Are we ready to change the AK Party's corrupt order? Are you ready to close one era and open another? Together, we are ending the era of ministers' children and starting the era of the nation's children!

"THEY STOLE THE BALLOT BOXES, THEY RELEASED THE VOTES"

If there is a reason why everything is going wrong in Turkey today, it is the corrupt order of the AK Party. Today, trust in the judiciary in Turkey has fallen to 18%; 82% say they do not trust the judiciary. How could it be otherwise? How could it be otherwise?

March 31, 2024; you cast the vote in Kütahya, you did. You elected the Mayor, you made the decision. The previous term it was the MHP, we respected that; before that it was the AKP, we accepted that. This time you gave it to the Republican People's Party. Sir; when you voted for the AK Party last time, the national will was held in high esteem, but when it wasn't, it was dismissed. The reason? Sir, I said something very big. What did you say? Sir; I said, "Whoever wins Istanbul wins Turkey," and "Whoever loses Istanbul loses Turkey." What happened? I lost.

How? First, Beylikdüzü was mine; Ekrem İmamoğlu came against me, and it switched from the AK Party to the CHP. He worked like a bee there. I was managing the neighboring side, the AK Party was managing it; in Esenyurt, there was zero point five square meters of green space. Ekrem İmamoğlu manages this side, Mehmet Murat Çalık manages it; there are ten to ten and a half square meters of green space. There is a twenty-fold difference. On one side, a museum of urban crimes managed by the AK Party, and on the other, a source of pride for the Republican People's Party.

When they saw this, what did the people of Istanbul do? This time you nominated Binali Yıldırım for Istanbul, and we nominated Ekrem İmamoğlu. What should the people of Istanbul do? They preferred the one who turned this place into a paradise over the one who turned it into a hell. They gave the duty to Ekrem İmamoğlu, and you started feeling indigestion as early as those first elections. What did you do? You went to the Supreme Election Council and had the election we won by 13,000 votes cancelled. Forty days later, there was an election, and the people of Istanbul were asked again.

At that time, remember; they said they stole the ballot boxes, they released the votes, they said this and that, they told a lot of lies. They said, "Even if nothing happened, something happened," and they cancelled the election, stood before the nation, and told the CHP and İmamoğlu, "Teach them a lesson, deliver the Ottoman slap." When the ballot boxes were opened; the 13,000-vote margin rose to 806,000! The nation delivered a slap of democracy to those who were waiting for an Ottoman slap.

"EVERY EVIL, EVERY SLANDER IMAGINABLE OCCURRED"

This time, they called İmamoğlu a "lame duck" in Istanbul. The Metropolitan Municipal Council was in the hands of the AK Party; they opposed everything he did and tried to obstruct him. That wasn't enough; you wouldn't believe it, they jammed stones into the automatic escalators of the subways using their own people, just to say, "the subway escalator isn't working."

They have no fear of God; a public bus operating in Istanbul works for six days, and on the seventh day, they rented it out saying, "we are going to film a movie." They pulled the bus to a corner, set up their cameras all around it; they burned the bus under the pretext of "filming a movie" and said, "Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality's buses are burning due to lack of maintenance." Every evil, every slander imaginable occurred.

You know what that Süleyman Soylu did; he seized all the corruption files and sat on the corruption cases of the AK Party era. That Süleyman Soylu came, dropped everything else, and what did he say? He said, 'PKK members are working in the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality.' We said, 'Prove it.' We said, 'Whoever doesn't prove it is dishonorable,' but he told that lie at the time. Later, when it turned out to be a lie, when not a single PKK member was found in the IMM, he shamelessly said, 'What can I do, I was just doing politics.'

This is the AK Party, this is the dark order of the AK Party. This is the character of the supposedly powerful minister of the past, Süleyman Soylu; this is his approach, his political morality, his political honor. Those who lie are the ones who smear others. Then, after all those lies, we went to the elections again; 'PKK members are in the municipality,' 'buses are burning,' 'subways are stopping,' 'this and that isn't working'... You know what happened; this time, İmamoğlu won the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality once again with a margin of over 1.1 million votes. A Prime Minister ran against him and lost, the Parliament Speaker ran and lost, the Minister of Urbanization ran and lost. Against all this, they turned around shamelessly and brazenly and attempted a coup.

"THIS PHARMACIST, THE SON OF A RETIRED TEACHER, IS BEFORE YOU"

When Tayyip Erdoğan doesn't have this square... We are the party of the squares, the struggle, and unity. We are facing a party of the halls; an understanding that makes people applaud them in halls cooled in summer and heated in winter, that conducts politics at provincial chairmen meetings, and that turns a prosecutor who is supposed to be impartial into a minister overnight and makes him speak to provincial chairmen.

It is such a dark order; first, a political and character assassin, a mobile guillotine, who takes a person—starting from Sırrı Süreyya Önder and including many politicians, for instance, our former Istanbul Provincial Chair Canan Hanım—and drags them around to have them punished by judges everywhere, then makes that mobile guillotine a Deputy Minister to enter politics, then makes him the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor overnight, and then makes him a minister again because he requested protection; this is the dark order of the AK Party.

The person sitting in the Ministry of Justice of that dark order has acquired more real estate than he could ever afford with the total salary he would earn in 190 years. We published the ID numbers of these properties one by one—Murat Kurum, Ministry of Environment, if he doesn't understand 'ID', I mean the identification numbers—we published them. No one denies it; when you enter the system, it is clear when that title deed, that property was acquired, how it was later disposed of, and the 190-year salary is clear.

It doesn't stop there; 98 million TL for the Symphony Houses in Istanbul... Look, let's do a simple calculation: Let a retired teacher here raise their hand; one, there are plenty. A retired teacher works for 30 years; they wake up at 7 in the morning, shave, put on their tie or their suit, take their bag; they go to school, work from 8 in the morning until 5 in the evening. They do this for 30 years, 30 years! This state gives them a retirement bonus of less than 1 million TL, right teacher? This is 1 million TL.

This person is a prosecutor at only 40 years old; even if they didn't eat or drink a single penny of the salaries they have received so far, they couldn't reach even a third or a quarter of that money; they pay 98 million TL for the Symphony Houses—that is, 98 times what a retired teacher receives in 30 years. Even if a husband and wife saved every penny of their income for their entire lives without eating or drinking, they couldn't save that money; they are paying that amount just for the Symphony Houses, which aren't even among the ones I have already declared.

Someone lost a case in court, then suddenly it was reheard and they won; that person has one house in Ankara and two in İzmir. Their total value is 76 million TL; equivalent to the 30-year labor of 76 teachers. Now this man is dispensing justice, is he? This man is conducting operations and uncovering corruption, is he?

I am saying this here before my nation: Today, the Sabah newspaper received an order at the crack of dawn to 'let's spread a new slander and stir things up.' They cannot defend Akın Gürlek's title deed, they cannot provide his IDs, they were caught red-handed, they cannot protect him, and they are facing backlash for leaving him alone; so they want to divert the target and attack others. They told 50 kinds of lies, and we proved them all wrong. Now they have come out and said, 'Ekrem İmamoğlu bought a 3-million-dollar apartment for Özgür Özel in America.'

Look, I am saying this with great confidence from Kütahya: Hey Sabah, hey pool media! If Özgür Özel has even a nail clipper or a matchbox, not in America, but anywhere in the world, you have the Foreign Ministry, you have the MIT, you have Trump by your side; I challenge you! This pharmacist, the son of a retired teacher, is standing before you; I challenge you!

If I do not resign, I am not a man of my word! If a single matchbox of mine is found outside these borders, I will not stay here for a minute. There is more, there is more. For years, I have submitted my asset declaration exactly on time. And not just for myself; even for my wife and the tiny amount of money in my child's account. And if there is a single item I have not declared in my asset declaration, which I submitted to Mr. Numan and which has been in the hands of the AK Party for 16 years, I will not stay here for a minute. I challenge you!

"ARE YOU READY TO COME TO THE ARENA, TO WRITE MY INVITATION TO A DUEL?"

Now Savaş, are you ready, are you ready to come to the arena, to write my invitation to a duel? I do not have a single matchstick in America or anywhere else in the world. Well, does Erdoğan himself, his children, or his immediate relatives have a property in America or not? Explain that. You talk about Manhattan, did they or did they not erect that building in Manhattan? If I have one and I say I don't, then whoever cannot prove it is dishonorable; if I have even a trinket, I am a scoundrel and immoral. But if you don't have the courage to write about what you have, then you are dishonorable and shameless.

Come on then, I am taking those who make, write, and spread these fake news stories to court. They have only one concern, only one, only one... This nation has seen both the dirty and the clean. This nation has seen both those who protect their cronies and those who protect the citizens. That is why there is no turning back from here on. What do I always say? If we bend even an inch, if we speak a word less, if we take one step back, they will silence this nation forever, bring it to its knees forever, and set it back a century.

This is it; these are the lands where the Turks, who had gone 200 years backward, stood their ground, launched a great offensive, and found victory. Are you all ready for the great offensive for power? Are you ready? That is why we are in Kütahya. That is why we are in the city of courage, the city of self-confidence, the city of resistance, the city of rising, the city of victory, in the city of victory.

And yesterday, they arrested Mustafa Bozbey this morning after keeping him sleepless for 40 hours. It was fine when Bursa gave its vote to the AK Party... Bursa was tired of the corruption in the AK Party, tired of the theft, and changed its decision. And since that day, they have been digging and digging into Mustafa Bozbey, but they haven't found a single scrap of evidence.

A perjurer from seven years ago, along with three partners, defrauded 500 people from Bursa and failed to deliver apartments to one person. These fraudsters were caught, and instead of going to jail, they became slanderers. They are trying to save their own skins by slandering Bozbey with 12-year-old lies from seven years ago. The AK Party, claiming they have the majority in the municipal council, is part of this scheme: 'Slander him, save your skin, let's put Bozbey inside, and seize the Bursa Municipality.'

I went to Bursa yesterday. We made a sudden decision the night before because we heard, 'They are going to take Bozbey on Friday.' Did you see Bursa last night? Bursa was on its feet last night to protect its choice and its right to vote and be elected. That is why we came to Kütahya today. It is not a holiday or a special occasion in Kütahya, and we are not facing an election, but we encountered this magnificent crowd in Kütahya and embraced them. This is because of justice. The psychological superiority lies with those who are in the right. The moral superiority is ours. The psychological superiority is ours. That is why the energy of the majority is with us, in Kütahya, in Turkey, and in the Republican People's Party.

"THERE IS NO END TO EVIL"

I am addressing Erdoğan: You have your judicial branches, good for you. I trust my women's and youth branches, my organization, and my nation.

If you have the courage; in Aydın, where you said, 'Either you will be put inside or you will join my party,' and they joined your party; in Bursa, where you said, 'Either you will be put inside or you will join my party,' and you put them inside; in Gaziosmanpaşa, in the empty safe operation where not even an indictment was written; in Şehitkamil, in Gaziantep; in Beykoz, in Istanbul... We say let's ask the nation.

In fact, if you have the courage, starting from Istanbul, wherever a CHP mayor has been detained and arrested; by forcing the resignation of CHP and AK Party municipal council members, or by bringing about an early general election in those regions with a temporary article where AKP-CHP votes are sufficient in the parliament... If you have the courage, let's put the ballot box in front of the citizens in these places.

If we are thieves, if we are corrupt, and if this citizen believes in you, then let us face our fate. But when 60% of the citizens say 'these matters are political,' and only 25% believe in you, and you cannot face me, you are still trying to carry out character assassinations here and there. Erdoğan, if you have the courage, come and face us! I challenge you, I challenge you!

I am saying this to Erdoğan, who cannot go out on the streets, cannot visit people, cannot walk through the markets, and cannot visit the bazaars: The suffering of these retirees, these laborers, these farmers, these tradespeople, and the youth has reached its peak. The solution lies in the ballot box. Come, let us put the ballot box before this nation before summer arrives, without anyone upsetting or tiring anyone else.

Let the nation decide. If they give you the mandate, I will quit politics that day. But this nation, with its retirees, laborers, farmers, and tradespeople, has decided to end this dark order. That is why you are running away from the ballot box. If you put the ballot box before the nation before summer comes, we will compete; if you win, you have another 5 years, and I will disappear. However, I also know very well that the ballot box will come, and this nation will leave its mark on that ballot box, it will strike its fist!

But there is no end to the malice. He keeps Mayor Ekrem inside; he needs to release him, but he does not. We say, "Broadcast it on live television, let the nation hear"; he does not trust his own indictment, or rather, he sees how miserable he has become.

Honorable, beautiful people of Kütahya; remember, it started around this time last year and lasted almost 10 months. I went out everywhere and said: "I am here. These things will not be in the indictment. These are lies and will never be proven. I am waiting for that indictment not to be judged, but to judge," I said.

Finally, the indictment was released. Remember TGRT, remember A Haber, remember the pro-government channels. Remember those who repeated a lie day and night. They said, "560 billion in corruption," but not even 56 kuruş of proof emerged. They said, "1,200 mobile phones were purchased and distributed," it turned out to be a lie, it did not appear in the indictment; the woman who said it got out of it by saying, "That's what they told me too."

They said, "Euros and dollars were found under the floorboards, there is a video of it"; it turned out to be a complete product of fraud. When asked, the person who said it got out of it by saying, "I am just repeating what I was told." They said: "A safe was found behind the chair at the Gaziosmanpaşa Municipality." It was true, it was from the AK Party era. They said, "Dollars were found inside," it turned out to be a lie. The safe was empty, there was a seal. We asked TRT: "Where did this dollar footage come from?" They said, "There was no footage of an empty safe, we used it from stock, and by chance, this footage appeared."

"I NEED A PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE. ARE YOU IN?"

Only one seal came out of the safe. They said Ekrem İmamoğlu's cars, 16 luxury vehicles; they all turned out to belong to an MHP deputy. Everything that was said turned out to be a lie. The expected indictment turned out to be an empty napkin. That indictment is being crushed under the feet of our honorable friends as each one of us gets our turn.

Let all of Kütahya know this, let everyone know this: A year ago, Tayyip Erdoğan said, 'It won't take a month, they won't be able to show their faces in public.' A year later, I am here in Kütahya among the people. A year ago, Tayyip Erdoğan said, 'You will see, they won't be able to look each other in the face'; I have come to look the people of Kütahya in the face. A year ago, Tayyip Erdoğan said, 'They won't even be able to look their spouses in the eye'; all those character assassinations turned out to be lies. They talked about planes, it turned out to belong to an AK Party member. Whatever they did, something else came out. In the end, your Chairman has once again appeared before you in Kütahya with his head held high, one year later.

Today is the 103rd rally, the 103rd protest. It is a first in world political history. Every weekend in a city, every Wednesday in a district, we have reached one hundred within a year. Today we are here for the 103rd time. We have been in action for 381 days, we are in resistance, we are standing tall. Whether they run away now or until the end of a thousand days; do you know what we will do by bringing the world's greatest election campaign to its goal? First, let me get a round of applause for these security personnel who ensure our safety. We will make them smile too; they are exploiting their labor day and night. We will also make the students they stand against smile. Mayor Ekrem will smile, the prison guard will smile; they will have housing, they will have a salary, they will be in the security class. The gendarmerie will smile, the teacher will smile, and the teacher waiting for an appointment will smile.

There is one election run left to make everyone in this society who has troubles and worries smile. Now, Mayor Ekrem may be inside. I need a presidential candidate to replace him.

CHP KÜTAHYA PROVINCIAL CHAIR TAMER YENİKAYA READS İMAMOĞLU'S LETTER

CHP Kütahya Provincial Chair Tamer Yenikaya is reading İmamoğlu's letter.

İmamoğlu's letter is as follows:

Beautiful Kütahya, the city of sharing and tolerance, justice and solidarity. A big hello to the people of Kütahya.

Distinguished ladies, esteemed gentlemen, brave and honorable youth, beautiful-faced children; I greet each and every one of you with respect, love, and longing. I embrace you with yearning.

I would like to thank my president Eyüp Kahveci, who is working with all his might to implement the Republican People's Party's populist and action-oriented policies in Kütahya, and our Provincial Chair Tamer Yenikaya, who represents the fighting spirit of our organization. I embrace our entire organization with gratitude through our provincial chair.

My dear brothers and sisters; our democracy has never faced such a severe test. The founding values of our Republic, which we built to ensure a free and honorable life for everyone and a humane and just order, are being dismantled. A nation that cannot hold its own destiny in its hands will sooner or later vanish. A nation can only protect its destiny if sovereignty belongs to it unconditionally. That is why Gazi Mustafa Kemal Atatürk and his comrades founded the Republic and gifted us a free and honorable life.

Unfortunately, the nation's sovereignty is under attack today. The national will is being usurped by the judiciary. The unfair and unlawful prosecution of elected mayors through slander and false statements, and furthermore, their trial while in custody, is a coup against the national will. The trial of a presidential candidate, who was nominated with the votes of 15.5 million voters and supported by the signatures of 25 million citizens, while in custody based on the slanders of some secret witnesses, is a coup against the national will.

We are the targets of these politically motivated judicial attacks, but the real target is the nation. They are trying to eliminate our nation's right to freely make political choices and change the government. For a year, they declared us guilty without a trial through baseless allegations, slanders, and organized smear campaigns. However, they could not convince anyone. As we said, 'Broadcast the hearings live so the nation can see the truth' with the self-confidence of being innocent and in the right, they ran away. They ran away with the panic of criminals and the insolence of slanderers.

When the trial began, the conspiracies collapsed. The traps they tried to set for us and our nation began to entangle their own hands and feet. Our nation saw the true face of those slanderers once again. That is why we are not the ones on trial in the court established in Silivri prison. We are the ones judging there; we are the ones judging. We are judging those who engage in organized schemes to sideline their political rivals and suppress the will of the nation.

We are judging those who attempt to seize the national will with a few guided members of the judiciary. We are judging those who see themselves as superior to the nation and think of the state as their family's private property. If those who walk in the shadow of injustice and tyranny want to be cleared, the path is clear; they will put the ballot box before the nation as soon as possible. Because Turkey's deep and urgent problems can only be overcome through a free, fair, and transparent election. That ballot box will come; the harbinger of justice and prosperity will come. The 86 million citizens of this beautiful homeland will live in peace and brotherhood. Justice and freedom will prevail everywhere and for everyone first. No one will be subjected to inequality, discrimination, or injustice. This period of great oppression, persecution, and misery will surely come to an end.