CHP agenda assessment: 'Foreign intervention is not the solution'

Republican People's Party (CHP) Spokesperson Zeynel Emre made comprehensive statements on the agenda during a press conference, covering topics ranging from hot developments in foreign policy to economic data, judicial operations, and the 'The Nation's Command with the Nation' event to be held tomorrow.

Emre emphasized that foreign interventions bring blood and tears to the region, not democracy. Condemning the attacks by the US and Israel on Iran, Emre warned, "Mustafa Kemal Atatürk's motto, 'Peace at home, peace in the world,' is the political approach that must be followed on the axis we are in; otherwise, it is pregnant with great suffering."

Emre stated the following at the press conference held at the party headquarters regarding the Central Executive Board (MYK) meeting:

"I INVITE ALL OUR CITIZENS TO FOLLOW OUR ‘THE NATION'S COMMAND WITH THE NATION’ EVENT TOMORROW"

Dear friends, tomorrow is an important day for us. Tomorrow, as the CHP, as the Presidential Candidate Office, together with the policy board chairs we have formed there, we will announce our promises regarding what we will do for our country, alongside our criticisms, with a team of approximately 138 people. As you know, before the Presidential Candidate Office and the presidential campaign process began, we formed policy boards as an innovation where we share and will share with our people in a transparent manner what we will do for the future.

Within the scope of this heading, tomorrow, under the leadership of our Chairman, at the 'The Nation's Command with the Nation' event, we will explain to all of Turkey how the Republican People's Party will bring this country to peace and prosperity.

And with our meeting there, our Chairman will make a statement on 20 of Turkey's important problems, also benefiting from our party program, under 20 important headings. Again, five separate promises of each of our policy presidencies will be explained. And along with this, together with all components of the Turkey alliance, just as we said in the local elections, as the first party of this country in the last local elections, we will take to the field, we will visit street by street. We will tell our citizens that we know your problem and we will solve your problem, we will solve it like this. We will take to the field with all our deputies and our entire organization.

We will sign a major political campaign together with the broadest segments of society without getting stuck in political engagements against this polarization environment and climate of conflict in Turkey's politics. Therefore, I invite all our citizens to follow the “The Nation's Command with the Nation” event that we will hold tomorrow, on March 2nd.

"THE OPERATION AGAINST OUR BOLU MAYOR IS A DISRESPECT TO THE WILL OF THE NATION"

Dear friends, since we became the first party in the local elections and have maintained our status as Turkey's first party in all polls without exception, we have become a clear target of the government. And the government, while the CHP was managing Turkey's important cities in the previous local election period and between 2019-2024; seeing that smear campaigns, slanders, and defamation campaigns did not work, this time it is constantly carrying out operations against our party with the judicial arms it has seized. Most recently, our Bolu Mayor Tanju Özcan was detained. He is currently in custody; our lawyer friends are following the process. Of course, if we ask what Tanju Özcan's crime is; it is that Tanju Özcan won the 2019 local elections in Bolu with 52%, where the AK Party received 47% in the 2004 local elections, 43% in 2009, and 49% in the 2014 local elections; that he won it again in the 2024 elections with a much higher vote than he had previously received, that he found a response among the public, and that he found solutions to the problems of students in the city with social policies. Therefore, we read this operation as an operation carried out directly against the will of the nation. We see this operation as a disrespect to the people of Bolu. This operation was carried out against the voting will of the people of Bolu.

No one in Turkey is convinced of this. Look, after Tayyip Bey said, 'Shake up these Republican People's Party municipalities,' we wake up to an operation every day, and when we look at the allegations, we cannot see any serious allegations that are tangible and have a basis in law. Sir, what is it here? Our mayor is asking for donations to be made to some large chain markets in order to provide various scholarships, aid, and social assistance through the cooperative he established. I mean, this is his great sin. Can you imagine? This is the accusation they found to make against our mayors, by a government that has committed more corruption, been involved in bid-rigging crimes, and theft than any political power in the world in a quarter-century.

"LAWSUITS AGAINST EKREM İMAMOĞLU AND IMPRISONED MAYORS"

Look, since the beginning of this year, after Mr. İmamoğlu announced his presidential candidacy and preparations in this direction continued, a series of investigations and lawsuits have been filed against him within a one-year period. The latest of these was an indictment filed against him recently because, during his time as Beylikdüzü Mayor, when he saw that the previous mayor's official vehicle was being rented at an exorbitant price, causing damage to the municipality, i.e., the public, he allocated his own official vehicle to the municipality free of charge with a contract. Now, do you know what this is like? You know they said, "there are luxury vehicle garages." The place they called a garage was in Istanbul; the owner of those luxury vehicles turned out to be an MHP deputy. Here, on the contrary, there is an austerity measure taken by Mr. İmamoğlu, who is trying to prevent public damage; now a lawsuit is being filed against him for that. Let's also note this: There is no court left where the judge has not changed in the cases filed against Mr. İmamoğlu, where the court judge has not changed. Look, we are talking about dozens of courts; there is no court left where the judge has not changed. Let's see how long the judges in the main IMM case will serve. On the other hand, the Büyükçekmece Mayor has been in prison for about a year, and there is no indictment against him. Our Gaziosmanpaşa Mayor is in prison, and there is no indictment against him. Our Beyoğlu Mayor is in prison, and there is no lawsuit filed against him. Our Bayrampaşa and Şile Mayors have been in prison for months, but there is no indictment written against them. And when you ask, the new Minister of Justice, the former chief prosecutor, says, 'What are we going to do?' He says: 'We need to speed up the judiciary. Judges and prosecutors need to make quick decisions.' I mean, this is quite contradictory, frankly.

"SECULARISM SENSITIVITY IS NOT A CRIME, IT IS A CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHT"

Now, in our press conferences, we voice the difficulties experienced by the worker, the laborer, the student, the industrialist, the housewife, the teacher, and the police officer in this country. We talk about the depression experienced by the unemployed, we talk about economic problems. And we say; oh, the part that the government should really be interested in is this real politics, the struggle with the problems of the people in the real sense. But you go around and around, thinking, 'I wonder if I can find a headline and exploit people's religious feelings, how can I create an environment of polarization, how can I play with people's national feelings, play with their past anxieties and create a space from there,' and there are various investigations and statements. Recently, the academics and writers of this country, who are worried about the course of this country, the education system, came together and made a statement. They emphasized secularism, the importance of secularism; they talked about what great harm America and Israel have caused in our geography, which we will mention in a moment. Now, our constitution writes against all of this: "The Republic of Turkey is a secular, democratic, and social state of law." Oh, how dare you do this; the current Minister of National Education is filing a criminal complaint, and people are being called to testify one by one. Look, among the names called to testify is 91-year-old Korkut Boratav, the teacher of teachers. I mean, have some mercy! He is a scientist of this country, he has countless works, he has trained thousands of students. I mean, when you look at it, you are calling someone to testify just because they participated in a statement, someone who has been many times more beneficial to the country than the Minister of National Education. And then, sir, freedom of thought, we will strengthen this; sir, freedoms, democracy, you are writing reports on these issues. I mean, when we look at it, we are in a period where Turkey is frankly being tried to be detached from its real agenda, all its values are eroding, and its most fundamental rights in the constitution are not being implemented. Professor Korkut Boratav was not afraid of the September 12 coup plotters, will he be afraid of you? Of course, he will go and give his statement. However, look, the situation we live in, the geography we live in, requires that internal peace be strongly fortified. If you code the ballot box as legitimate when you win; and as illegitimate, terrorist, harmful, bribe-taker, bid-rigger, gang member when others win, neither peace nor tranquility will come to this country. Therefore, we demand that this mistake be corrected as soon as possible.

"OUR REGION IS IN A CIRCLE OF FIRE; FOREIGN INTERVENTION IS NOT THE SOLUTION"

Dear friends, look, today is the anniversary of March 1st, the March 1st memorandum. On that day, the existence of the separation of powers in Turkey, against the concentration of power in a single hand, the nation's parliament heard the cry of the nation. It listened to the sensitivity coming from there and said no to a dark period where millions of our citizens in neighboring countries would lose their lives as part of an imperialist project. When we look at today, today is very different from that day. That is why, in that March 1st memorandum, they said no there, and they took a stand from a very correct point so that the boots and soldiers of a foreign country would not come to this country and be stationed in many regions, and the country's sovereignty and independence would not be damaged. The situation we are in confirms the justification of this stance. Look, the world is drifting towards a chaotic environment. Our region is in a circle of fire. More violent clashes are taking place in the region with the airstrike by the United States and Israel against Iran. How long all of this will last is uncertain, and the possible risks are uncertain. We condemn this attack. We followed with deep sadness that 200 female students lost their lives, especially after these attacks. In this sense, of course, we wish for all countries living in our region to live within a democratic state of law, just as we expect from our own country. Of course, we had expressed at that time that the policy pursued by the current regime in Iran towards its own people, what it did regarding women's rights, and its approach to student protests; all of these were very wrong. However, there is no legitimacy for this kind of attack against a sovereign state by shelving international law, diplomacy, and all international rules. None of the foreign interventions carried out in the world saying 'I will overthrow the dictatorship in another country, I will overthrow the autocracy, I will bring democracy to that country' have done any good. In all of them, there has been blood, tears, and sadness. Millions of people have lost their lives. There have been migrations, there has been suffering. Therefore, as Turkey, we must have an approach that respects Iran's territorial integrity. We must not compromise on diplomacy here. Because, as you know, many events have taken place in our region in the last 20-year period, and we have paid serious prices for this. And while those tremors were happening, we said: Of course, there are problematic administrations in the region that are ruled by dictatorship and where there is no democracy. We want these to improve, but foreign intervention is not the solution, it has caused worse results. When we look at it today, unfortunately, there is no democracy in more than 90% of the world; that is, there is a serious erosion in this area. Therefore, all of these should not be made a pretext for intervention. Especially, carrying out these operations while negotiations are ongoing is a harbinger of a much larger conflict environment. We say that Mustafa Kemal Atatürk's, the great Atatürk's motto 'Peace at home, peace in the world' is the political approach that must be followed on the axis we are in. Because the opposite is pregnant with great suffering. We saw this in Syria and other countries.

"DATA CONTRADICTIONS IN SYRIA TRADE AND PRIVATIZATION POLICIES"

Dear friends, look, speaking of Syria, I want to give you some figures about the economy. We say that during this government's term, many of our institutions have eroded, and figures have been manipulated. Now I will give two contradictory figures. One is the country profiles where the Ministry of Trade has data and information regarding every country. Here, the General Directorate of International Agreements and the European Union says regarding the country profile related to Syria: 'Turkey exported a total of 2 billion 183 million dollars to Syria in 2024.' Imports of 438 million dollars were realized in the same period. Now, everything is normal up to here; a statement has been made. We want the statements of state institutions to be correct. Well, when we look at the foreign trade data of another state institution, TUIK, it says: In 2024, a total of 1 billion 507 million 952 thousand dollars of exports were realized from Turkey to Syria. The import figure is 263 million dollars. Now, which figure should we trust? Two important institutions. I mean, the difference in exports is 675 million dollars, the difference in imports is 263 million dollars. Where is this data taken from? Why is there this difference? Which data should be accepted as correct? Is there an imaginary trade that does not exist? These need to be explained by both TUIK and the ministry.

Dear citizens, dear members of the press, due to the bad course of the economy in the country, you see that we have come to another threshold after the privatization policies applied for years for nothing, such as highways, bridges, ports, and underground resources. Here, it is also truly very interesting; you know, the Istanbul Governorship, which rejects and blocks all democratic march requests of the CHP, our Istanbul Provincial Organization, but gives permission and accompanies when Bilal Erdoğan applies, but rejects when the CHP wants to hold a protest march, a solidarity march on the same bridge with the same heading, the same subject, is making a new decision. And on the Göktürk Kemerburgaz line, it is opening the water to be extracted from deep drilling wells, one here and the other on the Maltepe border, for commercial use for 9 years. Well, for how much money does the governorship want to sell the water to be operated for 9 years? For 23 million 813 thousand liras. I mean, for the price of an apartment in Istanbul. Of course, we see all of these, we explain the figures. They wanted to do it on bridges and highways too. In a very recent date, Mr. Erdoğan said about the privatization of bridges regarding the same bridge, 'It is treason to the homeland for less than 7 billion dollars'; now he is trying to sell it for 3 billion dollars. As the CHP, we will not allow any of these. Our Chairman also voiced it; we will use the legal path during the CHP government for those that have been sold. We will not allow unfair gain. We will use the public's right, we will evaluate it there.

"ECONOMIC DEBT TRAP: '43 MILLION OF 65 MILLION ADULTS ARE IN DEBT TO BANKS'"

Dear friends, our valuable citizens, look, we are including these difficulties regarding the economy again, we are explaining them. The government and its representatives are constantly painting a rosy picture, we are listening to a rosy picture. Listen to Tayyip Erdoğan, he tells the same rosy picture; the ministers are the same. Now, recently, Vice President Mr. Cevdet Yılmaz is making a speech in Elazığ. He says: 'We,' he says, 'thank God, are not such a heavily indebted country. Our people are not very indebted either. Neither our company nor our country is in debt,' he says. I mean, one is truly surprised; which planet do you live on? Which country do you live in? What are you high on? We are a country of 86 million. Subtract the population under 18, approximately 65 million. 43 million of this have debts to banks. Look, 43 million out of 65 million; 43 million of the adult population have debts, and the amount of debt per capita has exceeded 130 thousand liras. The corporate debt of the top 20 companies in Turkey has exceeded 2 trillion liras. In January 2026, 2 million 700 thousand more were added to the enforcement and bankruptcy files. We are breaking the record of the last century; it has reached 25 million. Individual credit card debt has reached 6 trillion liras. External debt has increased from 130 billion dollars to 564 billion dollars during the AKP period; it has increased more than 4 times. Moreover, 168 billion dollars of this is short-term. Look, 300 billion dollars of this debt is on the shoulders of the private sector, and 236 billion dollars is on the shoulders of the public. I mean, the risk is not just the state's; it is on the shoulders of the producer, the industrialist, the farmer, the worker, and the nation. The total debt of the farmer has risen to 15 billion dollars. 'We don't have much debt,' says the Vice President. I mean, just in January, 516 thousand people lost their jobs. Let Mr. Yılmaz go and ask the worker, the farmer, the retiree, the youth, the industrialist, and the tradesman of this country; has their debt increased or decreased? Let him ask. Let him tell us about the figures in other countries.

'6.5 MILLION OF OUR YOUTH ARE NEITHER IN EDUCATION NOR IN EMPLOYMENT'

In our country, 29 out of every 100 young people are neither in education nor in employment. Look, young labor force between the ages of 15-34 is accepted. How much is the young working population here? 24 million. 6.5 million of this, look, 6.5 million, are neither continuing their education nor working. And these children are our future, the future of our country. Of course, no one should fall into pessimism; we have solutions. During the CHP government, we will definitely make use of these young people; whether in education, in employment, in vocational training, or they will work for the wages they deserve as intermediate staff. We will implement qualified employment programs. We will develop public-supported internship and entrepreneurship opportunities. Therefore, there will be no such young person sitting at home during our government period. We will definitely ensure that these children take a proper place in social life by developing social participation projects and psychosocial support.

"YOU CANNOT SCARE US WITH THE JUDICIAL STICK; WE WILL CONTINUE TO TALK ABOUT THE CITIZENS' PROBLEMS"

Our valuable citizens, dear friends, our Chairman is explaining the real agenda, the problems of Turkey everywhere in Turkey. He is talking about the problems of the citizen, the worker, the farmer, the villager, the retiree, the youth, and the women, and explaining their solutions. Do you know what happens? There is no 'let me take advice, let me find a solution, let me support my citizens in these bad days' after listening to these. Instantly, without our chairman even getting off the bus, the Chief Public Prosecutor's Offices are making statements. New investigations, new summaries of proceedings; I mean, this is how they will solve the problem: The judicial stick against the Republican People's Party. You cannot scare us with the judicial stick. We will continue to listen to the citizens' troubles, talk about their problems, and explain the solutions. I am calling out to the Justice and Development Party from here: Stop oppressing your own people. Stop using the judiciary. Bring the ballot box as soon as possible, let's see what will happen under the arbitration of the people. We know that when we go to the ballot box under the arbitration of the people, the CHP will be in power.”