CHP Istanbul Provincial Chair Özgür Çelik on 'alliance': 'Despite all the statements made...'

The new CHP Istanbul Provincial Chair Özgür Çelik made statements regarding his party's local election strategy. Stating that a 'grassroots alliance' has formed in Istanbul, Çelik also said, despite all the statements regarding the IYI Party-CHP tension, “The channels of dialogue have not completely closed.”

Speaking to Mehmet Emin Kurnaz from BirGün, Çelik said the following:

You are the provincial chair of the party that governs Istanbul. We have a critical local election ahead of us. What kind of preparations are you making?

"First of all, I would like to state that we started our work on ballot box security two weeks ago. In Istanbul, we are determining our principal and substitute ballot box officials, observers, school, floor, and IT supervisors, and lawyers for 31 thousand ballot boxes, and we are starting our ballot box training.

The most important focus of our work will be to explain the social democratic municipal practices of our Metropolitan Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, who has been governing Istanbul for 4.5 years, to the public.

We will explain the works brought to Istanbul by Ekrem İmamoğlu, the mayor of 16 million Istanbulites, through his infrastructure and superstructure projects. We will talk about the nurseries he opened for the future of our children and the dormitories that serve as a solution to the housing problem of our students.

We will explain how Istanbul's green spaces are being transformed into urban forests and life valleys instead of being opened to zoning and rent.

It is difficult to fit 4.5 years of work into one interview; in short, we will explain his projects that touch Istanbulites, young people, and women, door to door. This will be our most important heading. We will carry out this process in coordination with Mr. İmamoğlu. There will definitely be coordination between our Mayor Ekrem and our Provincial Organization.

Apart from this, Istanbul has very serious problems stemming from the central government. We will talk about the poverty experienced due to the economic crisis and the urban poor. Migration and immigrants continue to be a significant problem for our city. The reasons and solutions for this, as well as issues such as earthquakes and urban transformation, will also be on our agenda. In addition, our district mayoral candidates will have their own projects in the district municipalities, and they will explain their projects to the public.

We want to determine a significant portion of the candidates in Istanbul before the new year. I would like to emphasize that this is quite important, especially in our districts with high population and voter numbers, so that our mayoral candidates can reach more voters and explain their projects. I would also like to state that there will definitely be female and young candidates in Istanbul.

We are identifying the problems in each of Istanbul's 39 districts separately and determining our solutions. After determining our candidates, we will organize an integrated process with our party organization, our Istanbul Metropolitan Mayor, and our district mayoral candidates. We will be in the field with a strategy specific to each district with our entire organization and candidates."

"WE WILL STAND WITH ISTANBULITES"

The government has legalized the seizure of property. The rent of Istanbul whets the government's appetite under the name of urban transformation. How will the CHP put up a fight in Istanbul?

We see that the new urban transformation law creates anxiety and concern among our citizens in Istanbul and Turkey. The current government's previous practices reinforce these concerns and anxieties. Past urban transformation practices caused urban exiles. Green spaces and military areas were opened to zoning and used as a tool to transfer rent to certain individuals and groups.

For this reason, there is a great lack of trust among citizens regarding the new law. The citizen is worried that the government will seize their home and exile them to the outskirts of the city.

As the Republican People's Party, we will stand with Istanbulites in all urban transformation processes. We will fight for citizens to be involved in decision-making processes both in the Turkish Grand National Assembly and in Istanbul. We will constantly emphasize the necessity of persuading and encouraging citizens for urban transformation to proceed in the healthiest way. We will defend a participatory, transparent, city- and human-oriented urban transformation together with the people of Istanbul. We will explain to our people the necessity of cooperation between the central government and local government in urban transformation, and that professional chambers, non-governmental organizations, and scientists should be included in the processes. We will explain that the right to property should not be violated and that all processes should take place through consensus.

TARGET IS MAJORITY IN IMM

The grand congress in the CHP has ended and a new era has begun. Has the change created excitement at the local level and at the grassroots?

At the Istanbul congress, I had stated that ‘‘the 2023 election results revealed hopelessness and that society needs a new hope.’’

The Istanbul Congress and the subsequent Grand Assembly (Kurultay) created a new excitement, hope, and curiosity in the CHP grassroots and even in voter groups outside the CHP. We can see this in the public opinion polls conducted.

Furthermore, the increasing interest in our party and the increase in membership applications to our party, especially by young people, is an important indicator of this new wave of hope. We will continue to work with all our might with our Chairman Mr. Özgür Özel and all levels of our party so that the torch we lit at the Istanbul Congress and our Grand Assembly illuminates all of Turkey.

The change process in our party will reflect positively on the local elections. We will put forward a strong claim in 39 districts in Istanbul. We will win the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality again. By setting a target in 39 districts in Istanbul, winning between 25-30 districts, and securing a council majority, we will eliminate all the obstacles created by the ruling party using its majority in the IMM Council.

GRASSROOTS ALLIANCE

After the IYI Party's anti-alliance stance, there is talk of a 'grassroots alliance' in the CHP. How will it reflect on the IMM election?

Since the 2017 Referendum, and especially since the 2019 elections, a grassroots alliance has been achieved in Turkey and particularly in Istanbul. The spirit of the Istanbul Alliance established in the 2019 elections is still alive, and when we go out to the streets, we can see the reflections of this at the grassroots, regardless of which party they belong to. Despite all the statements made, I do not think the channels of dialogue regarding local cooperation have completely closed. Because I see a demand for cooperation in society and a reflex to act together among voters on the streets of Istanbul. In this sense, I do not think any political party will remain indifferent to this demand of society."