CHP leader Özel speaks in Ankara: 'We have no intention of compromising with Erdoğan'

Located in the Soma district of Manisa, AKP Batman Deputy Ferhat Nasıroğlu's Fernas Mining, where workers launched a struggle against poor occupational safety and low wages and were subsequently fired for joining a union, continues to be the site of a resistance.

Visiting the workers at Ankara's Kurtuluş Park, Özel said, "If he accepts a reasonable delegation along with the Minister—I don't know his schedule for today—or if that is not suitable, if the Minister listens and provides him with information, then a solution can be found for this issue."

'WE ARE AHEAD BY A SMALL MARGIN'

Responding to journalists' questions after his visit to the workers, Özel commented on a poll commissioned by the CHP: "This party came to power after 47 years. For a long time, we maintained our status as the leading party while taking steps toward normalization. Our focus on internal debates and the criticism of normalization caused the party to lose altitude among AKP, MHP, and İYİ Party voters. In the September poll, according to the average of 9 polls, we are 3 points ahead. Why shouldn't we be 6 points ahead? While we were 4.5 points ahead in the poll we commissioned, we are now 3 points ahead. We want to change this government. In one of the companies close to the government, we are 0.7 points behind, and in another, we are ahead by a very small margin." he said.

'IT MADE THE VOTERS HAPPY'

Regarding the standing ovation for President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan at the opening of Parliament, Özel stated the following:

"The standing ovation made the voters happy. This has an incredible resonance in society. I have no regrets. We did not stand up to draft a constitution, to compromise, or to form a coalition. When the CHP does not stand up, even AKP voters in the village coffeehouses we visit walk out. We stood up out of respect for the office, not for Erdoğan himself. I do not want my party to lose altitude. We do not forget what anyone has done. Let no one doubt that we will provide the harshest opposition. If we are losing, I am the one losing. I will pay the price, and I will be the one held accountable."

'THERE IS NO PROBLEM BETWEEN US'

On the other hand, Özel also inaugurated the monument built in memory of those who lost their lives in the October 10 massacre.

Speaking about the fact that the October 10 Peace and Democracy Association, founded by the families of those who lost their lives in the massacre, did not attend the opening, Özel said, "I don't know why this tension escalated. One person was proposed as a speaker on behalf of the association, and Mansur Yavaş was also going to speak. They said, 'If politicians are not going to attend, we won't attend either.' There is no problem between us."