CHP leader Özgür Özel's reaction to Murat Kurum over İliç: 'Do not make him the disaster of Istanbul!'

CHP Chairman Özgür Özel spoke at the candidate introduction meeting in Balıkesir.

Criticizing İsmail Ok, who switched to the AKP, Özel said, "The will of the people of Balıkesir was stolen." Özel also criticized the AKP candidate Murat Kurum.

Here are the highlights from Özel's statements:

"THEY COULD NOT DIGEST OUR SUCCESS"

"Our slogan is our work, our power is Turkey, Balıkesir, Edremit, Ayvalık. All districts. Our mayors are people who are motivated by their cities instead of being busy with other things. I congratulate all the honest friends who have become candidates here, who have left their work and focused on their city, who prefer to beautify the city rather than enrich their own surroundings, and all the hardworking friends who will not be in our party in the next term but will contribute, and I want applause. We do not have forced resignations due to corruption or ties to certain organizations like some others. We vouch for the candidates we have nominated just as much as we vouch for those who applied for candidacy but were not nominated. As the CHP Chairman, I clearly state this guarantee. We hear the rebellion of a few people in some newspapers. It was good when they were in office... I care a lot about local elections; they are both very instructive elections and we all accumulate unforgettable memories in history. While winning 10 metropolitan cities, one of them was Istanbul. You know, they could not digest that success; they went to the YSK (Supreme Election Council) and canceled the election."

"THE WILL OF THE PEOPLE OF BALIKESIR WAS STOLEN"

"In the last election, we nominated Ahmet Akın. I said, 'Ahmet Akın is close to everyone, you will win this election.' Was he winning? He was. All of Balıkesir is a witness that, as the candidate of the Nation Alliance, he was ending this nightmare. He was coming as a mayor who serves without discriminating in politics. They said, 'Withdraw your candidate.' He was tearful; he withdrew while crying. That's how they wanted it, and it was given to İsmail Ok. The AK Party made him a member of parliament. There is a theft of the will of the people of Balıkesir here!

You can definitely stop the price hikes, inflation, and high cost of living that will come on April 1st. You can stop it on March 31st. If you vote for the People's Alliance and the AKP despite everything, they will say, 'No matter what we do, they still vote for us!'"

"DO NOT MAKE HIM THE DISASTER OF ISTANBUL"

"From now on, our request from our citizens is: Do not make the person responsible for the İliç disaster the disaster of Istanbul!"