CHP leader Özgür Özel: 'We must break the glass ceiling abroad as well'

The Republican People's Party (CHP) organized the "Overseas Organization Second Century Vision Workshop," which covered June 30 and July 1-2.

The workshop, held at the Istanbul Planning Agency’s (İPA) campus in Florya with representatives from 21 different countries, was attended by CHP Chairman Özgür Özel, CHP Istanbul Provincial Chairman Özgür Çelik, and Union of Municipalities of Turkey (TBB) and Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (İBB) Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu.

The opening speeches of the workshop were delivered in order by: CHP Party Assembly Member responsible for Overseas Organization Mehmet Tüm, Bakırköy Mayor Ayşegül Ovalıoğlu, İBB Mayor İmamoğlu, CHP Deputy Chairman responsible for Organization Ensar Aytekin, and CHP Chairman Özel. 

In his speech at the workshop, Özel said the following:

''We have a recent election practice where we received half the votes of the ruling party abroad, as Ensar [Aytekin] mentioned, and we are facing a reality: we have a responsibility to break the glass ceiling abroad just as we do domestically. The fact that the voter turnout among overseas voters remains at around 50 percent—even in the centennial election where motivation was at its highest—and the common finding in all analyses that voters who do not go to the polls are actually those who do not look favorably upon the government in Turkey, are dissatisfied with its practices, and would not vote for the government if they went to the polls, reveals what a great task and opportunity lies before us.

The more successful we are together in reaching those we haven't reached, convincing those we haven't convinced, and calling them to the ballot box, the faster the gap will close. And perhaps after the next election, we will share the happiness of having been the first party both domestically and abroad. In fact, when we look at the numbers, if you look at which countries votes were cast in and in how many of these we are the first party, we are the first party in 40 out of the 74 electoral districts abroad. And we are the second or third party everywhere where participation is low. That is why it is clear what we primarily need to do. But on the other hand, there is a point that our esteemed Ekrem [İmamoğlu] underlined earlier. If we look at you only as people who will find votes and voters abroad, carry them to the ballot box, and count the votes, that would be a great injustice and a reductionist attitude.

Essentially, you are the people who represent the party of Gazi Mustafa Kemal Atatürk in the second century of the Republic, all over the world; you are the faces there. You are the representatives of our kinsmen and citizens there, or those who are not Turkish citizens but have gone there from Turkey and are now only citizens of those countries, and you are the people who will bring their problems to us. You are our representatives who not only represent the party in 21 different countries today, but tomorrow in 74 different electoral districts around the world, witnessing the political practices there and transferring them to the party, conveying good practices, positive developments, or bad experiences, conducting political analyses, and keeping a finger on the pulse of those countries. We value you highly, both for your labor and your intellectual background, and for your capacity to develop yourselves and your organization, and at this point, our primary duty and your primary duty is that while you are certainly opinion leaders and elected leaders in your regions, you have a responsibility to develop our organization there in terms of quality and quantity, and we value this highly. 

ÖZEL ADDRESSED CITIZENS LIVING ABROAD

More than 7 million of our citizens live abroad, 5-6 million of whom are in Europe. The CHP is not only the home of our 86 million citizens domestically, but also the father's house, the ancestral home for millions of our people in what we used to call 'abroad' but are now their second homelands. The 'Turkey Alliance' is not just a discourse we use domestically; it is a very important bond of affection that we must frequently remind voters abroad of and build with them, because this ancestral home has only one owner, and that is Gazi Mustafa Kemal Atatürk.

We are aware that you abroad have many problems that need to be solved, from education to health, from social rights to economic issues. If we need to engage in self-criticism to establish a political understanding that identifies the necessary problems and pursues the right solutions, we must express this self-criticism in this three-day workshop with an open heart, respecting each other's rights, and without abandoning the framework of courtesy. I underline once again that we will grow stronger through criticism and self-criticism, that we should not hesitate to talk about our mistakes, and the importance of finding the truth together.

We must know that as long as we do not address your problems and are not by your side in your good and bad days, other structures, formations, and organizations will fill this void. It is very important to share the troubles of Turks living abroad, of Republic of Turkey citizens living abroad, or anyone with a connection to Turkey, to be with them in their good and bad days, and to touch upon their problems. Otherwise, we must see that certain sects, cults, those who do not share common dreams with you and us regarding the future of the Republic of Turkey, those who want to make Turkey a part of very different geographies rather than a part of Europe, and those who try to strengthen the organizations of completely different structures instead of a democratic organization, are finding space.

In the coming period, we have to address, examine, and discuss all problems on a country-by-country basis and in the context of the common problems of all countries. It is the responsibility of the CHP to bring the problems and expectations of you living abroad to the agenda, not only on an organizational basis but also in parliamentary committees, in the General Assembly of the TBMM, and in all areas open to public opinion, and these efforts must be carried out with determination and increasingly. 

"THEY WILL LISTEN TO YOU, BUT THEY WILL ONLY SMILE BITTERLY"

There is no doubt that among the factors feeding the far-right are income inequality, the gap between the rich and the poor, and the fact that this is blamed on immigrants in the country, and it must be stated here once again that a language of hatred built upon them and holding them responsible feeds the far-right. Therefore, it must be stated that we are concerned that our citizens living abroad will be the target of the far-right, as they have been in the past, not only in terms of discourse but also in terms of the erosion of rights and even attacks and massacres that have caused us great pain in the past, and that we cannot ignore this danger.

Full membership in the European Union is a 60-year goal of our country, initiated by our party. It was clear that the European Union could not be the goal of an authoritarian populist government; Turkey has revealed this once again with the experience it has lived through. Although the determination expressed by the CHP regarding full membership in the European Union in the coming period, the new excitement, energy, and vision we have put forward in terms of foreign relations... At this point, the fact that world leaders have gained a new perspective on our party along with our country, and on our country along with our party, and the close relationships and dialogues we have established with them, have brought the ruling party to the point of remembering the European Union goal again.

We value the fact that Erdoğan has remembered the European Union relations, which he has not mentioned for a long time and even used as a polemic area for domestic politics whenever he did, but we do not take it very seriously. Because the point we have been dragged to today, after a beginning and a milestone celebrated with fireworks in broad daylight, shows that the government is not sincere about this.

"IF YOU DO NOT COMPLY WITH AYM DECISIONS, YOU CANNOT HAVE A DREAM CALLED THE EU"

If you insist on resisting the decisions of the European Court of Human Rights in another building in Strasbourg, within the Council of Europe that you founded 75 years ago, if you do not implement international agreements even though they are written in your Constitution, if you withdraw from the Istanbul Convention—which is named after Istanbul and is a source of pride for all of us—with a single signature in the middle of the night, chasing after a few perverted games, even though all parties had decided on it unanimously in a vote, if you do not comply with the decisions of your country's Constitutional Court, if you ignore court decisions, if you trample on the separation of powers, which is the indispensable prerequisite for democracy and development, and are not content with your powers in the executive but give instructions to the legislature and even use its powers with decrees, and against this, you render the AYM decisions void again and establish a tutelage over all judicial bodies, you cannot have a dream called the European Union.

When you mention what you have done with the European Union in the same sentence, those in front of you will listen to you, but they will only smile bitterly. And unfortunately, those in front of you see you as a stakeholder that can be turned into a camp for Syrian refugees that can be bargained with, that they pay for and use, and that they pay for and silence. They will never see you as a partner, a candidate country that can be represented in the same parliament in the future.

"A SHAMEFUL MILESTONE"

Unfortunately, the agreement that Erdoğan made with Angela Merkel in the past, the handshake over 6 million Euros, is a success for Merkel, it is a success for Erdoğan, but it is a shameful milestone in terms of Turkey and European Union ideals. The presence of refugees in Turkey, which is 4.6 million by official figures but reaches 10 million with various calculations, discourses, and a common acceptance in exchange for money, and receiving 6 million euros in return, is of course the visible side of the agreement; the fact that reports against human rights violations in Turkey are written softly, that sanctions are spread over time, and ultimately that Turkey has drifted to a point where it has broken away from European values and democratic standards today is a result that should not be surprising.

"NOT SOMETHING TO BE PROUD OF, BUT A SITUATION TO BE VERY ASHAMED OF..."

Today we are proud of getting off the 'grey list'. Let us remind you here; we entered the 'grey list' in 2021. We entered the 'grey list' because some legal regulations that were made recently were not made... One night before we were removed from the 'grey list', we got rid of the place where Burkina Faso is, in a half-baked way, with strange evaluations like 'will they keep us there with political evaluations', that is, with a lack of self-confidence. But it was none other than the government that kept us there for three years and made Turkey face this shame.

"IT IS THE GOVERNMENT THAT MADE TURKEY FACE THIS SHAME"

One night before we were removed from the 'grey list', we got rid of the place where Burkina Faso is, in a half-baked way, with strange evaluations like 'will they keep us there with political evaluations', that is, with a lack of self-confidence. But it was none other than the government that kept us there for three years and made Turkey face this shame.

"THE COUNTRY WHERE SCHENGEN VISAS ARE REJECTED THE MOST..."

Unfortunately, today Turkey is the only country among the countries participating in the European Football Championship that goes to Germany with a visa. It is necessary to remind all our citizens of this and to underline this strange situation in bold. The government that has been managing this country for 23 years, just as it did not include Turkey in the Eurovision song contest with some obsessive perspectives, and just as it caused us to lose our representation in many international areas, it brought a national team that had become third in the world to a point where it could not participate in European and world championships, and finally in this period, thank God, we are the only country that gets a visa when going to the place where we are represented in Germany. This must be seen. Our students, scientists, business people, and patients are suffering greatly due to the visa problem. Our scientists and professors are having trouble getting to their surgeries and the classes they will teach. Unfortunately, Turkey is the country where Schengen visas are rejected the most. Turkey has reached the point of being the country with the highest rejection rate among countries applying for Schengen visas. From a point where we criticized the 9 percent rejection rate in 2019, it has risen to a 22 percent rejection rate five years later. When one out of every five Turkish citizens applies to go to Europe, they are met with a humiliating answer, not just for themselves but for all of us, saying 'no, we will not let you in'. That is why it is necessary to turn Turkey's route to the right place again.

Do not look at Erdoğan saying 'the European Union is our goal from which we will not depart' as we talk to all European Union members, their valuable representatives in Turkey, ambassadors, and our foreign contacts. The fate that awaits us there where they target is also clear. Therefore, I invite all our citizens once again to pay attention to where Erdoğan is trying to take us, that is, what the direction shown by the last captain, but the first and eternal captain of the ship, is.

"REPRESENTATION OF OUR CITIZENS ABROAD MUST BE ENSURED"

When our citizens abroad come to Turkey, they only benefit from emergency health services as health services. This comes against very important health problems. This must definitely be solved. Again, there are problems with retirement. The premiums paid by those who retire from Turkey have been increased significantly. The salaries they receive have decreased a lot. We have to fix the pensions of those who retire from Turkey by paying premiums from abroad.

Even if our citizens living abroad want to do their military service in our country, the paid military service fees are found to be very high. This damages the ties of our youth with our country. We also advocate that the military service fee for our citizens abroad should be reduced to a symbolic figure. The time restriction on phones and vehicles brought to Turkey from abroad creates a major problem. Even if the stay of the vehicles in Turkey is exceeded by one day, heavy fines are paid. It is necessary to increase this period to five months and extend the non-penalty periods for televisions brought in.

The necessary steps have not been taken regarding the promised equal rights and opportunities for our citizens with Blue Cards. There are still damp inequalities, this issue should be re-evaluated according to needs. The increase in airline ticket prices has directed our citizens to travel by road. This turns into a long and painful wait at the border gates. The problems in this regard need to be solved quickly. Due to the uncertainty about how Turkish lessons will be given and taught, especially in Germany, our children's education is being disrupted. Negotiations need to be held with the German government on a solution that will protect the interests of our citizens. Facilitating solutions need to be found by providing state support to families and making bilateral agreements regarding the bringing of our citizens' funerals to Turkey. The creation of an overseas electoral district must be ensured so that our citizens abroad can be represented by sending their own deputies to parliament. As the CHP, we have submitted our legislative proposal to parliament for two terms on this issue. We also defend this as a party policy."