CHP's Murat Bakan responds to Yerlikaya's 'We are winning İzmir' remark!

CHP Deputy Chairman responsible for the Ministry of Interior and İzmir MP Murat Bakan issued a written statement regarding Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya's visit to İzmir. The CHP official criticized the presence of AKP MPs and AKP and MHP provincial chairs at a security meeting attended by state bureaucracy.

The CHP official gave the following response to Yerlikaya's remark that "We are winning the İzmir Metropolitan Municipality":

"As an Interior Minister who visits those who defend the murderers of our martyred Police Chief Gaffar Okkan, dreaming about İzmir is a complete lack of political foresight. They cannot explain to the people of İzmir or the patriots of this country the close contact they have established with those who are uncomfortable with the Turkish flag, the word 'Turk', our student oath, co-education, and even the oath taken by MPs in Parliament."

"DO NOT GET INVOLVED IN POLITICS, FOCUS ON YOUR RESPONSIBILITIES"

The statement by CHP's Murat Bakan is as follows:

"Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya was in İzmir yesterday for the 'Turkey's Peace Meeting'. While visiting the İzmir Governor's Office, he got out of his vehicle with an AKP MP. After the governor's office visit, he visited the MHP Provincial Headquarters and the AKP Provincial Headquarters.

What were AKP MPs and the AKP and MHP İzmir Provincial Chairs doing at a security meeting titled 'Turkey's Peace Meeting', which was attended by police chiefs, gendarmerie commanders, governors, district governors, and the state bureaucracy? Why did political party representatives attend a state security meeting? If there was a situation concerning political parties, why were the MPs and provincial chairs of other political parties not invited? We wonder how Mr. Yerlikaya explains this strange situation.

Ali Yerlikaya, whom we thought 'came from the public sector, knows bureaucracy, state etiquette, and statesmanship' and whom we appreciated for being 'aware of his duties and responsibilities and focused on his work', has shown us in a very short time that we were wrong and that he is a complete party loyalist.

Yesterday, during his visit to the AKP İzmir Provincial Headquarters, he boasted, 'We are winning the İzmir Metropolitan Municipality'... Let us remind him of this: As an Interior Minister who visits those who defend the murderers of our martyred Police Chief Gaffar Okkan, dreaming about İzmir is a complete lack of political foresight. They cannot explain to the people of İzmir or the patriots of this country the close contact they have established with those who are uncomfortable with the Turkish flag, the word 'Turk', our student oath, co-education, and even the oath taken by MPs in Parliament.

My advice to Mr. Yerlikaya is not to aspire to be like the previous Interior Minister, not to get involved in politics, and to focus entirely on the responsibilities of the position to which he was appointed..."