Days left until the convention: CHP chairmanship candidate Özgür Özel announces his team

CHP Chairmanship Candidate Özgür Özel answered questions from journalists ahead of the 38th Ordinary Grand Convention of the CHP, which will be held on November 4-5.

According to the report by BirGün from the program he attended on Sözcü TV, Özel announced the names on his team and stated the following:

Here are the names on the team

“Yalçın Karatepe will be on our Party Assembly list. Alongside Selin Hoca (Sayek Böke) and Yalçın Hoca (Karatepe), the active dean of the Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences of a highly sought-after university in Turkey, which currently has the highest entrance scores, will head our fiscal policies.

In the science and management culture platform, someone who was the head of the R&D department of an electronics company that exports to 180 countries until yesterday, a brilliant 40-year-old, one of Turkey's gems, will be the deputy chairman responsible for science, technology, R&D, and innovation of the Republican People's Party.

The party has left national defense policies completely empty for years... A retired rear admiral will be the deputy chairman responsible for national defense. These 5-6 names are extremely valuable. İlhan Uzgel, our party assembly member responsible for foreign policy, will be our deputy chairman. If I win on Saturday, I will also make an offer to Namık Tan for my list on Sunday, if he sees fit.”

RESPONSE TO GÜRSEL EROL

Commenting on CHP MP Gürsel Erol calling those in favor of change 'opportunists,' Özel said, “Those expressions are not acceptable. That condescending language, that belittling language, that insulting language is not the right language. I will not respond to that language. Because Gürsel Erol is my elder. He has been angry with me a few times, offended a few times, and reconciled a few times. Gürsel Erol is someone who experiences intense emotions and likes to raise the tension. I will not be occupied with those words. Opportunism, what opportunism? Are we doing business?

Calling it opportunism means trying to 'AK Party-ize' or 'MHP-ize' the Republican People's Party. This is not right. There is intra-party democracy in this party. Every member has such a right. This is an extremely legitimate, extremely democratic right,” he said.

STATEMENT ON İMAMOĞLU

Özel also said the following regarding Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (İBB) Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu:

"I see Mr. Ekrem as a political actor who adds significant momentum to the Republican People's Party. After the elections, I had communication with Mr. Ekrem, as I did with everyone. He was one of the first to speak about change. We chatted from time to time and exchanged ideas. We have a relationship based on trust. He won a metropolis like Istanbul twice, and he will win it a third time.

(Regarding alliances) There is wear and tear in our two alliance potentials. One; there is a decline in the alliances we made before and the alliances we are likely to make. There is also a decline in the social alliance. I think that a change of chairman in the CHP will contribute to the healing of the feelings of Kurdish voters. Otherwise, there is a resentment of, 'We gave our votes to Mr. Kemal, and he gave the Ministry of Interior to the Zafer Party and did it with a secret protocol.'"