Fatih Altaylı sends a new letter from Silivri! Harsh words for Kılıçdaroğlu: 'His photo should be taken down'

Journalist Fatih Altaylı, who is being held at Marmara Prison, is currently in custody on charges of "threatening the President" as part of a lawsuit filed against him due to remarks he made during a YouTube broadcast. In his latest message sent to the public from prison, Altaylı directed heavy criticism at Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu regarding the CHP congress lawsuit.

Altaylı claimed that Kılıçdaroğlu is deliberately weakening the CHP through the congress lawsuit filed, and used the following expressions:

“They are trying to corrupt the party by dragging out the congress lawsuit. CHP members understand very well what I mean by ‘corrupting.’ This is Kılıçdaroğlu’s management style.”

“TAKE HIS PHOTO DOWN FROM THE CHP GALLERY” CALL

Going even further in his statements, Altaylı completely questioned Kılıçdaroğlu’s place within the CHP. Making an open call to the party, Altaylı said, “When this lawsuit ends, there is one thing the CHP must do: take Kılıçdaroğlu’s photo down from the Gallery of Chairmen. This person does not deserve to stand alongside Atatürk and İsmet İnönü—even if only in a photograph.”

The letter from Fatih Altaylı, read on his YouTube channel, is as follows:

“I have things to tell you from prison after my notes from Silivri, but first let’s look at the agenda. Since I thought that if the seat weren't empty, the first issue would be the nonsense known as the nullity lawsuit, I want to start there, if you’ll allow me. The case was left until September, exactly as I expected. I had told Özgür Özel when we met. They won’t finish it; they will drag it out. By doing this, they will try to corrupt the CHP, and they will keep it under discussion and keep a sword hanging over it. CHP members understand well what I mean by corrupting. It is Kılıçdaroğlu’s management style. I see that here as well. When this lawsuit ends, there is one thing to be done: take Kılıçdaroğlu’s photo down from the Gallery of Chairmen in the CHP. This person does not deserve to stand alongside Atatürk and İsmet İnönü, even with his photograph.

Now the question is: what is expected to happen until September? What should happen is for Kılıçdaroğlu to come to his senses and say, ‘What am I doing? Generations will curse me,’ and abandon this attitude. The greedy opportunists around him won’t do this, but his wife or children could warn him. This decision also shows that the heat and tension of the summer will not drop. It is now clear that the conclusion of political cases, especially the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (İBB) case, will be delayed, but the government is also aware that as these cases drag on without an indictment, they are increasingly losing credibility in the eyes of the citizens.

“The government will not easily let go of this lawsuit toy”

Throughout this summer, prosecutors will work feverishly at the courthouse, and the İBB indictment will reach September. I think the postponement of the nullity lawsuit points to releases being pushed to the autumn, excluding İmamoğlu and 4 mayors. The government will not easily let go of this lawsuit toy. They will continue this for a long time, yes, I do not think Ekrem İmamoğlu will be released immediately.

Forest fires: Good grief, does a ministry or a government never learn a lesson!

Yesterday, the British Foreign Secretary came to Ankara; the Typhoon jets were discussed. It seems the UK will convince Germany and lift the German veto. The Turkish Air Force is going through the most troubled period of its recent history; no new aircraft have arrived for over 15 years, and there are no replacements for those lost in accidents. We were kicked out of the F-35 program, we said yes to Sweden’s NATO membership for F-16s, and last week we asked the President’s friend Trump for F-35s again. Despite the ‘yes’ for F-16s, they are not coming, and I guess we lost hope in my friend Trump, so we went back to the Typhoon again, but there isn’t much hope there either. It seems forests are burning all over the country. It started early again this year, just like in 2022, and just like that year, there are no planes around. I cannot see the yellow planes of the Turkish Aeronautical Association (THK) in any news I watch. Good grief, does a ministry or a government never learn a lesson! Even fools understood that this cannot be done with helicopters, but the Ministry of Forestry did not. We are heading toward a record forest loss again, solely due to incompetence.

“While the government is trying to design the opposition through the judiciary, it has completely neglected the economy”

While the government is trying to suppress dissidents and design the opposition through the judiciary, it has completely neglected the economy. About 1,500 businesses close every day, and they, while busy trying to shut down the opposition, don’t even ask why these businesses are closing. The number of companies whose concordat requests have been accepted since the beginning of the year has approached 3,000. A concordat is like a snowball; each concordat leads to at least two more concordats or bankruptcies. This is a harbinger of disaster, and it will not decrease just because I or another dissident is in prison; it will increase.

“FETÖ is gone by name, but its methods are still valid there!”

I also heard the allegations regarding the university exam results. It seems FETÖ is gone by name, but its methods are still valid there. It is said that the questions were stolen again, and what is grave is that there is no statement from the ministry; they don’t say it was stolen, nor do they say it wasn’t. They don’t care about the youth, but let them know that they are not cared about by the youth either, at least not by the quality youth who have their heads on straight.

The bird in his cell

Let me give you some good news and also talk about what I’ve been doing. I mentioned a bird that entered my room; if you remember, let me give you some good news. After that chick spent its first few hours under my bed, a slight trust formed between us. It couldn’t resist much, and I caught it without hurting it, then took it out to the courtyard, but it couldn’t fly. It would lift off 1 meter but couldn’t reach the nest on the wall about 7-8 meters high. It got tired as it tried. The prison guards were hopeless. ‘They always fall, none survive, unfortunately. Give it water and bulgur, maybe it will live for a day or two,’ they said. The chick was flapping helplessly, losing its strength as it did so. Then I remembered a book I read as a child, *Das Leben der Vögel* (The Life of Birds). I learned there that small birds expend a lot of energy and therefore need sugar. I took out the semolina dessert (revani) they gave for lunch, crumbled a piece, mixed its syrup with water in a container. At first, it didn’t look at it, then it started pecking. It started eating from my hand and drinking its water. The prison guards who came to close my exit to the courtyard warned me, ‘Be careful, they might transmit diseases or something.’ The chick spent the night in the courtyard by the window. In the morning, it ate some watermelon, and at the same time, we started flight training. After quite a few failed attempts, toward the evening, it took off from my hand and flew up to the nest. We saved a chick.

That is my good news. I couldn’t tell you what I did over the weekend; if you want, let me mention that too. Silivri was quiet over the weekend; lawyer traffic decreased a bit. I was able to spend more time in my room, read more books, did a deep cleaning in my room, and enjoyed myself a bit. You will say, ‘What kind of enjoyment in prison?’ You know, I don’t like cliché sayings, but it was something like ‘if life gives you lemons, make lemonade.’ I did just that. When I said I enjoyed myself, I sipped my ‘bellini’ while sunbathing and reading a book in the courtyard of my cell.

Don’t laugh, I’ll explain. They sometimes give peach juice with the meals, and I store them in the fridge. Over the weekend, I made small ice cubes with a plastic cup, crushed them, added peach juice, and a bit of mineral water—there you go, a non-alcoholic bellini. Don’t think I’ve gone crazy; I’m just trying to respond to the enemies of happiness by protecting my happiness in any case. Other than that, daily courtyard walks continue; I reached 10,000 steps a day. Cleaning continues, reading and writing continue. If I find time, I watch television. Halk TV, Sözcü TV, and TRT’s sports channels. TRT’s sports broadcasting is very different from their other broadcasting; in my opinion, they do the highest quality sports broadcasting. They still do. I think they shouldn’t do any other broadcasting; sports is enough for them and even more. As for news reporting, they shouldn’t do it at all; they can’t do it. I also have a message for Arçelik: the sound system of their small 24-inch televisions is terrible; everyone is complaining.

“Suddenly, the 8 years when Erdoğan was Prime Minister would become null and void”

Of course, the agenda is generally the congress or nullity lawsuit that the government invented to discuss the CHP and took to its judiciary. To me, the lawsuit itself is null and void and against the law, but the government’s goal is to make people talk about this and create the impression of a party in weakness. I understand this, but I don’t understand why channels supporting the opposition fall into this trap of the government. This lawsuit is invalid in terms of its results. If you make the Supreme Election Council’s (YSK) very clear discussion of its position as the final decision-maker legally controversial and make it possible to be overturned by a court decision, you open the way to making the entire presidential system and the 2017 constitutional amendment null and void tomorrow or the next day. Suddenly, the 8 years when Erdoğan was Prime Minister would become null and void. Let me say that the opposition should not be the carrier of this issue and cut it short, but I cannot pass without adding this.

“CHP lawyers say, ‘We apologize’”

CHP lawyers who come to visit me in Silivri say, ‘We were very angry at you for your criticisms of Mr. Kemal, but you were right, we apologize to you.’ The issue here is not Kılıçdaroğlu or a name; those who have power can always find shameless people ready to trample their honor, they can buy them along with their circle. This is not a systemic problem; the real issue is the lawlessness in the country. When there is no law, it is a field day for dishonor. We should not oppose Ali Kemal or anyone else, but lawlessness.

“As for Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, he will eventually be thrown into the pit of betrayal of history, one way or another”

If I were in front of you, you would ask if the CHP would split in case of a nullity decision. I don’t think it would split. Either a trustee or Kılıçdaroğlu would have to take the party to a congress; the CHP would gather within a few months. As for Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, he will eventually be thrown into the pit of betrayal of history, one way or another. The CHP will regain strength; there is time for this because, of course, could the AKP hold a snap early election in the meantime with Kılıçdaroğlu’s support? I don’t think the group would allow this despite Mr. Kemal. Anyway, it is not possible for the government to fix the economy with this mindset.

As long as the economy goes like this, the AKP cannot win an election, but in the meantime, they will pursue a constitutional amendment supported by Kılıçdaroğlu. Will it happen? It’s difficult. A single traitor is not enough for this; collective betrayal is needed.

Look, on Sunday, they had the police attack workers’ party members who gathered and chatted in a park in Kadıköy without causing any disturbance or noise. For no reason, there is not a peep from anyone. When two people from TÜSİAD were detained and taken for questioning, we all raised hell together. There is not a peep from the business world about all this. We have a disgraceful, fake bourgeoisie. Cowardly lawlessness is ruining the economy; they are all lining up for a concordat, but they can’t say a word out of fear. Shame on them.

The opposition accuses the government of applying ‘enemy law’ against them. I laugh; even in that, there is the word ‘law.’ In the government’s practice, there is no law, only hostility. They see all segments of society that do not vote for them, do not support them, and do not bow down to them as enemies, and they don’t even apply the law. However, this mass is growing. For a long period, they alienated 50% of society; this rate is gradually rising toward 70%. This is not a sustainable policy. A management approach that sees the overwhelming majority of the society it is responsible for governing and keeping alive as enemies is not sustainable. A government that sees those who do not share the same opinion as enemies naturally applies ‘enemy law’ to them. In Silivri, you have no possibility of contact with other prisoners. Even when being taken for lawyer visits, measures are taken so that we do not encounter each other. Even if you encounter them, it is forbidden to talk except for a simple greeting. In lawyer visits, you can see them in the adjacent booths but cannot talk. A wave of the hand and trying to make your voice heard by shouting ‘get well soon’ is the only relationship you can establish.

“He looked unhappy when he saw İmamoğlu”

Since I arrived, I have seen Ekrem İmamoğlu from a distance twice. The first time I saw him, he looked quite well; the second time, he looked unhappy. From what I could learn from the lawyers, Kılıçdaroğlu had upset his morale a lot. What was he expecting! If Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu had remained chairman, he wouldn’t have nominated İmamoğlu anyway. I have said this many times. If Kılıçdaroğlu had remained at the head of the party, Ekrem Bey wouldn’t be in prison today because he wouldn’t even be a mayor, let alone a presidential candidate.

Emre, you know the ministry is stopping people on the road and measuring their height and weight. These data will form a very important baseline. Look, 10 years later, we will see that the average height will start to decrease; this will be the result of the disaster in the economy. The government is trying to blame its failure in the economy on the global conjuncture; this is a great denial. Let no one forget this: between 1929 and 1935, when the world experienced the heaviest depression in its history, world trade fell from 58 billion dollars to 21 billion dollars, and economies shrank by 60%. So, what did Turkey do in those years? It grew by an average of 7%. You cannot find better data to explain what the Mustafa Kemal Atatürk era meant. It is obvious that the further we move away from it, the deeper we will sink.

“The first visitor of the day was former Galatasaray President Faruk Süren”

We have lost one of Turkey’s most important artists, Devran Mursaloğlu. Not being able to attend his funeral, and the fact that his loss was not news, also saddened me. Let me remember and commemorate him. I had quite a few visitors yesterday. Again, Good Party (İyi Parti) deputies came to visit me. Deputies have the right to open visits, but they couldn’t get permission; a restriction was imposed. The day before, Sera Kadıgil and Buğra Kavuncu couldn’t meet either, even though they are lawyers. The Good Party members tried quite hard. We met; they conveyed their get-well wishes. Then Veli Ağbaba stopped by to wish me well; no one gave him a hard time. The first visitor of the day was former Galatasaray President Faruk Süren; it was a surprise. You know, he is among my closest friends. We talked more about the issues regarding Formula 1 coming to Turkey.

“No one should lose hope; remember, the good are still in the majority”

Days are passing; I will explain in more detail tomorrow how it went. That’s enough for today; Ömer’s hand is tired, let’s not tire him out more. Love to you all, thanks to all the viewers. Let’s say goodbye with a few last words with the longing for days when law, justice, and goodness prevail. No one should lose hope; remember, the good are still in the majority. I embrace you all with longing. They are writing a democracy story with the support they give to the empty seat. Special thanks to our sponsors as well. Let me not drag this out; let me remind the government once again: if you open the way for courts to overturn the final decisions of the YSK, you also open the way for the cancellation of the constitutional referendum that brought the presidential government system one day. Don’t say it won’t happen. You are the party that proves everything that is said to be impossible can be done.