Muharrem İnce: "CHP has no intention of winning the election"

Memleket Party Chairman Muharrem İnce shared the behind-the-scenes details of the alliance negotiations with the CHP in an exclusive interview with İpek Özbey on Sözcü TV.

Making statements regarding the details of his meeting with Özgür Özel, İnce said, "We didn't even ask for one from Istanbul; we asked for a district in İzmir. They didn't give it. The CHP has no intention of winning the election," he said.

Stating that he has been targeted by the CHP, İnce said, "The Saadet Party's candidate is Birol Aydın. Do you know who Birol Aydın is? He is a deputy elected from the CHP lists. You criticize me, but why don't you criticize Birol Aydın, who was elected as a deputy from the CHP lists and became an Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality candidate?" he remarked.

"CHP HAS NO INTENTION OF WINNING THE ELECTION"

İnce's statements are as follows:

"I asked for one district. If a party that received 500 thousand votes didn't even ask for one from Istanbul, you should have given it immediately. If it was fine to give 15 parliamentary seats to Ali Babacan, was it too much to give one district mayoralty to Muharrem İnce? Isn't this shameful? You should be ashamed if you don't give this. I am addressing our fellow citizens in Istanbul; the current Saadet Party candidate is Birol Aydın. Do you know who Birol Aydın is? He is a deputy elected from the CHP lists. You criticize me, but why don't you criticize Birol Aydın, who was elected as a deputy from the CHP lists and became an Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality candidate? You have no intention of winning the election.

"I WAS THE ONE WHO GOT THIS PARTY ON ITS FEET IN 2018"

Didn't you give the Undersecretariat of the MİT to Ümit Özdağ? Didn't you give the Vice Presidency to Temel Karamollaoğlu? Aren't you ashamed? You didn't give one district municipality to Muharrem İnce. I was the first one to get this party on its feet in 2018. Now these friends are afraid. Their only concern is the party congress. They are calculating for the morning of April 1st. For example, I know how they determined the Konyaaltı Municipality. The public doesn't determine these. I asked someone who served as a deputy for Yalova for the longest time. I said, 'Brother, did you know the candidate?' He said, 'No, I learned it from the television.' The deputies don't know this. No matter how you look at it, they are in the wrong.

"ONLY THE PERSON SITTING IN THE SEAT HAS CHANGED IN THE CHP"

Normally, under these economic conditions, Erdoğan's support should have fallen to one or two percent; why isn't it falling? I will summarize it briefly: the CHP's inconsistency on national issues. Indifference to national issues is spinelessness. The second issue is that the opposition shows the empty pot but doesn't explain how to fill it. Thirdly, there was an HSK election last year. One quota was given to the CHP, and then they went and voted for the AKP. Afterward, they say 'the judiciary is not independent.' They are legitimizing it. Because these things are not happening, unfortunately, the AKP is running wild in Turkey. The person sitting in the seat in the CHP has changed, but the style has not.

Now they will start with these kinds of things; 'this is the last election.' What last election? We have been going to elections for 20 years. In my 2018 candidacy, observers were not placed at 12 thousand 843 ballot boxes. Moreover, the same thing happened in Kemal Bey's election. I am calling out to the entire opposition; let's come together and form a commission for these 200 thousand ballot boxes and let's sit down and protect these boxes. Those who cannot protect 200 thousand ballot boxes and do not place observers have no right to say that votes are being stolen."

"THERE IS NO TURNING BACK FROM HERE"

To Özbey's question, "Is there any turning back from here?" İnce gave the following answer:

"There is no turning back from here. We will continue to announce our candidates on Wednesday. I made the biggest sacrifice. They told me to withdraw, and I withdrew. They used fake tapes of me, and I filed lawsuits for all of them. I didn't withdraw because I was afraid of them. Why did I withdraw? I saw that the opposition would not be able to win the election and they would blame everything on me. I said, let them deal with their own mess."

"THEY HAVE BEEN 'BREWING' TOO MUCH LATELY"

İnce continued his words as follows:

"The CHP should have done this: instead of putting out fake tapes about Muharrem İnce, if they had said, 'Muharrem İnce is our brother. Our paths have diverged. He is a Kemalist politician. He would not do harm to this country, all of those are fake, we are brother parties,' they could have won the hearts of those people in the second round and channeled them to themselves. On the contrary, they served me up morning and night. And some fools believed them. This is happening for the first time in the history of the Republic. Entering an election is a democratic right. They don't even give one district municipality, what are we supposed to do? Are we supposed to follow you?

They have been 'brewing' too much lately. I am not saying anything about their meetings and talks with the DEM Party, but I am saying they shouldn't lose their sense of proportion. You cannot lose Turkey just to win one party. One brings up Sheikh Said, another brings up Vahdettin. I am telling both the CHP and the AKP this: you do not call those whom the founders of this republic called traitors, traitors. Is Atatürk a traitor? Is İsmet Pasha a traitor? Is Fevzi Çakmak a traitor? Is Kazım Karabekir a traitor? Fifty years later, this matter will go there. The Memleket Party will stand tall with the clearest lines in these elections. The country first. Not the party first. We are a party with a stance."

ONURSAL ADIGÜZEL'S CANDIDACY

If they had put a ballot box for Mr. Battal İlgezdi and he had been defeated, I would have found it strange. However, no ballot box was placed. İlgezdi's crime was supporting Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu. There is a fragmentation as 'lower neighborhoods' and 'upper neighborhoods.' The division of the opposition might be the desire of the ruling power. Shouldn't they say this to the Saadet Party: the person you made a candidate was a deputy from the CHP 8 months ago. I am addressing the republican neighborhood to see the mistakes you are making. Let's stop these classicized, thoughtless, inconsistent things. My teacher wrote me a letter. He said to withdraw from the candidacy. Muharrem İnce is a consistent man. The Memleket Party has a backbone. I have been trying to tell the truth for 40 years. If I hadn't withdrawn, it would have been to Kılıçdaroğlu's benefit."