Özel addressed citizens in Ankara: 'We are appearing before our leader Atatürk with the pride of being the first party in the latest elections'

CHP Chairman Özgür Özel participated in the Great Youth March in Ankara for the May 19 Commemoration of Atatürk, Youth and Sports Day.

Özel addressed the citizens after the march.

"WE ARE APPEARING WITH THE PRIDE OF BEING THE FIRST PARTY"

Highlights from Özel's remarks are as follows:

"We are appearing before our leader Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder of the Republic of Turkey and our party, with the pride of being the 1st party in the latest elections.

"THE KEYS ARE SOMEWHERE AROUND HERE"

In the latest elections, the party of the veteran (Gazi) became the 1st party after 47 years. Many journalists, commentators, and television personalities are debating the secret of this success here. They ask me how you did it. The 1980 coup passed with its demands over political parties, unions, and organization, especially over the left. Since that day, our party could not break through the success gate of the political fortress. There were 3 huge locks on it. After we took the authority with our young, dynamic staff and many young and female friends with the slogan of change at our party congress, we sat down and looked at the situation ahead. I would like to remind you once again that the average age of the CHP Party Assembly (PM) is 43. The average age of the CHP Central Executive Board (MYK) is 46.

While there are 17 male ministers and only 1 female minister in the assignment made by the Palace, and that is also very important, but she is the minister responsible for the family. In other words, against the mentality that says to women, 'You only understand family and children, you understand taking care of the elderly, foreign affairs, culture and art are not your business,' there are 9 women and 9 men among the 18 ministers in the CHP MYK. We sat down and discussed with this team. We said the success gate of the political fortress has been closed for 50 years, with locks hanging on it, how do we open it? We said those keys are somewhere around here. We can only succeed if we do it the way Gazi did 100 years ago.

"WE GAVE SPACE TO MANY WOMEN ON OUR LISTS"

We turned back and looked, and we found that Gazi M. Kemal left 3 keys entrusted to the CHP. The first key, he founded the republic, and when he founded the republic, how did he do this job? First, I will talk about the 3rd of the 3 locks. Before the republic, while all of Europe was dealing with science, knowledge, and discoveries, the Ottoman Empire, unfortunately, unlike its foundation and rise periods, was dealing with dogmas and superstitions. Even the arrival of the printing press was delayed by 200 years. M. Kemal first said science, he said knowledge. We also conducted a campaign that stepped on active places by using measurement and evaluation and the most modern informatics methods in these elections. As for the second lock, Gazi Mustafa Kemal had included women in social life 100 years ago. He had given the right to vote and be elected 40 years before countries in Europe. We also thought that we could overcome the second lock with the women of the modern Republic of Turkey, and we gave space to many women on our lists.

"WHILE LAYING OUT RED CARPETS FOR THE OCCUPATION FLEET..."

We thought about how we would overcome the 1st lock. Mustafa Kemal Atatürk founded this country and said, "My mortal body will surely turn to dust one day, but the Republic of Turkey will stand forever." While saying this, he had to trust someone. If this republic is to live forever after you turn to dust, who do you trust? Who are you entrusting it to? He could have entrusted it to the chairmen of the party, he did not. He was a soldier, he could have left it to the army. He could have left it to the Chiefs of General Staff, he did not. Gazi Mustafa Kemal entrusted the Republic of Turkey to the youth. That is why the Republic of Turkey, with the first step taken 105 years ago today, first gave the struggle for liberation, then the struggle for foundation, and started to rise by overcoming all its problems one by one in a very short time. Today, once again, the youth he trusted are taking ownership of his legacy. That is why the republic is standing tall. We believe in you. I said it on the evening of March 31, everyone defines a survival problem according to their own mind. The main problem of a country is not the danger of occupation. Because we know who took what stance when this country was about to be occupied. Let those who say there is a survival problem today look at what they boast about; while they were laying out red carpets for the occupation forces when they came to Istanbul, while they were hosting them in palaces, while they were fleeing from Yıldız Palace to a British battleship when they were cornered, the person we followed, his aide-de-camp, was saying 'they will go as they came'.

SURVIVAL PROBLEM

The real survival problem is this: If 3 out of 4 young people in a country say 'If I find the opportunity, I will go abroad and never return,' the survival problem is there.