Özel's swift response to Erdoğan: 'You are the real foreign power in the CHP'

Republican People's Party (CHP) Chairman Özgür Özel made significant remarks at a meeting with representatives of non-governmental organizations in Gaziantep. Evaluating the political atmosphere in Turkey, Özel responded to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's recent "foreign power" rhetoric directed at the main opposition party.

Emphasizing the high turnout at the meeting, Özel stated that he has received strong support from the public during the meetings he has held across 14 provinces. "Something is happening, and in the end, there is hope," the CHP leader said, underlining that recent developments are harbingers of social change.

THE CHP'S TRANSFORMATION PROCESS AND LOCAL ELECTION RESULTS

Recalling that his party went through a difficult period after the May 2023 elections, Özel expressed that despite the desire to win the election, the results were disappointing. Explaining that a sense of demoralization and resentment had formed among voters, Özel stated that internal party change became inevitable under these conditions.

Emphasizing that they set out with the motto "If the Republican People's Party changes, Turkey changes," Özel said, "The party's votes had fallen to 13 percent, but we fought to make our party the leading party again with a determination for change." He reminded that the CHP changing its chairman through an election for the first time was a first in Turkish politics.

Drawing attention to the voices of the youth and the grassroots during the party congress process, Özel highlighted the importance of the congress by saying, "We all know how that congress was won. The delegates, listening to the voice of the street, changed a party's chairman through an election for the first time, and our real story began that day."

He summarized the success achieved in the local elections with the words, "The nation saw the change, rewarded the party, and made the CHP the leading party across Turkey again after 47 years. For the first time in 23 years, we dealt the AK Party an election defeat."

Touching upon economic and social issues, Özel addressed the industrial, agricultural, housing, and urbanization problems faced by Gaziantep. He shared his solution proposals with the participants on numerous topics, from pistachios to agricultural loans, and from the struggles of exporters to the difficulties of small tradesmen.

INTERNAL PARTY DISCUSSIONS AND RESPONSE TO ERDOĞAN

CHP leader Özel also made notable assessments regarding the legal processes and judicial interventions recently experienced within the party. In response to President Erdoğan associating the CHP with foreign powers, he used the expression, "If there is any foreign power in the CHP, it is you."

He also included the following words in his speech:

"My dear chairmen, administrators, friends, brothers and sisters; while we are trying to do these things on one hand, Erdoğan, who is dealing with us on the other, turned around today and says for the Republican People's Party, 'Sir, there is something inside them, we have nothing to do with any part of it.' I swear, do you know where you are involved? What is your business? We have done this in our party, at our congress. Then, it was deemed necessary, and we received all the valid votes at the extraordinary congress. You, who are constantly dealing with us, filing lawsuits, having those lawsuits closely followed by that executioner of justice, and finally, just before the decision was announced, saying 'I hope our country will soon have the opposition it deserves' and getting the Republican People's Party's congress cancelled, you say, 'I have nothing to do with any part of it.' Today, you have come out and said, 'I hope the CHP will get rid of those infiltrated by foreign powers.' I swear, if there is any foreign power in the CHP, it is you. It is the calculations you make over the party. The American ambassador comes to the country of the person he calls 'the administrator preferred by foreign powers' and says, 'I swear,' he says, 'Trump is a very smart man.' He says, 'He will make a deal with Erdoğan.' He says, 'He will give him what he doesn't have, and he will take everything he has.' He is talking about the rare earth elements when he says 'everything he has.' Our mines here, 80 percent of Ordu and Giresun have been opened to mines, the mining licenses. He talks about the gold, the gold under Kaz Dağı. He says, 'He will take everything from Erdoğan.' He talks about the 'aircraft order,' 250 of them. He talks about buying expensive natural gas from America when there is cheaper gas available. He says he will take everything, and he says, 'He will give him what he doesn't have.' What doesn't he have? Legitimacy. To those who say from here, 'The people in the CHP preferred by foreign powers,' I say: if there is someone preferred by foreign powers, it is the one who makes a thousand plans to keep him at the head of the country and says this openly; it is America, it is Trump. You are Trump's account. We are the nation's account. We left the building and took refuge in the nation. Today, we came and took refuge in the conscience of Gaziantep. We will continue to walk with the nation."

EMPHASIS ON THE FUTURE OF GAZIANTEP AND TURKEY

In the final part of his speech, Özgür Özel specifically pointed to the human rights violations, interventions in democratic processes, and the effects of the economic crisis. Bringing up the minimum wage, pensions, and the problems of producers, he shared his comprehensive proposals for solutions. Stating, "We will not provide a passage guarantee, we will provide a livelihood guarantee," Özel noted that they would stand by the producers and the laborers.