Özgür Özel addresses retirees in Lüleburgaz: 'I invite you to unite at the ballot box'

CHP Chairman Özgür Özel met with representatives of non-governmental organizations in the Lüleburgaz district of Kırklareli.

In his speech there, Özel said the following:

INVITED RETIREES TO THE BALLOT BOX

"In the process where we balanced the power of the central government from the local level, starting with 11 metropolitan cities in 2019, we reached a 51 to 49 situation in last year's elections, but unfortunately, due to our own mistakes, we could not win that election. Everyone who wants to look to the future with hope, who says 'This government should not ignore me,' and 'It should take me into account,' must tell this government to 'stop' on March 31. I invite all of Turkey's poor, unemployed, tradespeople, farmers, laborers, and retirees to unite at the ballot box on March 31."

"THEY WERE SAYING 'GIVE YOUR VOTE AND IT WILL GET BETTER'"

"They told the voters: 'Yes, maybe you are poor, unemployed, insecure, and worried about your future, but the danger is great, you must vote for us. If we are not here, they will lower the flag, divide the homeland, and silence the call to prayer,' they clung to such big lies. They did not hesitate to attack even a party like the Republican People's Party, which founded the republic and whose every individual is wholeheartedly committed to the founding fathers, founding cadres, the founder, and the revolutions of the Republic, with fake videos. In those days, they were saying, 'Give your vote to us. Everything will get better immediately after the election.' When they said this back then, they may have received the votes of the poor, unemployed, and insecure people they frightened and deceived, but today it is understood that they primarily incurred the curse of those people. Diesel, which was 19 lira and 70 kuruş back then, is 40 lira today. Gasoline, which was 20 lira back then, is 40 lira today. There is a 97 percent hike in gasoline and a 106 percent hike in diesel. What does this mean? From now on, after the election, there will be hikes on everything from needles to thread."

"THE DOLLAR BECAME 18 LIRA OVERNIGHT"

"Mehmet Şimşek is not hiding this anyway. He says, 'There will be a tight monetary policy after the election.' In other words, in common parlance, belts will be tightened. Who is tightening their belt? Have you ever seen a factory owner, a holding owner, the wealthy, or the 'gang of five' tightening their belts? When belt-tightening is mentioned, the old middle class—now all poor—the tradesman, the farmer, and the civil servant come to mind. Tightening the belt and drinking the bitter pill always falls to the citizens and the low-income earners. In a crisis environment, some are adding to their wealth. They found the solution to get out of the great crisis we experienced last time with the currency-protected deposit scheme. The 4-lira dollar became 18 lira overnight. They said, 'Do not invest your money in dollars. Invest in Turkish currency. If the dollar rises, we will cover the difference.' Who is this 'we'? Did they cash in Emine Hanım's bracelets to pay it? Did they cash in the gold given at the circumcisions of Bilal and Burak Erdoğan? With what savings did they cover it? They covered those differences with the taxes of Turkey's middle and low-income classes; with the Treasury reserves saved by our fathers, mothers, grandfathers, and grandmothers."

"EVEN IF TURKSTAT IS TELLING THE TRUTH..."

Touching upon the inflation rates announced today by the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK), Özel continued:

"February inflation has increased by 4.5 points. According to whom? The increase is very high, but even this increase is according to TÜİK. What are the initials for? The 'Tayyip-pleasing statistical institute.' The Tayyip-pleasing statistical institute determined the annual inflation as 67 percent. What is the real inflation? The real inflation is 130 percent. Well, what about the retiree? Even if TÜİK were telling the truth, money was stolen from the pockets of civil servants and workers. When it came to the retiree, the figure was 34 percent, money stolen from the pocket, and when Recep Tayyip Erdoğan came to power, the lowest pension was one and a half times the minimum wage. By today's calculation, it was 25 thousand lira. Today it is 10 thousand lira. It is useful to calculate everything in terms of gold. On November 3, 2002, exactly eight gold coins could be bought with the lowest pension. Throughout the 20-year rule, during Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's Prime Ministry and Presidency, 5.5 quarter-gold coins have been taken out of the retiree's pocket every month."

BITTER PILL

Drawing attention to the March 31 local elections, Özel continued his words as follows:

"If this trend, the fact that diesel and gasoline have increased by 100 percent in the last 8 months at the very least, and food inflation has increased by 70 percent, is not stopped, if a yellow card is not shown, if a red light is not turned on, if it is not said, 'We are here. See us, we are the real boss. We are the country itself,' there is a bitter pill that Recep Tayyip Erdoğan will make us swallow in the next four years. The bitter pill will burn the throats of the retiree, the laborer, the tradesman, the civil servant, and the farmer. It will perforate their stomachs. It will become unbearable, but after that election success in 2018, since the day he established the one-man regime, in the process where we balanced the power of the central government from the local level, starting with 11 metropolitan cities in 2019, we reached a 51 to 49 situation in last year's elections, but unfortunately, due to our own mistakes, we could not win that election. Everyone who wants to look to the future with hope, who says 'This government should not ignore me,' and 'It should take me into account,' must tell this government to 'stop' on March 31. I invite all of Turkey's poor, unemployed, tradespeople, farmers, laborers, and retirees to unite at the ballot box on March 31. On one side, there is the People's Alliance. The AK Party and MHP are becoming more like each other every day. Their most important talent is threatening and insulting. We never respond to these insults and slanders, but on the other side, the People's Alliance, and who else did they take with them? They brought the lawyers of the 'pig-tie' killers, who say 'women should be taken under protection' and see women almost as objects, as creatures, and who made this country experience the fear of Hezbollah in the past, into the Parliament. One of their alliance partners is them."