Özgür Özel writes: 'I have a promise of justice for all our citizens'

CHP Chairman Özgür Özel stated that he knows the 'inside' very well from the time he established the Prison Investigation Commission, and said that he would fight for elderly generals, lawyers, journalists, and all other prisoners who are being held unjustly. 

The article written by Özel in BirGün is as follows:

"I SERVED IN PARLIAMENT WITH PRISONERS"

“The inside” is actually a place I have known very well for years. In the journey we embarked upon when we established our party's Prison Investigation Commission to be a voice against unjust and political arrests and to make their voices heard outside, I went to numerous prisons in all provinces of Turkey countless times.

In order to contribute to the solution of the problems experienced and to voice the injustice, we fought for years with our deputies who were members of the Commission.

I saw many political prisoners I visited in prison get released, and I saw them enter prison again... I even served in parliament together with prisoners I had visited in prison.

"INSIDE UNJUSTLY"

Writing a letter from the outside to the inside is very difficult, even for those who know the inside and those inside very well. In many meetings I held to give hope to those in prison, I was surprised to experience countless times that they were actually the ones motivating us and giving us hope.

We are fighting against a coup attempt led by Tayyip Erdoğan, with a ruling bloc that has risked violating the Constitution just to keep my dear friend Can Atalay, whom I have known since the Soma Case, from being released, and with the cooperation of gangs within the judiciary and the executive. All the prisoners inside from the Gezi movement, which showed the way to Turkey's youth and to us, are inside unjustly; elderly generals are inside unjustly; lawyers, urban planners, architects are inside unjustly; journalists, intellectuals, politicians, mayors are inside unjustly…

"MY RESPONSIBILITY IS MUCH GREATER"

Since the day we had the Pozantı Prison, which came to the agenda with a child abuse case in 2012, closed down, I have been fighting for human rights violations in prisons to end. Last week, I experienced one of the greatest honors of my life, the privilege of sitting in the chair of our founder and eternal Chairman Gazi Mustafa Kemal Atatürk.

Now my responsibility is much greater. My responsibility is much greater not only for Can Atalay, but for Tayfun Kahraman, for Osman Kavala, for Selahattin Demirtaş, for Selçuk Mızraklı, for Selçuk Kozağaçlı, for Barış Pehlivan, for Çiğdem Mater, for Mine Özerden, and for dozens of unjustly imprisoned people whose names I cannot count.

While I am aware of the duty given by our delegates, I am much more aware of the duty given to me by the street and our citizens.

"MY STRUGGLE IS FOR DEMOCRACY"

I have a debt to Can Atalay, who defended the families of our 301 miners massacred in Soma without any expectations, and to Selçuk Kozağaçlı; I have a debt to those who fought to protect the right to protest of each of us during Gezi.

I have a promise to fight against the injustices of the Palace regime. I have a promise of freedom for the friends who are inside unjustly. I have a promise of justice for all our citizens.

It does not matter much that I have made this promise as the Chairman of the Republican People's Party. If millions who cry out for the demand for freedom and justice can stand together, if we can raise our voices together, we can achieve this and be a hope for all our friends who are unjustly in prison.

My struggle is for freedom… My struggle is for justice… My struggle is for democracy…"