Ali Mahir Başarır responds to claims about lifting parliamentary immunity: 'Some people really want it'

Başarır and Erzincan Deputy Mustafa Sarıgül visited the liaison office of the dismissed Provincial Chair Çağatay Güç in İzmir and met with party members.

Making statements there, Başarır said, "After holding our group meeting in Eskişehir, we visited our elected provincial chair and his administration in İzmir today. I thank him very much. We saw that he was on the streets today. He was in Çiğli. Thank God, he and his administration have the face to go out on the streets in İzmir. Then there is a provincial chair appointed by those who hold invalid mandates. He comes to the province at 3:00 AM like a bat to take over. If only they were good for something, but unfortunately, they are not. It is truly shameful and distressing for us and for İzmir that a provincial chair who was appointed and came with an invalid mandate is in that seat. I trust my chair, his administration, my districts, and my mayors very much. İzmir is still ours, the elected will."

Reminding that he himself was referred to the disciplinary board with a precautionary measure, Başarır continued:

"I was in the Black Sea region for five days. I went to Eskişehir. Now I am in İzmir. I will go to Niğde. The only useful thing Kemal Bey did was this: I have been away from Parliament for a while. I can go everywhere in Anatolia. He thought we would stop, that we would lock ourselves in a room. I guess he thought he had placed us under house arrest. But we are traveling, wandering, and talking much more. We can go out on the streets. We can face the nation. We can look our people, our nation in the eye. Those who cannot look should be ashamed, and they should be ashamed enough to put an end to this disgrace. Let them clear the way for the country, the party, and us as soon as possible. Our provincial chair is here, his administration is here. Let them win this election together with us."

"I'm not losing any sleep over it"

Responding to questions from members of the press, Başarır said regarding the claims that the immunity of some deputies would be lifted, "I appear to be one of the candidates. In a period where so many of our friends have been arrested and there is so much pressure in the country, we are not in a position to be afraid of this. I wish these things were not being discussed. But as I said, some people really want this. The one sitting on the 12th floor right now. They want us to be arrested, for our immunity to be lifted. This is a relay race. If one of us is arrested, we have thousands of friends. I don't see this as much of a problem. We are focused on our work, we are focused on our path. I'm not losing any sleep over it."

Regarding the events at the CHP İzmir Provincial Headquarters, Başarır said, "If they had any self-confidence, if they could be civilized, if they had the courage, they could have come during the day. Like bats, they infiltrated the provincial building in the middle of the night, and they got there by using force and beating a female member and administrator. This is shamelessness. I truly could not associate this with them. I could not associate a person who has served as an executive and mayor in this party coming there like a mafia member. But let him know this: One day, he will definitely be held accountable for this."

News Source: 12punto