Ali Mahir Başarır's 'Gang of Five' statement: They cannot influence the CHP

The 7th Chairman of the CHP, Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, brought the tenders received by companies close to the government, known as the 'Gang of Five', to the agenda during his campaign for the May 14-28 elections.

In the CHP, which held its 38th Ordinary Congress after the May elections, Özgür Özel, the candidate of the change-makers, won against Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu and took the seat of the chairman.

Kılıçdaroğlu recently stated in an interview on KRT TV that the 'Gang of Five' is no longer mentioned by his party as much as it used to be.

Cumhuriyet columnist Barış Terkoğlu carried his interview with CHP Group Deputy Chairman Ali Mahir Başarır, the author of the book 'Beşli Çete' (Gang of Five), to his column following Kılıçdaroğlu's statement.

IS THE GANG OF FIVE STILL INFLUENTIAL?

CHP's Başarır responded to the question of whether the "Gang of Five" is still influential in the country as follows:

"A capital group always conducts and continues to conduct lobbying activities in political circles to ensure their requests are met. They please ministers and the bureaucracy in tenders. For this reason, it would be absurd to answer your question with a 'no'. Given that we do not see the tax payments of large capital groups in the economy among the top 100 tax record holders announced, it is crystal clear that 'favors' are still being granted to the Gang of Five."

Başarır responded to Terkoğlu's question, “Why does the new leadership of the CHP not highlight the reckoning with the “Gang of Five” as much as it used to?” as follows:

"If you are asking whether there is a change in political strategy here, I can say that this issue has not been set aside. Just two weeks ago, we announced that the Minister of Transport and Infrastructure, Abdülkadir Uraloğlu, traveled abroad on the private jet of one of the large companies that receives the most tenders from the public. Moreover, the Minister admitted that he did this based on a clause in a tender specification they had with that company. In other words, a clause meaning 'bribery' was added to a public tender contract. So, the minister confessed to his crime. Worse, he thinks this is normal. According to the old system, he is a minister who would be subject to a motion of censure, but in the Presidential system, our right to dismiss a minister has been taken away from us.

'If you are asking, 'Has the focus of the CHP changed?', our focus is clear. We are on the side of the people, we exist for the people. Therefore, we are currently struggling for economic and social justice, for the grievances experienced in the face of inflation, and against the barriers to democracy. We fight where fighting is required, and we negotiate where negotiation is required. Our most important issue is Turkey.”

Terkoğlu asked Başarır, “Is there a possibility that the ‘Gang of Five’ could be influential within the CHP?” Başarır's response was as follows:

"The Republican People's Party is a 100-year-old party. It is a party where the founder and savior of this country, Atatürk, sits in the chairman's seat. It is a populist party. It is the pioneer of social democracy. The principles of the Republican People's Party are the principles that have kept this country standing for 100 years. If large capital groups have not been able to gain positions within our party to date by using their economic power and connections, it is thanks to these principles.

The Republican People's Party is a populist party. Our priority is the people, the needs of the people. Our retirees, our farmers, our teachers, our workers; their troubles are our troubles. What have we been saying since March 31? If it's negotiation, we negotiate; if it's a struggle, we struggle. This is the reason for our thematic rallies. We held a rally with our retirees, we held a rally with our contract teachers, we held a rally with our tea producers. This weekend, we will hold a rally with our wheat producers. Because our fundamental principle is populism, and our common denominator will always be the people. None of our principles, especially populism, will change. For this reason, neither those with economic power, nor lobbying activities, nor political strategies can influence the Republican People's Party.”

News Source: 12punto