CHP Chairman Özgür Özel reacts to President Erdoğan's polarization

Following the completion of the "The Nation Protects Its Will" rallies, which began with the arrest of IMM President Ekrem İmamoğlu, across all districts of Istanbul, CHP Leader Özgür Özel had announced that regional rallies would begin. In this context, the address for the first regional rally in Istanbul was Bakırköy.

Despite the freezing cold felt across the city, it was observed that citizens showed great interest in the rally held at Bakırköy Republic Square, located in Istanbul's 3rd District.

IMPORTANT STATEMENTS FROM ÖZGÜR ÖZEL AT THE FIRST REGIONAL RALLY

CHP Chairman Özgür Özel addressed the citizens gathered at Bakırköy Square following his visit to Ekrem İmamoğlu at the Marmara Prison in Silivri.

Özel began his speech there by recalling the events that have taken place since İmamoğlu was taken into custody on March 19, 2025.

"It was exactly 343 days ago. 343 days ago, someone said to Istanbul: 'You don't know, I know. You gave me votes when I asked, you elected me when I nominated, you did whatever I said. It will be the same from now on. I will decide who governs. It will not be who you choose, but who I want,'" the CHP leader said, continuing his remarks:

"Someone who had a 3-month prison sentence in their own history but never had police come to their home, continued their duty while sentenced, was called by phone when the sentence was finalized, had their cellmate decided for them, and accepted hundreds of visitors every day, was faced with the greatest slander in history, with accusations against them being copy-pasted."

"Their diploma was canceled, and the next day the police came to their home. They took them away. Then they said, 'You aided terrorism, you have an investigation.' They said, 'You committed espionage, you have a file.' It wasn't enough; they slandered them, their family, and their spouse's siblings. For 343 days they said terrorism, it turned out to be a lie. They said agent, spy, it turned out to be a lie. They said there was money in the safes, a seal turned up. But to this day, they haven't been able to prove anything. That day, some expected us to believe these lies and leave our friends alone. That morning, we made an assessment. This is an attempted coup. We cannot surrender to this. The symbol is Saraçhane, we cannot surrender that place. We said, 'Everyone come here.'"

Özgür Özel announced that they would gather once again in Saraçhane on the anniversary of the March 19 process.

Stating that they are looking forward to March 9, when the first hearing of the IMM trials will be held, Özgür Özel once again called on AKP President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and MHP Leader Devlet Bahçeli to broadcast the hearings live.

ÖZGÜR ÖZEL'S CALL FOR AN INDICTMENT FOR MAYORS

Drawing attention to the fact that an indictment has still not been prepared for other detained CHP mayors and bureaucrats, Özel said:

"The valuable mayors, deputies, administrators, municipal council members, and bureaucrats of Büyükçekmece, Gaziosmanpaşa, Şile, Beyoğlu, and Bayrampaşa have been waiting for an indictment for months, for months! We all know that our friends are innocent. The work being done is political. But here, in Istanbul, those who boast, 'We wrote an indictment for 200 people in four days,' have not written an indictment for 9 months. In some files, there is only one person, yet they don't write a single indictment.

The reason? The reason is because they tried to make the AKP win Bayrampaşa through lottery fraud and other things. In Gaziosmanpaşa, they threw the biggest slander because they had the majority anyway. A seal came out of an empty safe, they deceived the people with fake dollar images. Now there is nothing to write in the indictment. If they release our friends, Tayyip Bey's air and swagger will fall to the ground. They are being kept inside for months for nothing."

"56 FILES HAVE BEEN COVERED UP BY THE AKP"

Explaining that it was determined that there was public damage in 56 different files at the IMM during the AKP era, Özgür Özel said, "All 56 of these files were taken from the IMM by the Minister of Interior of that period, and not a single action has been taken since that day. Let the people of Istanbul know that the AK Party era is a period where corruption flowed from the AK Party's hem, with 56 major corruption files at the IMM, and it was covered up by the AK Party."

Stating that different standards are applied to the CHP and the AKP, Özel said:

"The Republican People's Party era; a clean period where dozens, hundreds, thousands of auditors could not find anything, but a process where we are all experiencing a process where prosecutors threaten, blackmail, force, and pressure innocent people, saying 'Sign this and save the company left by your father, sign this and reach your child, sign this or you will lie inside for 60 years,' and where not a single penny of proof, not a single penny of evidence, not a single cent has been found in the statements of those forced to slander, a process where prosecutors have been asking for months 'where is the safe, where is the safe,' digging up all the gardens of houses from Edremit to the plateaus of the Black Sea like they've gone mad, looking into their wells, and have not found a single piece of evidence."

"YOU WILL HEAR 'DIPLOMA-LESS ERDOĞAN' EVEN IN YOUR DREAMS"

CHP Leader Özgür Özel stated that President Erdoğan's lawyers filed a complaint against him for allegedly having those gathered at the rally held in Beyazıt Square chant "Diploma-less Erdoğan" slogans.

Özel said that upon this, the court panel requested Erdoğan's diploma, and following this request, the President's lawyers filed a "recusal of the judge" request.

Addressing Erdoğan on the subject, Özel said, "Erdoğan, if you have that diploma, find it and bring it out, otherwise you will hear 'Diploma-less Erdoğan' even in your dreams at night."

REACTION TO ERDOĞAN'S POLARIZATION

Responding to President Erdoğan's harsh criticisms of the CHP through a video with a February 28 theme that he released at today's group meeting, Özgür Özel said that the government is trying to polarize society with the video in question.

İMAMOĞLU ADDRESSED THE SQUARE FROM HIS CELL IN SİLİVRİ

CHP's Presidential Candidate and IMM President Ekrem İmamoğlu, who has been detained in Marmara Prison in Silivri for 340 days, sent a letter to the citizens gathered in Bakırköy.

The letter written by İmamoğlu from his cell in Marmara Prison No. 1 was read by CHP Istanbul Provincial Chairman Özgür Çelik.

The prominent headlines of the letter from İmamoğlu, for whom up to 2,352 years of imprisonment is sought within the scope of the IMM case, read amidst "President İmamoğlu" slogans, are as follows:

"The path we have taken was never easy, and it will not be from now on. We have not fallen into weariness or despair, and we will not. We must protect Turkey all together.

This is the most urgent and important duty of everyone who believes in this Republic and democracy, and who accepts secularism, the rule of law, and social justice as indispensable.

Those who do not come together in this vital duty and do not fight together cannot be held accountable to society."

The entirety of Presidential Candidate İmamoğlu's letter dated February 25, 2026, included the following:

“Beautiful people of beautiful Bakırköy… My brave, courageous fellow citizens… Dear ladies, esteemed gentlemen, big-hearted children, proud, honorable youth… I greet you all with respect and love. I embrace each and every one of you with longing. Today, you are together with my Mayor Ayşegül Ovalıoğlu in this square. I thank Mayor Ayşegül and all my colleagues once again for implementing the most beautiful examples of the populist and action-oriented practices we have exhibited throughout Istanbul in Bakırköy. May they be well, may they exist. Since the day we took office, we have been working with all our might as the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality. We see every district, every neighborhood, and every street of Istanbul as equal, and we serve without discrimination.”

“I SAY WITH PEACE OF MIND; WE ALSO PUT THE BAKIRKÖY-BAHÇELİEVLER-KİRAZLI LINE INTO SERVICE”

“We have produced solutions to many of Bakırköy's problems in areas such as transportation, social support, green space, and infrastructure. As the only city in the world building 10 metro lines at the same time, we opened the Ataköy-İkitelli metro line that will facilitate Bakırköy's transportation. I say with peace of mind; we also put the Bakırköy-Bahçelievler-Kirazlı metro line into service. You remember what happened to this line, which was previously decided to be built by the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure. The entire construction cost of this line, which the Ministry built and transferred to our administration for operation, was deducted from the IMM in less than 1 year with the legislation changed in May 2019. They didn't even buy the metro vehicles for the line. We, as the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality, will buy these vehicles too. Because we are focused on serving the nation, while they are focused on obstructing those who serve the nation.”

“WHATEVER THE CONDITIONS, WE WILL CONTINUE TO WORK, PRODUCE, AND FIND SOLUTIONS”

“We have brought 4 nurseries to Bakırköy. We are also continuing the construction of our 2 new nurseries. We rehabilitated the Ayamama Creek and established the Ayamama Life Valley around it. Thus, we have gained another 1 million square meters of green space for Istanbul. We opened the Florya Water Sports Center to service. We organized the Republic Square. We restored the Baruthane and turned it into a living space with a museum, library, cafe, and social venues. We do not stop, we will not stop. We are finishing our urban transformation project, the KİPTAŞ Bakırköy İş Bank Employees Site, soon. We are working with all our might for the 1st stage 2nd part of the Ayamama Life Valley. There is no power that will prevent us from serving this city, this country. As long as our nation shows us its love and appreciation, whatever the conditions, we will continue to work, produce, and find solutions.”

“THOSE WHO DO NOT COME TOGETHER IN THIS VITAL DUTY AND DO NOT FIGHT TOGETHER CANNOT BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE TO THE NATION”

“We draw our determination and resolve from our deep love and loyalty to this beautiful homeland, this noble nation, and the Great Leader Gazi Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. This path we have taken together was never easy. It will not be easy from now on either. But we have never surrendered to difficulties; we will not. We have not fallen into weariness or despair; we will not. We must protect Turkey all together. This is the most urgent and important duty of everyone who believes in this Republic and democracy, and who accepts secularism, the rule of law, and social justice as ‘indispensable.’ Those who do not come together in this vital duty and do not fight together cannot be held accountable to the nation. Ensuring social unity and integrity begins with getting rid of all kinds of partisan prejudices and reflexes. To build a free and happy country that has achieved stable and fair prosperity, we need a great gathering as big as Turkey, as colorful as Turkey, and as fertile as Turkey.”

“THE COMPASS OF THIS STRONG CONSENSUS IS OUR NATION'S COMMON SENSE AND CONSCIENCE”

“The compass of this great gathering, this strong consensus, is our nation's common sense and conscience. First and foremost, it is the historical responsibility of all of us as the opposition to work with a sense of responsibility to ensure that elections are held in a fair, equal, and safe environment. We cannot eliminate other injustices in our country without ensuring that the nation's will is shaped and emerges from the ballot box without any pressure or suspicion, that is, without ensuring ‘justice in the election.’ I wholeheartedly believe in the maturity and wisdom of our nation. One Sunday, we will go to the ballot box as a nation with enthusiasm, love, and peace, and we will pull our country out of this darkness together. We will establish a humane and fair order, and we will reach justice and freedom, prosperity and abundance, unity and brotherhood. Justice will be served, everything will be very beautiful. Everything will be very beautiful. Ekrem İmamoğlu. Silivri Dungeon.”

News Source: 12punto