CHP leader Özgür Özel speaks at Uğur Mumcu commemoration ceremony! Calls on Mehmet Ağar

Investigative journalism's iconic figure Uğur Mumcu was commemorated in front of his home, where he was targeted by a bomb attack, on the 32nd anniversary of his murder.

Republican People's Party (CHP) Chairman Özgür Özel, who attended the commemoration ceremony, made statements to journalists.

Drawing attention to the decision to hear the then-General Director of Security Mehmet Ağar as a witness in the Umut Case, Özel said, "Today, there is a historic opportunity at hand. The family's expectation is also in this direction. The court has finally decided to hear Mr. Ağar upon application. It is a historic responsibility for Mr. Ağar to come and tell everything he knows. The words he said are very meaningful, mysterious, and just as much in need of clarification," he said.

Highlights from Özel's statements are as follows:

"On its 32nd anniversary, we commemorated Uğur Mumcu once again, both with his precious family and together as Turkey's largest family. Uğur Mumcu's funeral ceremony has gone down in history as the most massive funeral in the history of the Republic of Turkey after that of Gazi Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, where the most people cried together, and unfortunately, nothing has been the same since that day. As a lawyer and a journalist, we all read, see, and personally experience that everything he wrote that day is true and justified today, and that the measures not taken back then are causing us to experience what we are going through today. Today, there is a historic opportunity at hand. The family's expectation is in this direction, as is all of ours. The court has finally decided to hear Mr. Ağar upon application. It is a historic responsibility for Mr. Ağar to come and tell everything he knows. We also join this call. The words he said are very meaningful, very mysterious, and just as much in need of clarification. I hope that we can build a Turkey together in the future where that brick is pulled, the deep state is left underneath, and no power other than democracy can ever dominate this country again."

Özel continued as follows:

"WE ARE EXPERIENCING THE CONTINUATION OF THE SAME UNLAWFUL PROCESS"

"We are going through very difficult days. What Uğur Mumcu defended most as a lawyer and journalist was the rule of law. We are going through a process where the law is being trampled upon. The process to which Uğur Mumcu's unsolved murder is subject is the same. Unfortunately, what was experienced after the Bolu Hotel fire, which broke all of our hearts today, is the same process. The process where the judiciary is under instruction, and where everyone who is not part of the government today is under threat, where their freedom is under threat, is the same process. Those who covered up the hotel fire, those who covered up justice, and those who put politicians, mayors, and elected officials in prison are all the continuation and result of the same unlawful process. Today, the worst process is continuing in the most violent way. Here, these ceremonies only contribute to strengthening our will and sharpening our determination once again. We leave here by sharpening our determination once again, remembering our oath and our pledge. We swear that we will hold them accountable."

WHAT HAD HAPPENED?

In the hearing of the Umut Case held at the Ankara 5th High Criminal Court on January 16, it was decided to hear the then-General Director of Security Mehmet Ağar as a witness.

Furthermore, it was decided to submit a written request to the General Directorate of Security to determine whether the defendants Oğuz Demir and his family reside in Turkey.

The Mumcu family had requested that the then-General Director of Security Mehmet Ağar be heard as a witness in their application to the court on May 24, 2024.

News Source: 12punto