CHP Party Spokesperson Yücel and Mayor Tugay evaluate the detentions: 'You don't need to be a clairvoyant'

The repercussions continue following the detention of 130 people, including former İzmir Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Tunç Soyer, CHP İzmir Provincial Chairman Şenol Aslanoğlu, and many department heads and directors, as part of a corruption investigation into the İzmir Metropolitan Municipality conducted by the İzmir Chief Public Prosecutor's Office.

After CHP Chairman Özgür Özel left the party building following a meeting attended by district mayors, municipal mayors, and lawyers at the İzmir Provincial Headquarters, CHP Deputy Chairman and Party Spokesperson Deniz Yücel and İzmir Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Cemil Tugay made statements regarding the detentions.

"IT IS A POLITICAL INVESTIGATION"

Noting that CHP Chairman Özgür Özel visited the İzmir Provincial Headquarters due to the detention of former Metropolitan Mayor Tunç Soyer, CHP Provincial Chairman Şenol Aslanoğlu, and some municipal bureaucrats and employees as part of the investigation into the İzmir Metropolitan Municipality, Party Spokesperson Yücel said, "As you know, at the beginning of his visit, he addressed the press, our party members, and the people of İzmir downstairs. Afterward, we held a meeting with our district mayors, municipal mayors, our metropolitan mayor, our deputies, and our provincial board members; we held an evaluation meeting.

Before that, we received a briefing from legal experts regarding the content and scope of the file. We discussed the matter in detail during our meeting. Our common conclusion here is that this investigation is a political one. Our belief is that our Provincial Chairman Mr. Şenol Aslanoğlu, our former Metropolitan Mayor Tunç Soyer, and the other individuals, bureaucrats, and employees currently in detention are innocent and will be cleared of these accusations as soon as possible. Of course, there may be certain allegations.

There may be allegations against anyone. Anyone can be investigated. Anyone can be tried. However, trial without detention is the principle. Trial without detention is the norm. The fact that people who have served in public office in the past, people whose addresses are known, and people who are in a position to come and give statements voluntarily when summoned are taken from their homes at 5 a.m., detained, and subjected to dawn raids, finds no resonance in conscience nor in the legal order. Our primary request, wish, and hope is that the investigation be conducted transparently and, as I just stated, that the trial proceed without detention, which is the norm.

It is for the investigation to continue without detention. Those who expect a rift or conflict from us should not wait in vain. The İzmir Provincial Organization is a whole with its district mayors, municipal mayors, metropolitan mayor, provincial board, deputies, and Central Executive Board (MYK) members. Its solidarity, morale, and motivation are at the highest level. Therefore, we believe that we will overcome these difficult days as soon as possible," he said.

"THESE ARE MATTERS THAT REQUIRE ADJUDICATION"

Stating that they believe those in custody will also be tried without arrest, Yücel said, "The allegations against them will be investigated. All of these allegations are matters that require judicial proceedings. They are issues that will emerge during a court process, meaning a prosecution process, where they must be examined and defenses must be heard without restricting the right to defense. Therefore, we think, believe, and hope that our friends will be released as soon as possible. We are meeting with the families, both as our Provincial Board members and as our deputies. We are supporting the families and showing solidarity during this difficult and troubling process, both regarding the legal investigation dimension and the physical condition, morale, and motivation of their relatives in custody."

"WE DO NOT HAVE FULL KNOWLEDGE OF THE SCOPE OF THE FILE"

Noting that they have been experiencing great anxiety since 5:00 AM yesterday, İzmir Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Cemil Tugay said, "As many of you know well, during this process, our currently active İSU General Manager, ESHOT General Manager, a Deputy Secretary General, two department heads, a manager, and dozens of other colleagues working in different positions in our municipality have been detained. This is also a problem in terms of the functioning of our municipality. In general, it is, of course, a situation that has deeply saddened all our colleagues and all of us."

Meanwhile, we also view with sadness that some of those detained, such as former İzmir Metropolitan Municipality City Theaters General Director Yücel Ertan, are people who, due to their age, should not have been subjected to such an arrest, and that others were detained simply because they served on the İzbeton Board of Directors. It seems that when deciding who to detain here, a large group was created that included everyone whose name might have been mentioned. As has been stated many times, and as our Chairman has also said, none of us—whether in municipal management, a municipal employee, or in a political position—consider ourselves exempt from any investigation."

Ultimately, we are always open to any kind of investigation or legal inquiry, and we are ready to assist with them. However, when we look at the way this incident occurred and its scope, I have a strong conviction that there is a political motive involving all the parties included. Frankly, I see it as an effort to discredit and devalue the Republican People's Party and the CHP-run Metropolitan Municipality in the eyes of the public."

Since yesterday, I have tried to follow the event as much as possible and avoid making too many statements without learning the details. I tried to be cautious because we still do not have full or sufficient knowledge about the scope of the file. But compared to yesterday, we have more information thanks to the examinations of our lawyer friends. Based on the information we have so far, I personally believe that all our friends are innocent and will be cleared during this process. I personally believe this. But of course, I can only say this based on the data we have," he said.

"WE ARE IN UNITY AND SOLIDARITY"

Noting that the process should proceed with transparency, Tugay said, "On the other hand, we know that the decision will definitely be made by the judiciary. I want to believe that this will be a fair process with transparency. We need this belief. But there do not seem to be very valid reasons for the trials to be held under arrest. It is certainly possible for the trials to be held without arrest. I mean, the fact that they were detained early in the morning is one thing, but many people are friends who would definitely go when invited if they were being tried without arrest and deserve to be tried without arrest. I would like to express another sadness because of what our lawyer friends who saw the detention conditions yesterday and the relatives of the detained friends who saw this on-site said: unfortunately, the detention conditions are not good. For this reason, since they are all our friends and all of them are very valuable people to us, I have a request for the detention conditions to be improved. We need a decision to be made as quickly as possible for them to be tried without arrest. But whether it is for the improvement of detention conditions or for their needs to be met, we are ready to do everything that falls to us in this process. I say this for all our detained friends. Let the İzmir Metropolitan Municipality family and the people of İzmir know that no matter what kind of perception management they engage in, we will follow this process in unity and solidarity, without disrupting our services and in a way that assists the legal process. We hope that our friends will regain their freedom as soon as possible."

Responding to a journalist's question about the cooperatives managed by the Metropolitan Municipality in İzmir, Party Spokesperson Yücel said the following:

"Of course, Mayor Cemil can provide more detailed information, but this project was initiated with good intentions. It is a project that began in the previous term. It is a well-intentioned project where the municipality took the initiative to enable our İzmir citizens, especially those with low incomes, to become homeowners at affordable prices under these difficult economic conditions. However, there may naturally be some disruptions or shortcomings in this project; the economic conditions are clear. Certain tenders were held. To my knowledge, there were no bidders for these tenders. Therefore, there may be deficiencies. However, we do not see this as a weak spot for the Republican People's Party or the İzmir Metropolitan Municipality. Those deficiencies will be addressed. My mayor and his team are doing everything necessary to resolve these shortcomings and eliminate any grievances. They are working hard and putting effort into this. There is no malicious intent here. It is simply a case of a well-intentioned project facing delays or disruptions."

Mayor Tugay, who also made a statement regarding the cooperatives, said:

"We know that after this step, which was taken with truly good intentions to solve the urban transformation problem through a cooperative model in the previous term, things did not go as planned and faced disruptions. The entire public in İzmir knows this. There are many reasons for this. There are many reasons that could be discussed. Some of these are truly beyond our control. But ultimately, since I took office, I have been working and striving to ensure that these construction projects, which had stopped or were not progressing, start as soon as possible and are completed and delivered to the rightful owners and cooperative members. We have actually made significant progress here. Everyone should know that we have been subjected to a kind of pressure during this period. That pressure is this: as you know, there were sealings of cooperative construction sites in the past."

As you know, there were interventions from the ministry in some processes. During our term, the findings of a civil inspector sent to the İzmir Metropolitan Municipality, the criminal complaints he said he would file, his warnings to us, and some of the justifications put forward during the Court of Accounts audit required us to act a bit more cautiously from a legal standpoint. For that reason, the process may not have moved as quickly as we wanted. But at this point, the 3rd and 4th stages in Örnekköy are currently being built rapidly. So, they will be delivered within a timeframe that might extend to the end of the year or perhaps February or March."

"We could not continue with the stages in Karabağlar Uzundere because there were no bidders for the tender, but regardless, we have the absolute will to do so. We will build and deliver them, either with a new contractor or perhaps through the work of our own companies. There is a similar situation in Aktepe Emrez in Gaziemir. We will do that as well."

"In other words, no committed work will be left unfinished. In fact, we are constantly informing those involved in this issue, which concerns thousands of people. We are in constant communication. The members and rightful owners are closely following the situation. We have taken some decisions, such as increasing rental assistance, to ensure they do not suffer. We are implementing them. The people of İzmir affected by this issue see that we have the will to solve this problem and they believe that we will solve it. This is a process that we will conclude by accelerating it as much as we can. In that respect, there will be no problem. In any case, the content of the allegations reflected to us today does not seem to be about this period or what was done during this period, but rather more of an examination and questioning regarding past periods. But everyone can be sure that those grievances will not grow and will be resolved as quickly as possible."

"YOU DON'T NEED TO BE A PSYCHIC"

When asked by another journalist, "How do you evaluate the operations targeting CHP municipalities?", Party Spokesperson Yücel gave the following response:

"Now, you don't need to be a prophet to see that these operations and these cases are part of a whole. The Republican People's Party became Turkey's leading party for the first time in 47 years in the March 31 local elections, and it remains Turkey's leading party in the polls; in other words, the Republican People's Party is marching toward power with firm and determined steps. Every kind of operation, move, and attack is being carried out to hinder this march to power. I mean, they will continue to be carried out, but they will never, ever hinder our determination, the firm steps we take, or our march to power. Because people have a sense of justice. People have a sense of conscience."

These injustices and unlawful acts are causing a reaction in all segments of society, including among voters other than those of the Republican People's Party. Just as we experienced this during the cancellation of the 2019 Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality elections, the attacks currently being made on the Republican People's Party will return to those who commit them like a boomerang. Friends, we say that trial without detention is the principle. We underline that our friends should be tried without detention."

These people are not criminals or individuals with criminal records. These are people who have served their country and the city they live in. Their place of residence is known, and when there is no concrete information, indication, or evidence that there is a suspicion of flight, you cannot legally arrest these people according to our Criminal Procedure Code. You cannot even detain them, but we see that these legal processes are largely being conducted politically."

Therefore, we once again warn and remind the prosecutor and the chief prosecutor conducting the investigation. There is an example from Istanbul here. Our chairman underlined this in his speech outside just a moment ago. We do not want to see an attitude that aspires to the Istanbul example. At least there is no confidentiality order on this file so far. Lawyers and legal experts can access the allegations in the file to a certain extent. But as Mayor Cemil said, the detention conditions and the conditions in the holding cells are very inadequate. You cannot detain 120 or 150 people with these types of allegations. This is another unlawful aspect of the matter. Therefore, we want our friends to be released as soon as possible and for the investigation to continue without detention."

News Source: İHA