CHP's Emir to voters: It is our duty to place a party emblem before you for you to stamp

CHP Group Deputy Chairman Murat Emir stated that Turkey is at a crossroads, saying, "In democracies, the day of decision is election day.

It is our duty to bring that ballot box, and it is our duty to place a party emblem before you on the day that box arrives for you to stamp. It is your duty to make them burst with frustration," he said.

The CHP Ankara Provincial Organization protested the detention of 36 people, including Çankaya Mayor Hüseyin Can Güner, during an operation targeting the Çankaya Municipality in front of the municipal building.

Speaking at the protest, CHP Group Deputy Chairman Murat Emir stated the following:

"I thank the people of Ankara who rushed here after hearing about this unjust, unlawful operation conducted at dawn—an operation that disregards procedural law and employs the law of the enemy—as well as those gathered here today and those whose hearts are here even if they could not come. We came here to say that we will not accept this unlawful operation against the Çankaya Municipality. We came to say that we will not surrender the will of the people of Ankara to a handful of employees at the courthouse. We came to protect the will of the people of Çankaya. We came to protect democracy, the ballot box, our votes, and justice. Neither what was done today nor what has been done until now is legal; there is no justice in it, there is no law in it. Dirty, political operations are being conducted against CHP cadres through files filled with allegations by slanderers produced by judicial branches created in courthouses. Just as we have stood tall against this operation until today, we will never bow down, we will not take a step back, and we will bury those who orchestrate these dirty operations and political conspiracies at the very first ballot box.

"Do not disregard the presumption of innocence"

We know Hüseyin Can Güner closely; we know him, and we trust him. We know very well that there is not a single account that both our mayor and his colleagues cannot answer for. This is not a place where a criminal organization would be established. This is Çankaya, the heart of Ankara, the capital of the Republic. It is the Çankaya of the Great Leader (Gazi). Services are produced here, and the troubles of the citizens are listened to here. The Ministry of Interior is 150 meters away, the Ministry of Justice is 200 meters away, and the Court of Accounts is 500 meters away; this place is constantly audited, and every kind of accountability is provided. Coming here at the crack of dawn as if there were a terrorist organization here, as if they were going to catch them in the act, is a sign of desperation. They are desperate because they could not find a single penny, they cannot find one, and they will not find one. As it was said during the March 19 coup when they put Mayor Ekrem and later other mayors behind bars: judge them, judge them to the end, but judge them without detention. Do not suspend the Constitution, do not disregard the presumption of innocence. 

"We will walk as our nation says"

I am addressing the judges and prosecutors at the courthouse. We want justice, we want law; apply the laws you have in your hands. When Hüseyin Can Güner received the news of the operation, he first bought his plane tickets, then spoke with our Chairman. If you have any respect left for the law, do not arrest Hüseyin Can Güner or our other friends. Do you know what Hüseyin Can Güner said in his final instruction to his colleagues here? He said, 'Do not make it difficult for the law enforcement officers.' Because, no matter what, we demand justice, we demand law. We stand with the law to the end. We know why these operations are being carried out. There is one person, and that one person is very afraid. His legs are shaking. He is thinking darkly, unable to sleep at night, because he thinks he will lose his seat in the first election. That is why they first arrested Mayor Ekrem. They could not prove their allegations with any evidence; their indictments fell apart piece by piece. They did not even dare to grant İmamoğlu the right to make a 14-hour defense. Those who could not succeed in this have hatched another dirty plan, wondering if they can stop the nation's march to power by collapsing the corporate identity of the CHP and targeting Özgür Özel and these cadres. But that plan also failed before you; it was crushed to dust under your feet. We are with our nation. We are together with our nation. We are walking with our nation. We are walking arm in arm with our nation. We will walk as our nation says. We will never leave this struggle to those who seek to divide, to the dirty operators in the palace, or to those who ask if they can split the CHP. We will succeed in the end, we will succeed together. We will bring democracy, justice, and freedom all together.

"Turkey is at a crossroads"

In democracies, the day of decision is election day. It is our duty to bring that ballot box, and it is our duty to place a party emblem before you on the day that box arrives for you to stamp. It is your duty to make them burst with frustration. This is what we will do. Turkey is at a crossroads. Will Turkey continue as a republic, or will it continue as a monarchy, as a one-man regime? Will there be elections in Turkey, or will the elections be for show? You will decide this. Know that, believe that we will change this struggle all together without tiring, without bowing to this fear, without taking a step back, all together with our entire nation, without separating anyone—but the oppressed, the poor, the workers, the retirees, those left on the sidelines, women who are victims of violence, hopeless youth—without leaving anyone behind, we will change it all together. We will succeed all together. Those who suspend the Constitution, those who stage a coup against the law, those who disregard democracy, those who hide the ballot box, and those who think they can intimidate our mayors by arresting them will lose in the end."

News Source: 12punto