CHP Youth Branch Chairman Cem Aydın tells 12punto: ‘The target is Turkish youth’

News: Cenk BAŞBOĞAOĞLU -12punto

A lawsuit was filed by the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office against CHP Youth Branch Chairman Cem Aydın last year due to a social media post he made regarding Akın Gürlek. In the trial that concluded on Thursday, February 12, Cem Aydın was sentenced to 1 year, 5 months, and 15 days in prison for the crime of “insulting a public official due to their duty.”

‘THE TARGET IS TURKISH YOUTH’

CHP Youth Branch Chairman Cem Aydın explained who the sentencing decision targets and the difficulties of the struggle being waged. Aydın stated, “The CHP is the most deep-rooted party in Europe and Turkey with its 102-year history. The CHP Youth Branch is one of the most deep-rooted youth organizations in the world with its 73-year history.

Of course, while the target may seem to be me, the target in my person is the Turkish youth who do not give up or cower in the face of any difficulty. It is the freedom of young people to engage in politics. It is the freedom of expression for young people.

And of course, it is a result of the pressure and censorship that has been on the youth for many years. The actions we take, the words we speak… They are all our rights derived from our constitution. They are in accordance with the law. The intimidation given by reading into intentions is directed at the Turkish youth, specifically the youth of the Republican People's Party. We want justice in our country to be decided according to rights, for the efforts of young people in interviews not to be wasted, and for young people not to be tested with unemployment and a futureless life. We are fighting so that the will of the youth is not held captive by political operations. While our interlocutors should normally be the youth branch chairmen of rival political parties, when we say a word or take a step, we are forced to deal with police measures and prosecutors.”

‘WE WILL BE IN POWER IN THE FIRST ELECTION’

Aydın emphasized that they will continue the struggle despite all these pressures and highlighted the CHP's claim to power: “We will be in power in the first election. I see this model, which applies the same processes to my opponents, as an inability to engage in politics. When we are in power, when the opposition speaks or engages in politics, I will respond to their words and engage in politics against their policies, just as the ruling party's youth branch does. I will not be afraid, cower, or hide behind the judiciary. Moreover, the assurance of these words of mine is our 102-year-old great plane tree, the Republican People's Party, under whose shadow we engage in politics,” he said.

‘WE WILL OVERCOME IT WITH ÖZGÜR ÖZEL’S STRUGGLE AND EKREM İMAMOĞLU’S COURAGE’

While explaining what kind of atmosphere politics will witness after the cabinet reshuffle, Aydın stated that every kind of negativity will be overcome with the struggle of CHP Chairman Özgür Özel and the courage of Presidential Candidate Ekrem İmamoğlu. “For nearly a year, we have been fighting all over Anatolia, in the squares, against those who hold the national will captive. Within these processes, processes were also operated against our party to suppress our struggle. They entered our Istanbul provincial headquarters with 5,000 police officers, targeting a handful of useless people who appeared to be from our side but were tools of the government. They canceled our provincial congress, attacked our deputies, and intervened against our organization, which was harmlessly present in the building to defend its party building. What was the result of these? Our Istanbul provincial chairman Özgür Çelik was re-elected at the first provincial congress with the votes of almost all the delegates. They tried to smear our party's grand assembly; our chairman, Mr. Özgür Özel, was re-elected as the will of almost all the delegates three times in a special period. We need to draw this conclusion from here: We all see that they will not carry out the presidential handover with flowers and chocolates. Neither the past ministers, nor the future ministers, nor the current ministers… It does not matter who they are; it matters who they take orders from. Whatever difficult processes we have overcome through solidarity shoulder to shoulder with our nation, we will overcome all the difficulties that will come our way tomorrow with the struggle of our chairman Özgür Özel and the courage of our presidential candidate Ekrem İmamoğlu.”

‘EVERYWHERE IS NOW THE NATION’S FORTRESS’

Concluding his statements, Aydın said, “You know, the era of ‘this one’s fortress, that one’s fortress’ is over; now everywhere is the nation’s fortress. In the first election, the ballot box will be placed before the nation. On that day, the nation will again make the final decision. Until that day, we will continue to walk this arduous path to power with our nation without taking a step back or wavering by a millimeter from the struggle,” he said.

News Source: 12punto