Indictment on the agenda at CHP Central Executive Board: 'This is a memorandum, their goal is to shut down the party'

At the CHP Central Executive Board (MYK) meeting, chaired by CHP Chairman Özgür Özel, the IBB indictment, which was announced to the public one hour before the meeting, was evaluated.

During the meeting, party officials assessed the indictment, stating, "We view this as a memorandum, not an indictment. For us, this is the next stage, perhaps the highest stage, of the attacks we have faced so far. Everything happening today is bad for Turkey, but these are not things we did not expect. The government is saying, 'I must not leave here. Since I cannot compete with them, the process against both the party and the candidate will continue.'"

It was learned that at the MYK meeting, where the IBB indictment—announced about an hour before the meeting—was evaluated, party officials described the indictment, which is said to be approximately 3,900 pages long and seeks up to 2,352 years in prison for CHP's presidential candidate and Istanbul Metropolitan Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, as "an indictment by a ruling party that sees it cannot compete with either the candidate or the party."

According to information received, party officials pointed out that the indictment is not only about the IBB but also contains moves against the CHP, stating, "We see that the indictment makes a notification to the Office of the Chief Public Prosecutor of the Supreme Court of Appeals, citing laws regulating party closure. There is a very clear target. Therefore, they are proceeding along a dual roadmap. This is an issue related to the government saving and protecting its own power."

"IT IS CLEAR THAT THE GOAL IS TO SHUT DOWN THE PARTY"

The officials gave the following response to the question of whether the notification by the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office would lead to a party closure case:

"It is clear that this is the goal. Ultimately, the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor very clearly states that he does not have the authority, but in a way, he is also calling upon the Office of the Chief Public Prosecutor of the Supreme Court of Appeals. He is inviting them to act. There is nothing specific we are expecting, but it is certain that this is one dimension of the indictment. The second dimension concerns Mayor Ekrem. One of the critical issues is the secret witnesses. It is not clear who they are. Even while giving testimony, they have no voices, no images."

"WE VIEW THIS AS A MEMORANDUM"

Stating that the issue of shutting down the CHP was also discussed at the Central Executive Board (MYK), party officials noted the following:

"The indictment was discussed in its entirety. This indictment appears to be the government's move against a future CHP government. The Chairman also expressed this. We view this as a memorandum, not an indictment. For us, it is the next stage, perhaps the highest stage, of the attacks we have faced so far. The party congress lawsuit was like that, and the Istanbul Provincial Congress lawsuit was like that. The next stage is directed at the party itself. There were already signs of this before. There were those who talked about it. Therefore, it is not something we did not expect. Everything happening today is bad for Turkey, but these are not things we did not expect. There is no aspect of this that is a surprise for the CHP. The government is saying, 'I must not leave here. Since I cannot compete with them, the process against both the party and the candidate will continue.'"

Our initial comment is this: There is nothing based on evidence, proof, or documentation. 'These things happened, those things happened, it happened like this, it happened like that,' but where is the proof? After conducting so many operations, bringing so many issues to the agenda, and having such a big target, what does it matter if the requested sentence is 50 years, 100 years, or five thousand years? This is not a critical agenda item for us."

Stating that the truth will be explained to the public through social media accounts titled "Istanbul Indictment," which were established and announced to the public today, the officials said, "They have put forward an indictment, and we, as the CHP, will explain to the public what is built on lies within it."

News Source: 12punto