Joint statement following İmamoğlu's visit to Karamollaoğlu: 'Abandoning a mistake is a virtue'

Regarding the trustee agenda, Karamollaoğlu stated, ''It is impossible to accept this. Abandoning a mistake is a virtue. Such a decision is incompatible with democracy anywhere in the world.''

İmamoğlu and Karamollaoğlu, who met at the Saadet Party Headquarters, made evaluations to journalists after the meeting.

Speaking about the meeting, İmamoğlu said:

"I shared with our esteemed Chairman Temel Karamollaoğlu the view formed at the TBB regarding the recent trustee process, which represents both a democracy crisis and a legal crisis, and at the same time, a deep sorrow for us regarding the right to vote and be elected. I expressed our demand for a sound law and constitutional regulation that protects the rights and laws of not only the two parties exposed to this today, but also the mayors of the current ruling party and other parties in the future, and that also protects and guarantees personal rights and laws, provided that special sensitivity is shown under the roof of the Turkish Grand National Assembly through consultation. Their meticulous approach towards us has made us happy. As the TBB, I thank them for the contributions they will make in order to further strengthen local government and local democracy."

Karamollaoğlu said the following:

‘’This visit aims to share with the public the wrongness of the decisions that the government has taken somewhat recklessly recently. In fact, municipalities occupy a very important place in democracies. Local administrations assign a person and a committee chosen within their own provincial and district borders to solve the problems of that district or province. An external intervention here is actually an intervention in democracy. Because this is not an election held across Turkey, but a regional election held in a narrow area. Those elected there also enter the election and win on behalf of a party. Decisions are made by openly violating the rights of another party, without respecting either the municipal council or the voters there. Can mayors not commit crimes? Of course they can, but as long as this crime is not registered by the courts, it can never be a matter to be taken into account by the government.

“NO DIFFERENT THAN PLANTING A BOMB”

The point that saddens me is this. Mr. Bahçeli had a statement. Everyone was shocked by that statement. A statement that went further than we ever thought. For what? So that internal conflicts in Turkey may end. So that even a person who was previously convicted can be brought and allowed to speak in a party's group in Parliament. A proposal that goes this far. Now, let alone such a broad-framed solidarity, it has been confirmed that there is no obstacle to the election of someone elected in a district or province. Because if there were an obstacle to their election, they could not even be a candidate. Shortly after becoming a candidate and being elected, a rival party uses the opportunities of power, and there is not even a possibility to go to court. Without even granting a legal opportunity, they will remove a mayor from office and appoint a person directly of their own choosing with a partisan understanding. My dear friends, this is no different than planting a bomb at the foundation of democracy in a general sense, but it is an approach that provokes rather than solves some of the regional problems that Turkey is in and that have been brought to the agenda recently. It is impossible to understand or accept this. It is impossible for this to be of any benefit to Turkey or the region, or to solve the problems we are experiencing, my dear brothers. Is the current government incapable of seeing this?

“ABANDONING A MISTAKE IS A VIRTUE”

I am truly very sad for my country. I think I need to express more than what I have said. But there is no need to prolong the words. The decisions taken are clear. It is a completely partisan approach. I am sad for my country. I observe with sadness the helplessness of the current government, their falling into an effort to produce a remedy out of desperation, and their adoption of this incapacity. I hope common sense prevails, they do not expand these behaviors, and they abandon the wrong decision they have taken. Abandoning a mistake is a virtue. Such a decision is incompatible with democracy anywhere in the world.''

News Source: 12punto