Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu appears on live television for the first time since the party congress. Statement on the lifting of parliamentary immunity

Former CHP Chairman Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu appeared on television screens for the first time since the CHP Congress, where current chairman Özgür Özel was elected as the new leader, and the local elections.

Answering questions from journalists Elif Doğan Şentürk, Zafer Arapkirli, Ali Kemal Erdem, and Atakan Sönmez on KRT TV, Kılıçdaroğlu stated, "I am meeting with philosophers, sociologists, and historians. We hold the meetings at the office. I am not directly involved in day-to-day politics. I am following developments in the global economy. 'Let Kılıçdaroğlu sit in a corner and not make a sound.' Why should I sit? Why are you worried? Why did he open an office? It is one of the most ridiculous things I have ever heard in my life..."

Highlights from Kılıçdaroğlu's speech are as follows:

"SOMETHING I ALSO DO NOT ACCEPT"

"There is a characteristic of the CHP that I also do not accept in our congress; we argue and fight among ourselves, but we never do anything for individual gain. I never found it right for the internal party discussions to be dragged into a troubled process. When I was handing over the chairmanship to Mr. Özgür, I met with him for an hour to an hour and a half and conveyed my thoughts to him. I do not find it right to disclose that."

There is a concept of loyalty in politics; we could have sat down among ourselves and done much better things around this concept. Resentments could have been largely prevented. We could have kept this party, which we inherited from Atatürk, away from internal disputes. This did not happen. I am also taking care to stay as far away from these discussions as possible. There is also a perception in the public that I have been subjected to disloyalty.

A person should not serve as chairman for a long time, but if the chairman is to change, they should carry their party to a safe harbor, and these changes should take place in that safe harbor. I said this at the congress as well.

EXPLAINED THE 'DAGGER' REFERENCE

Kılıçdaroğlu was also asked about his words at the congress, "There are those who stabbed me in the back." Kılıçdaroğlu replied as follows:

"What would you say if the friends you set out with, struggled with, and fought the battle with, who insisted that you be the presidential candidate, then turned around and did the exact opposite to you? Let me leave this to the judgment of the citizens.

It is as if I said I would be the presidential candidate by force; it didn't even cross my mind. In the Central Executive Board (MYK), the Party Assembly, and the parliamentary group, it was said that you absolutely must be the one, and these were said in every meeting. Weren't you the one who told me to be a candidate until yesterday? Since I have never come from a culture of imposition in my life, I have never done such a thing."

Kılıçdaroğlu's assessment of the 'stabbing in the back' regarding the 'change' debateshttps://t.co/qYYXXSXxV0 pic.twitter.com/Cx5bWq8LKD

— 12punto (@12puntocomtr) May 27, 2024

REACTION TO MERAL AKŞENER

"I do not know for what reason Mr. Akşener left the table and returned. If there is a suitable environment one day, this will be my first question. We fought under such difficult conditions.

If you are commenting, you have to look at the atmosphere of that day. There is a mental block. The journalism I know is not like this. It researches, it looks. Without going into any detail, how can we attack Kılıçdaroğlu directly, how can we criticize him.

I was coming out ahead in the polls of that day, someone else is ahead in today's polls. Well, why didn't you say it back then?"

"I WILL GO TO VISIT DEMİRTAŞ"

Speaking about the criticisms regarding the CHP's 'yes' vote on the lifting of parliamentary immunities, Kılıçdaroğlu said he would visit former HDP Chairman Selahattin Demirtaş tomorrow and stated the following:

"There is no need for a constitutional amendment to lift a deputy's immunity. The AK Party's group is already enough. Why is it wanted to lift immunities with a constitutional amendment?

Because they are setting a trap for the CHP. At that time, terrorism was quite intense; they were going to bring the immunities to the table as a constitutional amendment, and if the CHP said no to this, they would say 'This is the party that protects terrorists' in the squares during the elections. We said, 'Lift the immunities, brother.'

Selahattin Bey being inside today is a legal disaster. Erdoğan is keeping him inside specifically because he said, 'I will not let you be president.' It is not just Selahattin Bey; there are Gezi prisoners. There are deputies. There is Osman Kavala. You are not implementing court decisions, Constitutional Court (AYM) decisions, or ECHR decisions... Tomorrow, I will go to visit Demirtaş."

'IF THE DELEGATES PROPOSE, WE WILL NOT SAY WE WILL NOT BE CANDIDATES'

To be a chairman, you have to be a fighter; obstacles will appear in front of you, and you will overcome the obstacles. That is how it should be to be a chairman. I never said I would be chairman at the congress. The delegates nominated me as a candidate. If they nominate me as a candidate for chairman again at the congress, we will say, 'Let the bravest step forward.' It depends on the delegates. If they propose, we will not say we will not be candidates.

COMMENT ON SİNAN OĞAN

Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu evaluated Sinan Oğan's comment that 'If Kılıçdaroğlu had been elected, there would have been an economic crisis.'

Kılıçdaroğlu said the following to Sinan Oğan regarding the comment in question:

"I don't want to take him too seriously, but there would have been an economic crisis for Oğan.

Now there is no economic crisis, and the gentleman's situation and comfort are extremely good."

News Source: 12punto