Özel's 'jammer' response to Yerlikaya: 'If Istanbul needs jammers, it's because of this government!'

CHP Chairman Özgür Özel reacted to Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya's recent statement that "Istanbul needs jammers." Speaking at the Çağlayan Courthouse, Özel said, "If jammers are needed in Istanbul, it is the work of those who have brought Turkey to this state. You have brought Turkey to this point, and now you are looking for technology to address your own fears."

Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya had used the phrase "Istanbul now needs jammers" during a security summit held recently regarding the rise in organized crime incidents in Istanbul. While these words from Yerlikaya sparked a public debate over whether there is a "security problem in Istanbul," a sharp rebuke also came from CHP leader Özgür Özel.

'IF ISTANBUL NEEDS JAMMERS, IT IS YOUR FAULT'

In his statement, Özgür Özel said, "If jammers are needed to ensure security in a mega-city like Istanbul, it is due to the incompetence of the government that has brought this country to this state. You are the ones who have emboldened criminal organizations and chosen to walk arm-in-arm with the mafia rather than fight it."

''YOU ARE THE ONES DISCREDITING THE POLICE AND SIDELINING THE LAW'' 

Touching upon recent corruption and mafia-related incidents, the CHP leader stated, "If you discredit the police and turn the judiciary into your own stick, organized crime will flourish, and citizens will not feel safe." Noting that the ministry's primary duty is to maintain public order, Özel added, "My advice to Minister Yerlikaya is to make the streets of Istanbul safe not with technological devices, but with justice and the rule of law."

''END THE SECRET WITNESS THEATER''

Reacting to the prominence given to secret witness testimonies in investigations targeting the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (İBB), Özel said, "On one hand, you are conducting operations against the İBB, and on the other, implications of assassination against the opposition are being spread through the mouths of TRT reporters. We have reached the end of this dark order."

News Source: 12punto