Özgür Özel announces roadmap following MYK meeting

The extraordinary Central Executive Board (MYK) meeting, chaired by Chairman Özgür Özel, concluded after 5 hours.

Appearing before the cameras after the meeting, the highlights of Özgür Özel's assessments regarding the 'absolute nullity' decision were as follows: 

In 2023, we were very eager to lift Turkey back up, democratize it, enrich it, and win that election together with a great victory in the second century of the republic. All of Turkey was eager. There was a hope for change. However, we could not win those elections; we lost. The greatest responsibility for the loss of those elections lay with the Republican People's Party. The nation was experiencing an emotional detachment from our party and from politics, as I defined it in those days. Retirees had stopped going out, stopped meeting, and even when they sat together, they stopped talking; young people were kicking soda caps on the ground while walking, and everyone had started saying, 'If I find a way, I will never go to the ballot box again, and if possible, I will go abroad.'

Today, we filed our first objection with the Court of Cassation within the legal timeframe, including a request to lift the injunction.

'THEY SAID WE WOULD NOT EVEN BE CANDIDATES'

The Republican People's Party needed to engage in self-criticism, and this self-criticism needed to be accepted by the heart of the nation. Polls were showing 12-13 percent, and protest votes were at 40 percent. This is still available in the archives of all institutions. And with this sentiment, we said, 'The CHP must change.' Then, when our words met with backlash, we took on the task together. We set out on a path. When we set out, they said we wouldn't even be able to collect the signatures to become candidates, that we wouldn't be able to find 60 signatures with the existing delegate structure, and that we wouldn't even be candidates.

'DELEGATE, LISTEN TO THE VOICE OF THE STREET,' THEY SHOUTED

Throughout the entire campaign, we traveled across all of Turkey and visited provincial congresses. We openly shared what we would do if we won. They said, 'You cannot convince these delegates.' We said, 'We won't be the ones convincing those delegates anyway.' That delegate will be convinced by the barber who shaves them; that delegate will be convinced by the university student they meet in the elevator while going up three floors. That delegate will be convinced by their grandchild, their child, their daughter, their son. Their spouse will send them off saying, 'I will not forgive you,' and while packing their bag, they will be convinced by being told, 'If there is no change, don't come back, I will be hurt.' I told the delegates to consult with those they trust most before coming to Ankara. We trusted their conscience. You remember, and I remember, the most unexpected, most organic, and most impressive sound in the party congress hall. That huge hall shouted at the delegates who had taken their seats below for minutes and hours, 'Delegate, listen to the voice of the street.'

'THAT WAS WHEN WE THREW A WRENCH IN THE WORKS, FRIENDS'

And that delegate entered the voting booth. Listen to the voice of your conscience, your child, your grandchild, your neighbor, your barber, and the street. The delegate decided on change. After that change convention, it has never been our habit. It has never been our place. We did not show even this much arrogance. We did not want our victory and our joy to be anyone's defeat. But in those days, they were always asking me: 'Did the state come to you?'. I would say, the state is a building. How could the state come to me? They said that if some people did not permit the change in the CHP, that change would not happen. Did you get permission? Did you talk? Did you inquire? We threw a wrench into the gears of this established order right there, friends. We showed all of Turkey and the world that the main opposition party in Turkey could change without getting permission from anyone, that the founding party of Turkey could change without getting anyone's approval, and that the chairman of a political party in the Republic of Turkey could change through a competition.

'WE SAID IF WE DON'T DO THIS, WE WILL QUIT'

Our gain that night was the gain of Turkish democracy. But those who said, 'Change cannot happen without our approval, without us saying yes, without getting our consent.' That night, they intended to declare war on the Republican People's Party and our tradition of strong political parties. We saw this later as well. We had no time ahead of us; there were 4 months left. And we had a promise. Just as Ecevit led this party to finish first in all 4 elections in the 70s—two local and two general—we said, 'We will also lead it to victory. If we don't do this, we will quit.'  

'THEY WITNESSED THE GREATEST LOCAL ELECTION SUCCESS'

In the local elections, we both determined the candidates and sought alliances; we heard harsh words. We heard them, but we never responded; we wished well to everyone, whether they liked us or not, and we looked ahead. We showed both friends and foes that our belief and the citizens' trust in us were not in vain. Those who said I would have the shortest chairmanship in the history of the party and the history of the Republic saw on the screens on the evening of April 1st, on TRT screens, the greatest local election success that no political party in the history of the Republic of Turkey has ever been granted. We threw the real wrench into the works of the AK Party's corrupt order—the order that makes the poor poorer, the unemployed more unemployed, the retiree increasingly impoverished, and exploits labor.

'WE WILL NOT SIT IN THAT SEAT'

On March 19, 2025, they attempted a civil coup. They have been keeping someone in prison for 14 months—someone who defeated them 4 times at the ballot box, whom 15.5 million people nominated for President, and for whose freedom 25.5 million people signed. They are keeping our presidential candidate Ekrem İmamoğlu in prison. They told us from the field, from the left, openly, and from the group meeting, 'Leave Ekrem, stop the struggle, return to Ankara. Conduct politics centered in Ankara. Sit at the head of the party.' We did not sit in that seat. He will not be able to sit in that seat.

'THIS NATION WILL NOT SEAT ANYONE IN THAT CHAIR AGAINST ITS WILL'

You know how they are trying to remove me from a chair? I am telling them: the chair that will not be sat in is the chair of safe opposition leadership. I reject this chair; I am fighting to seat my party's chairman in the seat of power, to seat my party's presidential candidate in the presidential chair, and to seat my party's executives in ministerial chairs, and I reject it.

I reject the comfortable chair of the opposition party chairmanship. I did not sit in that chair through the path opened by the judiciary with the palace's permission, I will not sit in it, and no one should. This nation will not seat anyone in that chair against its will.

'THOSE WHO ARE TO BE REMOVED FROM THEIR DUTIES ARE THOSE WHO HAVE DETERMINATION REGARDING THE NATION'

In addition to this, I am still being attacked for the 'crime' of trying to find the most correct candidate with the goal of making my party the government and bringing a smile to the faces of the victims and the oppressed, instead of nominating myself instead of showing a winning presidential candidate, or instead of raising an objection saying 'this is my chance, I am here' if that candidate cannot be nominated.

If I had accepted the presidential candidates, if I had said 'I will be the candidate,' if I had said 'Ekrem is gone,' if I had turned my back on Ekrem, if I had exhausted an option like Mansur Yavaş, there would be no one better than me, friends. Right now, you would be comfortable in your homes, and I would be sitting comfortably in this chair, but I am not that person, we are not that person. That is why those who are to be removed from their chairs, their positions, and the duties they came from today are those who have determination regarding the nation, not ambitions or desires regarding themselves.

'THIS COUNTRY DOES NOT NEED A CHAIRMAN WHO WILL BE IN OPPOSITION UNTIL THE AGE OF 80'

My age is suitable; they are offering me to sit in this chair for 30 years. Without the regime bothering me, thinking of my own comfort—I am 51 years old—I could sit in that chair for 30 years. But this country does not need chairmen who enjoy being in opposition until the age of 80; it needs a chairman who suffers for every day they are in opposition and who will establish a government that will solve the problems of this nation.

"THE LIGHTS OF THIS BUILDING WILL NOT GO OUT"

The CHP certainly has an action plan prepared against this coup. It will be discussed openly with all stakeholders. However, let everyone know that neither the CHP nor Turkey will surrender to this coup. Because our promise before the elections was, "The lights of this building will not go out."

Tonight is a night where those who kept the lights on during election night keep them on until morning, and protect their ancestral home so that these lights do not go out in the next election. We are here, and we will resist this coup to the end. I say to those who plot against us: one of the two sides reminds us of a verse often repeated by Erdoğan. To those who were moved when they heard this from Erdoğan, if you are moved today as well, there is hope. "While they were plotting against you, Allah was also making a counter-plan. Allah is the best of planners." To those who heard this from Erdoğan's mouth and said "Oh...", think about this for a moment: If this were done to you, your party, or those you elected, how would you feel? I would like to express another wish with a different sentiment: "May our path not cross with the pathless, our face with the faceless, and our life with the shameless, God willing."

'THIS COUP HAS BEEN COMMITTED AGAINST THE NATION'

I am being clear: the issue is neither an Özgür Özel issue nor is it a personal issue for any of us brought to duty by the change congress. By rejecting our personal interests, saying no to all kinds of dirty offers, saying no to all kinds of cooperation offers from inside and outside, and walking on the path we know to be right, we have reached this day; this issue is not ours, it is the nation's issue.

That war was declared not against us, but against the nation, and this coup was committed not against us, but against the nation. It was committed against the ballot box, the right to vote and be elected, which is the greatest achievement of the republic entrusted by Gazi Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. A coup was staged against the presidential candidate on March 19 and against the future ruling party on May 21.

'THE DAMAGE THEY CAUSED IN HALF AN HOUR IS 10 BILLION DOLLARS'

The victim of this decision is the nation, and unfortunately, it will pay much heavier prices. While everyone was talking about how the 60 billion dollar loss from last year's March 19 coup fueled inflation that was already falling, how it stoked the cost of living, and how it caught us unprepared for the Iran War, those who uploaded the decision at 4:30 today—fearing that a group might run to Erdoğan and say 'let's not do this, please'—caused 10 billion dollars of damage to the country's economy in half an hour. This decision will result in the citizen buying milk at a higher price, bread at a higher price, shoes for their child at a higher price, and eventually being unable to afford them at all.

'NO PARTY'S CONGRESS IS GUARANTEED ANYMORE'

With this decision, no party's congress is guaranteed anymore. There was election law, there were objection periods; for other courts to interfere in these matters outside of election law is to disregard the Supreme Election Council (YSK) and to destroy the security of election law. This decision means that no politician can sit in their seat with confidence anymore.

'WE FILED OUR APPLICATION TO THE COURT OF CASSATION BY PAYING THE FEE'

We filed our application to the Court of Cassation today within the legal timeframe, including the request to lift the injunction, and we paid the required fee. Tomorrow, we will apply to the Supreme Election Council. We expect the YSK to handle our applications—both the one to the Court of Cassation for a stay of execution and our direct application—as urgently and quickly as possible, and to uphold the duties and responsibilities granted to it under Article 79 of the Constitution, as well as to protect the political parties regime.

"I DID NOT RETURN KILIÇDAROĞLU'S CALL"

In his statement following the Central Executive Board (MYK) meeting, Özgür Özel said that Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu had called him after the 'absolute nullity' decision, but that he did not return the call.

Pointing to the tense atmosphere at the time, Özel remarked, "If I had returned it, what would we have talked about? There would be no point in returning that call in this psychological state."

"WHAT WOULD WE TALK ABOUT IF I CALLED BACK?"

Özel stated the following: "It was an intense meeting, followed by visits from parties. Among those who called is Kılıçdaroğlu. I have not returned the call yet. What would we talk about if I did? Today, we have already referred a deputy to discipline for saying they respect the judiciary's decision. I do not even want to imagine that Mr. Kılıçdaroğlu would dream of returning to the seat via the AKP judiciary."

THERE IS NO POINT IN RETURNING THAT CALL"

Tonight, in this state of mind, there is no point in returning that call. If that call is about reaching a consensus on that decision, then that is not going to happen. Of course, the call will be returned at some point. I do not expect him to view a nullity decision as legitimate. I am at the headquarters. From now on, we will be at the headquarters day and night."

News Source: 12punto