Özgür Özel gives a sharp response to Kılıçdaroğlu's FETÖ remarks

CHP's elected Chairman Özgür Özel emphasized the importance of democracy in his assessments regarding the 10th anniversary of the July 15 coup attempt. Responding to the FETÖ allegations made against him by Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, who was brought to the head of the party with a decision of absolute nullity, Özel reacted to the accusations by recalling the support given to them by individuals who were victims of FETÖ cases in the past.

"I CAME RUNNING TO PARLIAMENT THAT NIGHT"

Speaking on a Sözcü TV broadcast, Özgür Özel stated that his purpose in going to Parliament on the night of July 15, 2016, was to defend democracy.

Özel used the following expressions:

"I came running to Parliament that night. All the deputies who came here that night came at the risk of their lives. What did we come to defend at the risk of our lives? The right to vote and be elected, the ballot box, and democracy, which are the greatest achievements of the Republic... That is, Atatürk saved Turkey from a one-man regime so that elected officials could govern the country. He established a Parliament, and the established Parliament became institutionalized. A transition to a multi-party regime was made. Despite all its shortcomings, a parliamentary democracy was established. I came to defend that.

If we do not have a system where those who come by election leave by election, there is a government in the country today, and it will be open to a coup tomorrow. There is prosperity in the country today, and there is none tomorrow. There is no guarantee of anything. The guarantee of everything is the rule of law, the separation of powers, and democracy. It is the ability of the nation to send away those it is not satisfied with."

"Those who tried to remove the people who staged a coup against the elected on that day are staging a coup against the elected today"

Touching upon the process experienced after July 15, Özel made the following assessment:

"Those who tried to remove the people who staged a coup against the elected on that day are staging a coup against the elected today," said Özel, adding, "When I look into the eyes of the ruling party that was the target of the coup on that day, I see a mentality that crowned election results for 23 years whenever they won an election, but could not digest the result when they lost their first election."

"WILL KEMAL BEY TURN THIS ACCUSATION, WHICH HAS BEEN LEVELED AT HIM FOR YEARS, AGAINST ME?"

During the program, Özel was also asked about the response Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu gave to the question, "Do you think FETÖ supports Özgür Özel and his friends?", which was "Yes, they are supporting. Look at the YouTubers, they all support."

Özel responded to the allegations with these words:

"Kemal Bey attempted this once while addressing the crowd he had gathered. He made a FETÖ implication. The answer came from the victims of Balyoz, those who spent years in prison, victims of Military Espionage and Ergenekon, and those who saw Özgür Özel, Veli Ağbaba, and the members of the CHP's prison commission whenever they needed them in those days, from the Chief of General Staff of the period and all FETÖ victims. The harshest criticisms of Kemal Bey in those days were, 'You can call everyone a FETÖ member, but you cannot call Özgür Özel and his friends that. They were the only ones by our side during the most ruthless days of FETÖ.' We accepted the compensation made on Sözcü TV or a self-criticism like 'I didn't mean that, I had my own FETÖ-member advisors. I meant them.'

On top of that, now, oh, FETÖ-member YouTubers... The AK Party had been leveling this accusation at Kemal Bey for years. Will Kemal Bey turn this accusation, which has been leveled at him for years, against me? Is that even possible! My life has been spent answering the allegations that 'FETÖ members support Kemal Bey. YouTubers from abroad support him.' This mud they are throwing will not stick to someone who stood firm in the Ergenekon, Balyoz, and Military Espionage cases, who wrote 8 books against it, who stood firm in Parliament on the night of the coup, and who was attacked by FETÖ members in the period following the coup!"

News Source: 12punto