A historic call to youth from Özgür Özel: 'The light of May 19 will defeat the darkness of March 19'

CHP Chairman Özgür Özel launched a harsh attack on the government following the Presidential Candidate Office Executive Board meeting. Addressing the youth, Özel said, "Those who imprisoned your presidential candidate Ekrem İmamoğlu want to imprison Turkey in darkness."

The Presidential Candidate Office Executive Board met at the headquarters under the chairmanship of CHP Chairman Özgür Özel. Making critical statements to the press after the meeting, Özel criticized the government's oppressive policies while listing a series of promises for the youth.

"EVERY CHILD IS POORER THAN THEIR PARENTS"

Stating that young people are suffering from both economic poverty and social deprivation under the heavy pressure of an authoritarian administration, Özgür Özel made a striking observation:

"In the past, children would achieve better income conditions than their parents. Today, everyone's daughter is more beautiful than themselves, their son is more handsome than themselves... But they have one thing in common: every child is poorer than their parents. If they have not inherited anything from their family, no young person can even dream of buying a house or a car with their own means."

''CHP'S PROMISES TO THE YOUTH''

Emphasizing that they will change the current order in favor of the youth, the CHP leader announced a wide list of promises ranging from education to housing, and from employment to technology:

• Gold standard for scholarships: We will increase student scholarships to the level of 1.5 quarter gold coins within 1 year.

• Housing initiative: We will solve the housing problem with Republic Dormitories. We will enact the Young Tenant Law.

• Employment guarantee: We will implement the 'Youth Employment Guarantee' program, which guarantees that every young person under 25 is offered a job, internship, or education.

• Tax exemption: We will remove all taxes on the first computer and first mobile phone. We will abolish interviews in the public sector without any ifs or buts.

• Visa-free Europe: During our term, we will advance our relations with Europe at the speed of light. We will build a Visa-Free Europe and a Turkey without bans for our youth.

''HARSH WORDS FOR THE YOUTH FESTIVAL IN KOCAELİ''

Criticizing the government over the AKP's youth festival in Kocaeli, Özel claimed that the organization ended in a fiasco.

Özel stated, "They were hesitant to even include the 'A' of AK Party or the 'T' of Tayyip Erdoğan in the invitation messages. Apparently, they were ashamed to say it was an AK Party event because they thought the youth wouldn't come. The AK Party administrators were ashamed of the images of young people dancing in the stands and fell out with each other. They were even disturbed by the images of our youth having fun."

''You keep talking, you keep walking.''

Addressing all young people across Turkey at the end of his speech, CHP Chairman Özgür Özel concluded his words with this emphasis:

"Your word is valuable, your vote is valuable, your labor is valuable. There are those who want you to be silent; you keep talking. There are those who want you to wait; you keep walking. Those who imprisoned your presidential candidate Ekrem İmamoğlu, those who wake this nation up to news of an unlawful operation every morning, want to imprison Turkey in darkness. But let them know this: The light of May 19 will defeat the darkness of March 19. The hope of the youth will win."

Here is the entirety of Özgür Özel's statements:

"Tomorrow is May 19... We are at the 107th anniversary of that date when the spark of the national struggle was ignited, at a time when everyone was hopeless about the future in our country, which emerged defeated from the First World War and was occupied with the Armistice of Mudros. The importance of the date May 19, 1919, is this: This nation is a nation that can show the will to open a path to enlightenment even in the darkest and most difficult times. On this occasion, I commemorate with gratitude Gazi Mustafa Kemal Atatürk and his comrades-in-arms, who started the resistance that brought us independence by boarding the Bandırma Ferry from occupied Istanbul.

Atatürk was the President, but when he passed away from this world, he did not entrust this country to politicians. He was a soldier, he did not entrust it to the Chiefs of General Staff. Atatürk entrusted the Republic to the youth. But today, young people are under the heavy pressure of an authoritarian administration. They are suffering from both economic poverty and social deprivation. Because they are dealing with a prohibitive administration that restricts their freedoms. In the past, children would receive a better education than their parents, achieve better income conditions, and support their parents. Today, everyone's daughter is more beautiful than themselves, their son is more handsome than themselves... But they have one thing in common: every child is poorer than their parents. Today, if they have not inherited anything from their family or won the lottery by chance, no young person can even dream of buying a house or a car with their own means.

This is the summary of the situation of the youth in our country. Young people are facing a difficult life in the prime of their lives. They enter into an unequal competition with the children of wealthy families to get into good schools. They go into debt to study. When they want to find housing, they hit the wall of rent. When they want to socialize, they deal with a prohibitive administration. When they graduate, they face unemployment. When they work, they are pushed into insecure and precarious conditions. And in these conditions, these young people are forced into a painful choice between staying in their own country or leaving.

We will change this order in favor of the youth. We will start with education first. We will remove quality education from being a class issue that only the children of wealthy families can reach. We will make sufficient appointments of teachers, security guards, and health personnel to state schools. We will implement the practice of one free school meal and free clean drinking water in schools. We will take decisive and effective measures against drugs, criminal gangs, and peer bullying in schools. We will ensure that every young person who finishes high school knows a good foreign language and has the technological capabilities to compete with their peers in the world. We will increase student scholarships to the level of 1.5 quarter gold coins within 1 year. We will solve the housing problem with Republic Dormitories. We will enact the Young Tenant Law. We will make rental social housing available to young people. We will implement the "Youth Employment Guarantee" program, which guarantees that every young person under 25 is offered a job, internship, or education.

We will erase General Health Insurance debts. We will remove all taxes on the first computer and first mobile phone. We will abolish interviews in the public sector without any ifs or buts. We will root out nepotism and favoritism from these lands. We are not condemned to the most expensive and worst internet in Europe. We will complete the transition from 5G to 6G across the country in a short time. We will bring cheap and fast internet to our youth. We will get rid of the prohibitive administration that bans concerts and festivals. During our term, we will advance our relations with Europe at the speed of light. And we will build a Visa-Free Europe and a Turkey without bans for our youth. The youth of this country will dream in this country again. The Republic will be entrusted to the youth, and the youth will be entrusted to us."

''A RAIN OF CRITICISM ON THE AKP''

Those who drag the youth into debt, hopelessness, and loneliness are still trying to exploit the youth. Mr. Erdoğan held a youth festival in Kocaeli. They sent messages to the youth before this event. They invited them by saying 'Free concert will be given'. But they were hesitant to even include the 'A' of AK Party or the 'T' of Tayyip Erdoğan in the invitation messages. Apparently, they were ashamed to say it was an AK Party event because they thought the youth wouldn't come. When they arrived at the stadium, they encountered the reaction of many young people who learned that the event was an AK Party organization. When they learned that the professional presenter friend they brought had been anti-AK Party before, they tried to lynch him themselves.

The AK Party administrators were ashamed of the images of young people dancing in the stands and fell out with each other, saying 'what kind of event is this'. They were even disturbed by the images of our youth having fun. Why do those young people cover their faces when the camera shoots them? Because they don't even want to be associated with the AK Party. When the whole event ended in a fiasco, they tried to propagate that 100 thousand young people attended the 35,000-capacity stadium, but what's the use... This is exactly the exemplary relationship of the AK Party with the youth. All young people, regardless of which party they are from, are our youth. All artists, regardless of which party they are from, are our artists.

''CALL TO THE YOUTH''

''I am addressing all young people from here: This country is yours, this Republic is yours, this future is yours. Your word is valuable, your vote is valuable, your labor is valuable. There are those who want you to be silent; you keep talking. There are those who want you to wait; you keep walking. The ideal that Atatürk carried to Samsun is on your shoulders today. That ideal is freedom, sovereignty, and the Republic. These are the ideals of our nation that were attacked by the March 19 Coup. Those who imprisoned your presidential candidate Ekrem İmamoğlu, those who wake this nation up to news of an unlawful operation every morning, want to imprison Turkey in darkness. But let them know this: The light of May 19 will defeat the darkness of March 19. The hope of the youth will win. Turkey will win."

News Source: 12punto