Özgür Özel's proposal to Erdoğan regarding Özlem Çerçioğlu!

The CHP continues its 'Defending the National Will' rallies, organized to demand the release of imprisoned presidential candidate Ekrem İmamoğlu and to call for early elections.

The CHP's destination today was the Kuşadası district of Aydın. In addition to photos of CHP Chairman Özgür Özel and Ekrem İmamoğlu, photos of the late Ferdi Zeyrek and Gülşah Durbay were also hung at the rally site.

Letters sent to the rally by Kuşadası Mayor Ömer Günel, who is currently imprisoned in Silivri Prison, and Ekrem İmamoğlu were read aloud. Günel's letter was read by his wife, Duygu Günel, while Günel's children appeared on stage with signs reading 'Freedom for my father'.

Following the reading of the letters, CHP leader Özgür Özel took the podium.

"We say it once again from here, we said it in 100 rallies, and we are saying it in the 101st: We are among the people, we look the nation in the eye. I am saying this while looking into the eyes of the people of Kuşadası: Ömer Günel is innocent. Ekrem İmamoğlu is innocent. The young people here are shouting, telling that person who ran away, 'Özlem, come out and let's play.' Can Özlem go out on the street? Can she come among you? Can she ask how you are? Can she look you in the face?" said Özgür Özel, and continued his remarks as follows:

"You tried to put an election you didn't win into your pocket through political theft. Do you trust Özlem that much, do you believe in her that much? You have the AK Party, you have the power, and you have Özlem; here is the proposal. If the CHP and the AK Party want, we can renew the elections in Aydın. Bring your candidate Özlem, let's put the ballot box out there, and let Aydın decide. I challenge you."

Özel's statements are as follows:

"Greetings to the land of the brave Efes, to the island of courage, not fear, to the home of those who kneel against injustice but never bow down, to my dear Aydın, to heavenly Kuşadası. Today, we have come here to seek refuge in the conscience of this island, respecting its courage—the courage of those who challenge the thieves of national will and political pickpockets, those who stand by their right to vote and those they have elected, and who stood against how the March 19 coup attempt tried to come to this island. I call out from here: Hey Erdoğan, coup plotters fear the streets. Dictators fear the squares. But this square belongs to those who left fear at home, to those who have donned courage. It is not I who fills these squares, but your oppression. It is not I who has stirred this nation, but the injustices you have committed. And as you try to usurp the will of this country with these conspiracies, the nation stands tall, Kuşadası stands tall, Aydın stands tall, and Turkey stands tall."

“KUŞADASI WILL NOT SURRENDER. THE EFES KNEEL BUT DO NOT BOW”

Today, dark clouds are hovering over Kuşadası. Coup plotters are trying to besiege Kuşadası. The sun of Kuşadası cannot be imprisoned or besieged by the 'White Taurus' gang in Çağlayan or the AK Party Judiciary Branch heads at the Ministry of Justice. Kuşadası will not surrender. The Efes kneel but do not bow. This square is a very meaningful, very important square. Yesterday, in Çanakkale—the impregnable Çanakkale, which did not surrender to the imperialist raid—we held our 100th rally. And they were asking, 'What will happen to the rallies? Will you take a break? Will you stop? Will you retreat?' Well, here is the 101st rally. The day after the 100th, with the same determination, with the same courage, the nation in Aydın is standing tall. Greetings and blessings to you for standing by your choice, and to those who, under this rain, just like yesterday in Çanakkale, say to those who claim 'one doesn't go to a rally in this rain': 'We are not going to a rally, we are going to resist, we are going to take action, we are going to struggle.'

“ÖMER GÜNEL HAS TRIED TO DO EVERYTHING IN THE HEART OF KUŞADASI, DESPITE ALL LIMITED RESOURCES”

What leaves its mark on this square is the will to stand by one's choice, to stand by one's Ömer, to stand by one's own child. We have elected a mayor in Kuşadası eight times in the multi-party era. Four of them were consecutive. We achieved this with Mayor Ömer for two terms by increasing our votes—first with an alliance, and in the last one without an alliance, but by forming an alliance with the entire island, excluding no one, embracing the whole island, and bringing together social democrats, conservative democrats, nationalist democrats, Kurdish democrats, liberal democrats, and of course, everyone who loves their country, loves their flag, and has no issue with Gazi Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. This brother of yours, your child, Ömer Günel, whom you are shouting 'is not alone' for, has tried to do everything in the heart of Kuşadası, despite all limited resources, by working tirelessly like a bee, in harmony with our organization and our group, for a long time.

“WE KISS THE FOREHEAD OF YOUR BROTHER ÖMER GÜNEL, WHOSE SERVICES WE CANNOT FINISH COUNTING”

I have Ömer Günel's report card in front of me. It is Ömer Günel who brought 70 stadiums' worth of green space to Kuşadası with an investment of 830 million. It is Ömer Günel who distributes free milk to children, prepares students' lunch boxes, provides cash assistance to those in need, and gives free dinner to 300 university students every evening who come to this city. It is Ömer Günel who makes people ask, 'Is this a district municipality or a metropolitan municipality?' with the services he has provided in Kuşadası, such as the mother-father-child house, condolence house, library, book cafe, cultural center, and station digital education center. Your child, the hardworking and young politician Ömer Günel, is the one who brought unique projects to life with Adabahçe, the People's Market, the guesthouse, three museums, exhibition areas, children's and women's solidarity centers, the Davutlar Second Spring center, the youth center, the tennis club, and the clothing house. The district mayor who is shown as an example by animal lovers with his rehabilitation and care support for stray animals and the 154 tons of production in the feed production facility is Kuşadası Mayor Ömer Günel. We kiss the forehead of your brother, your child, Mayor Ömer, in the presence of the child of the island he loves so much that he named it after his precious wife and son, for the services he has provided—from the discounts provided by the Adalı Card to the services of Ada Mobil that make life easier, and the Autism Life and Support Center that I personally inaugurated—services we cannot finish counting.

Mayor Ömer, you are in Silivri now. You are in a 12-meter cell. Your eyes are here, my ears are here. On one side, there are those who took the service of Kuşadası and Aydın and the votes of Aydın and ran away; on the other side, there are thousands of your fellow citizens who, under the pouring rain on a Sunday, filled this square and said, 'Ömer Günel is not alone. Ömer Günel is our honor.' You are in the heart of the nation. You know, last August, Aydın experienced a great trauma. As you know, all the provinces in the Aegean had been won by the CHP. That is, from Balıkesir to Manisa, from Muğla to Denizli, Afyon, Kütahya, Uşak—all provinces were won by the CHP. Those who were deported from the Aegean, those who said, 'We don't want you in the Aegean anymore. We don't want your plunder. We don't want your lies. We don't want this rent-seeking order you have imposed here,' left the AK Party without a municipality in the Aegean. Instead of respecting this choice of the nation, preparing for the next election, and looking for mistakes and faults in themselves, some people resorted to political pickpocketing and theft of the national will, and tried to steal the will of Aydın.

"THE OPERATION AGAINST ÖMER GÜNEL IS THE PRICE OF THE 'HEEL-RUNNING EFE'S' TRANSFER"

While many of our friends were resisting slander, and many were protecting their honor and dignity while enduring prison, they placed certain receipts in front of the Metropolitan Mayor of Aydın. God forbid, if we had known about that receipt, if we had known about that corruption, if we had known that those invoices were being paid by those swindlers, we would not have kept her in the party ourselves. But they told her: 'Either you will be jailed or you will join the AK Party.' She said, 'Yes, I will sell the will of Aydın, I will steal, but I also have a company, and I want it to be saved.' The operation against Ömer Günel is one of the prices for the transfer of the 'heel-running Efe'—formerly known as the 'Heel-Wearing Efe'—after the will of Aydın was sold to the AK Party. This transfer is one of the promises made to clean up the dirty relationship Aziz İhsan Aktaş established with Özlem Çerçioğlu, to set aside the ongoing operations against her, and to grant non-prosecution or acquittal. Another is the rescue of her spouse's failing family business. The third installment is the slander cast upon Ömer Günel, who objected to this betrayal, resisted, and defended your will.

"THERE IS NO CHIEF PUBLIC PROSECUTOR'S OFFICE IN AYDIN THAT WOULD LISTEN TO SOMEONE SLANDERING ÖMER GÜNEL"

Let's be realistic: The slanders directed at Ömer Günel are clear. If you took these to the Kuşadası Chief Public Prosecutor, he wouldn't even look at them. Why? There is a file where inspectors have come five times before, examined everything in detail, counted the planted plants and flowers one by one, searched for mistakes, and found no faults. There is no Chief Public Prosecutor's Office in Kuşadası or Aydın that would listen to someone who slanders Ömer Günel by saying, 'I heard this, I heard that, but I have no proof.' That is why, after that thief of the national will joined the AK Party on August 14, a lunatic, a liar, and a slanderer without evidence from Kuşadası was taken to Istanbul on September 10, forced to give a statement to the 'White Taurus Gang,' and because the only prosecutor and judge who could say 'yes' to Ömer Günel's arrest were in Istanbul, the lie was told that 'Ömer Günel is committing corruption here and transferring the money to Ekrem İmamoğlu.'

"DO YOU TRUST ÖZLEM SO MUCH? PUT YOUR CANDIDATE ÖZLEM AGAINST US, LET'S PUT THE BALLOT BOX OUT, AND LET AYDIN DECIDE"

According to the allegation, the incident took place in 2025. However, on that date, Ekrem İmamoğlu was in Silivri Prison. All our friends were in Silivri Prison. Transferring money to someone in prison is not only disconnected from reality; it is a vile slander devoid of morality and conscience. We say it here once again, we said it at 100 rallies, and we are saying it at the 101st: We are among the people, we look the nation in the eye. I am saying it while looking into the eyes of Kuşadası: Ömer Günel is innocent. Ekrem İmamoğlu is innocent. The young people here are shouting to that 'heel-runner,' saying, 'Özlem, your shoe is half-off, come out and let's play.' Can Özlem go out on the street? Can she come among you? Can she ask how you are? Can she look you in the face? If she cannot, I am addressing the very top of this theft of national will: Hey Erdoğan! I made a call to you at that magnificent rally we held in Aydın. You have remained silent and ignored it since that day. Now I repeat it once more: Özlem Çerçioğlu took the votes that were not given to the AK Party in this city, but were given to the CHP and the alliance of democrats, and she joined your party. Now, the people of Aydın said, 'Let the CHP govern.' You tried to put an election you did not win into your pocket through political snatch-and-grab. Do you trust Özlem so much, do you believe in her so much? You have the AK Party, you have the power, and you have Özlem; here is the proposal. If the CHP and AK Party agree, we can renew the elections in Aydın. Put your candidate Özlem against us, let's put the ballot box out, and let Aydın decide. I challenge you.

"IN THE LATEST POLL, THE VOTE FOR 'AKP WITH ÖZLEM' IS 18.6 PERCENT"

I am addressing Erdoğan from here: I am in Kuşadası, I am in Aydın. As the Chairman of the CHP, I challenge you. I challenge the theft of the national will. I am voicing the expectations of the tens of thousands, the hundreds of thousands in Aydın. The boss is the nation. Bring the ballot box before the nation. Let the nation decide. Can Özlem Çerçioğlu dare to put her name and picture under the lightbulb and face us? She cannot. She sees it too. In the latest poll, the vote for 'AKP with Özlem' is 18.6 percent. Look, 18.6. Sooner or later; if she escapes until the general election, then in the general election, but when the ballot box comes before Aydın, Aydın will crush that Özlem and all the thieves of the national will just like that."

"YOU WILL LIVE WITH THE SHAME OF WHAT YOU HAVE DONE THROUGHOUT HISTORY"

Therefore, I am addressing all the democrats of Aydın from here. As the Republican People's Party (CHP), we are not defending a single party, nor the candidates of a party, but a system and a regime in this process. The Republican People's Party is defending the ballot box, which is the greatest achievement of the Republic entrusted to us by its founder. When there is a ballot box, the boss is the nation. Whoever it says 'come', comes; whoever it says 'go', goes. But if this nation's ballot box is tampered with, if a coup is attempted, it will never remain silent against those who commit that coup. Neither 1960, nor the March 12 Memorandum, nor the 1980 coup, nor the July 15 coup... They gained nothing for those who committed the coups, and no one remained to defend those who committed them. The victims of those coups were eventually crowned by this nation once again.

I am addressing Erdoğan from here. You served as Prime Minister in this country. You served as President. You could have gone down in history as a Prime Minister and President who had achievements and won elections. It would have been an honor even if you had run again and lost, or if you hadn't run and stepped down... However, you chose to be a junta leader, to stage a coup, and to lead a coup instead. You will live with the shame of what you have done throughout history. You will be remembered this way.

"THERE IS AN ORGANIZATION WHOSE SOLE PURPOSE IS TO DISCREDIT THE CHP"

From here, I would like to remind our nation of an issue we have experienced in recent days and an issue we may experience in the coming days. The political operations carried out against our municipalities... The fact that these are managed from Istanbul... There is an organization formed in Istanbul whose sole purpose is to discredit the Republican People's Party. The same hands have reached out to Zeydan Karalar in Adana, Abdurrahman Tutdere in Adıyaman, and Ömer Günel in Kuşadası. The goal is clear.

"IT IS A DISGRACE LEARNED FROM FETÖ CONSPIRACY TACTICS"

In recent days, the Uşak Municipality was also targeted by Istanbul... There are issues with a shopping mall regarding its financial matters, and they want to resolve them, saying, 'Buy 10 trucks for the municipality.' The mayor says, 'I would be taking a bribe if I bought that.' He goes and files a complaint and gives a statement. We are facing similar issues, along with a midnight raid. We are facing a great disgrace where images entrusted to the state, obtained by the police during that raid, were leaked within hours to newspapers and websites close to the government.

I said it yesterday; my party and I will do what is necessary regarding this matter. We did not remain silent about what emerged, we did not stay quiet, and we did not sweep it under the rug. We are stating this clearly. However, if a country's government turns the state's camera in the hands of the police into a paparazzi camera to avoid losing power, and if it expects a benefit from giving those images to pro-government newspapers and websites, this is a disgrace learned from FETÖ conspiracy tactics. While all the data and information of this nation are entrusted to the state, and while the Ankara Police told our party and our friends, 'Don't blame us, they came from Istanbul, they did it without our knowledge,' we are aware of which dirty conspiracy and which dirty plan serves what. We will do what is necessary. However, we will not surrender to this FETÖ-style conspiracy, this disgrace, and this below-the-belt politics.

"THE NATION HAS NEVER REMAINED SILENT IN THE FACE OF SUCH SHAMELESSNESS, AND IT NEVER WILL"

I have a word for those who write and draw in favor of the AK Party. To those who remind us of so-called ethical rules to extract political gain for the AK Party from this situation, I say this: The AK Party's Adapazarı Mayor has been criticized, written about, and discussed for three weeks over his relationship with someone working in the same municipality. None of you spoke up! There are 920 pages of correspondence, and you all remained silent. When the Republican People's Party's stance on a half-day issue regarding itself at yesterday's Çanakkale rally was appreciated by the nation, the AK Party, without saying a word, without asking a soul, not even Tayyip Erdoğan, and without those prominent journalists asking a single question about it, the Adapazarı Mayor resigned from his party of his own volition.

I say this to these double-standard hypocrites: Either go to jail or join the AK Party. If you are an AK Party member, I will cover up all your scandals; if you are a CHP member, I will use the state's police for such matters and try to extract politics from it! The nation has never remained silent in the face of such shamelessness, and it never will."

ÖMER GÜNEL'S LETTER WAS READ

The message from Kuşadası Mayor Ömer Günel, who is currently detained in Silivri, was read by his wife, Duygu Günel.

"I WOULD RATHER BE WITHIN FOUR WALLS WITH MY HONOR THAN BE ONE OF THOSE WHO SLANDER THEIR POTENTIAL RIVALS AND ACT AS THEIR HITMEN"

In the letter he wrote, Günel addressed the people of Kuşadası with the following words:

"As your son, brother, and friend, who is physically in Silivri but whose soul and heart are there, I embrace you with respect and love. My dear Chairman, welcome to our hometown. You have honored me, my family, and my fellow travelers with your support. I offer my deepest respects to you and all the party elders who came with you, with gratitude. Thank God, while walking on the path shown by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, to whom I am bound with my mind and soul, I have not strayed a single step from the path of the party he founded, the Republican People's Party."

I am not in Silivri because of betrayal, cowardice, or fear of imprisonment toward the people who trusted the party I was a candidate for and was elected to twice. I am here because I am among those who do not say 'okay' to traitors, who do not bow an inch before power, who follow what they know to be right and just, who do not sell out their companions, and who do not run away in fear after being tried in dozens of cases. I would rather be within four walls with my honor than be one of those who lean on power, slander their potential rivals, set up traps with scenarios, and act as their hitmen. I would rather be a prisoner with my head held high and free in the conscience of the people than be outside with my head bowed, only to be condemned in the public conscience forever. 

"YOU WILL ACCOUNT FOR THIS BEFORE THE ALMIGHTY GOD"

The truth has a habit of coming out one day. When those truths emerge, I do not believe that the evil in Aydın and its hitmen will blush, nor do I expect it. But when that day comes, you will taste condemnation in the conscience of the nation. Sooner or later, you will face the prosecutor of your slanders and traps, and you will account for this both in the conscience of the people and before the Almighty God. 

"VERY SOON WE WILL BE ONE, WE WILL BE VIBRANT, WE WILL BE GREAT"

My dear Chairman, your struggle regarding all our imprisoned friends will never be forgotten. Our gratitude and respect will exist as long as the world exists. Kuşadası, the people of Aydın, are the true Efes. They stand up to injustice, pay the price, and fight. You are there, in the Land of the Efes. Believe in us, trust us. My dear fellow citizens, very soon we will be one, we will be vibrant, we will be great. I entrust myself, my family, and my companions to you, and I entrust you to God."

CHP Aydın Provincial Chairman Hikmet Saatçı shared the letter sent by İmamoğlu with the public.

"THEY WILL NEVER WIN AN ELECTION AGAIN"

In his letter, İmamoğlu stated the following:

"The brave and honorable people of Kuşadası, my dear citizens; precious ladies, esteemed gentlemen, beautiful-faced children, and the youth who are the guarantee of our future... I embrace each and every one of you, and I greet you with longing and affection."

Let there be a huge greeting from Silivri Prison to Kuşadası. I express my gratitude to my esteemed provincial chairman Hikmet Saatçı, who represents the fighting spirit of our organization in Aydın and Kuşadası, and through him, to our entire organization. Our struggle will not end; it will continue to grow stronger. We are facing a government that is sinking as it struggles, having entered a process of drowning in its own conspiracies. They have no power or means left to protect their seats. They have caused such great injustices and unfairness to this nation that they will never win an election again. They have exhausted all the credit the citizens gave them; they have consumed the nation's support and trust. They have become so focused on their own interests that they have no enthusiasm, energy, or staff left to solve the country's problems.

"THEY RELY ON TWO THINGS; ONE IS THE SUPPORT THEY RECEIVE FROM TRUMP..."

They are in a period of collapse, and to maintain their reign, they rely on only two things: First, the support they receive from Trump in exchange for handing over our country's wealth and our nation's resources; and second, the members of the judiciary they keep under control thanks to the dirty order they have established in the courts. They have no other support, but these will not save them either. The ballot box will come, they will face the nation, and they will be held accountable. They will be held accountable for the poverty they have inflicted on workers, farmers, retirees, and tradespeople, and for the injustices and bullying they have committed against mayors elected by the free will of the nation. They will also be held accountable for darkening the lives of children, youth, and women, for breaking their hopes for the future, and for destroying judicial independence. They will, of course, also be held accountable for the injustice and bullying they have inflicted on our Kuşadası Mayor, my dear companion Ömer Günel. The people of Aydın will never forget those who disregard the will of Kuşadası and Aydın with guided judicial operations and mafia-like methods, and those who attempt to design local politics according to their own dirty interests.

"WE ARE IN PRISON, BUT OUR HEADS ARE HELD HIGH, OUR FOREHEADS ARE CLEAR"

Those who arrested our Mayor Ömer Günel without any evidence or legal basis, using a so-called anonymous tip as an excuse; how comfortable and arrogant they were when they declared us guilty and threw us in jail a year ago. For a year, they kept lynching us without trial with lies, slanders, and perception operations, but they couldn't convince anyone. When the trial began, our nation began to see the conspiracy they organized even more clearly. It has become crystal clear why they ignored us and why they were afraid and hesitant whenever we said, 'Let the trial be held in front of the nation, let the hearings be broadcast live.' We are not the ones being tried in the Silivri Court; they are. We are judging those who resort to so many conspiracies and organized acts to eliminate their political rivals; those who attempt a coup against the nation's will with a few guided members of the judiciary. We are judging those who cannot account for their own deeds and that evil mind that tries to register the country's title deed to itself by using them as an instrument. We are in prison, but our heads are held high, our foreheads are clear.

"THAT GREAT OPPRESSION AND TYRANNY WILL COME TO AN END"

If those who have been stained by injustice and bullying want to be cleared, they will put the ballot box in front of the nation. Either they will get approval from the nation for all they have done, or they will hand over the authority to whoever the nation chooses. There is no middle ground; there is no tolerance for delay. Turkey can only solve its urgent and major problems through a free and fair election. That ballot box will come; it will come with its justice and its abundance. In this paradise homeland, 86 million people will live together and in brotherhood, without worrying about their livelihood and without fearing for the future. Justice and freedom will prevail for everyone, everywhere. No one will be subjected to inequality, discrimination, or injustice. That great oppression and tyranny that targets everyone who does not think like them will come to an end. Everything will be very beautiful."

News Source: 12punto