Özgür Özel speaks from Saraçhane: 'Release the future of Turkey, not the Hezbollah members'

CHP Chairman Özgür Özel returned to Saraçhane. Speaking to members of the press, Özel said, "I would have liked to wish everyone a happy holiday, but we cannot experience this holiday as a holiday." Özel added, "It is impossible to celebrate the holiday of those who are complicit in this oppression."

"We greet the members, voters, and those who have supported the ruling party or the components of its bloc in the past, who are preparing for this oppression, with the warmest sentiments," said Özgür Özel, who also spoke about Sinan Burhan, who announced on television that Ekrem İmamoğlu would be detained.

Highlights from Özel's remarks are as follows:

We cannot find words suitable for a holiday or within the bounds of democracy for the junta that attempted a coup on March 19, the coup plotters who were repelled on the 23rd, or their alliance partners. While the MASAK report had only just begun to be written on the 11th, we have no words suitable for a holiday for those who served it to TV channels as if it were a 3-month report, those who spoke about a false report, or for the People's Alliance deputy chairman—whose name is known to us—who told a journalist named Sinan Burhan on live television on March 11, 'I have a message from a political source,' and read out a message saying, 'İmamoğlu will be detained and arrested before the holiday,' announcing an arrest to take place on March 19 eight days in advance, while the source was a deputy chairman of the People's Alliance.

There are no suitable words for those who have poisoned this nation's holiday. The words they deserve are the ones we will say when we open our mouths after the holiday. We are leaving all of that for after the holiday, for a process where we will disgrace them and the nation will no longer look them in the face. They are seeking convictions with false witnesses. We will deliver the words they deserve at a legal level after the holiday."

'PSYCHOLOGICAL TORTURE FOR YOUNG PEOPLE'

"We remind Erdoğan, who released Hezbollah members during the holiday, that he is in a state of mind filled with malice, and that it is a shame to keep these brilliant young people, none of whom have blood on their hands, in Silivri instead of criminals. He should release the future of Turkey, not Hezbollah members.

Some of our students are being kept in cells in pairs or alone because there is no room in the wards. You have put two young people in, and the remaining 47 young people are there because of a type of crime that would make all of our hair stand on end... Keeping the young people there and their families in this psychological state is psychological torture. We have filed an application regarding this.

These students were subjected to ill-treatment by being handcuffed behind their backs. These students were kept for hours in places their families did not know about. For hours, they were not told where they were being taken. One bottle of water was given to 60 people. The ill-treatment is being reported by each student. We are noting the places and times where these reports were made. We are following up on what reverse handcuffing, pinning someone down and pressing on their head, and kicking someone in the face mean, and who might have done them. We have refrained from doing anything that would target our police, but there is no forgiveness or statute of limitations for ill-treatment and torture. I want you to know that we are following this matter! When the day comes, the law will grip them by the throat. Let those who are encouraged to commit crimes ask for written orders. Write down the day, the hour, and the name; put it in a sealed envelope; this investigation will happen, if not next year, then the year after! To those who are currently committing oppression, slandering, making false comments on TV, and describing non-existent evidence as if it were real; there is no wiping the slate clean for the past! Those who manage the state like a criminal organization, their apparatuses, and those who remain silent about this filth will be held accountable to the fullest extent within the rule of law. We know that those who are carrying out this coup today are a handful; do not be complicit in the crime, and keep your documents from today to report those who commit crimes! Write today's date, seal the envelope, and deliver it to the person you trust most! When that day comes, we will accept it."

'VOLKAN KONAK IS THE ARTIST WHO FIRST RAISED THE FLAG'

Özel continued his remarks with a message of condolence for the master artist Volkan Konak, who passed away last night due to a heart attack during a concert he was giving in the TRNC.

The CHP leader said the following:

"We lost Volkan Konak in Cyprus due to a heart attack he suffered on stage. We offer our condolences to his family. He was the first person to stand up and the first to raise his head. He is the artist who first raised the flag. Later, when artists who stood shoulder to shoulder for law, justice, and democracy began to sign the text, Volkan Konak told the friend who called him to sign it, 'I won't just put my signature on that text, I'll put my heart into it.' While we were wondering if the artists would speak up, we lost Konak, who posted that tweet. Our pain is immense. We don't know how we will fill his place. But we will continue to work with all our might to keep his name alive and to achieve the Turkey he longed for—a Turkey that is friendly to young people, nature, and animals."

News Source: 12punto