Özgür Özel: We are facing the greatest smear campaign of the century

Following the dismissal of the CHP Istanbul administration, Özgür Özel, who attended the Extraordinary MYK meeting at the headquarters, participated in a live broadcast on Halk TV after the meeting.

The statements made by CHP Chairman Özel regarding the dismissal of 196 delegates and the CHP Istanbul administration in Istanbul are as follows:

"This was the 10th attempt. Let me summarize it by saying they succeeded on the 10th attempt. There are six cases in Ankara and four in Istanbul. This case is a combination of those four cases. A case is also ongoing in Ankara that is a combination of six cases. They apply to the Civil Courts of First Instance and say, for example, 'Cancel the Istanbul Provincial Congress' or 'Cancel the CHP's grand assembly' and 'Issue an injunction.' In other words, even before seeing the court, they want to remove those in office. To date, the heads of nine separate Civil Courts of First Instance have rejected this.

The reason is this; in fact, experts on this subject and my lawyer friends explain it like this: 'An injunction cannot be issued in this case because it would have a direct result. Now, you are requesting the removal of the administration with a justification, or rather, you are requesting the cancellation of the congress that was held. If it is cancelled, the administration will be removed. You are saying, 'Cancel it from the first day without doing this.' Nine courts rejected this. They succeeded on the 10th. Today, an Akın Gürlek is trying to do the 11th with a consolidation decision.

In other words, he is also saying, 'You finally succeeded. I am also taking charge of the process,' and in his own mind, in his own mind, as the chief villain, 'I am aware of this evil. Therefore, the one at the very top is aware. We were dealing with you under the instructions and directives of Mr. Erdoğan. We finally found a civil court of first instance that could accept this much lawlessness,' and he is celebrating today."

"THEY HAD A JUDGE IN ISTANBUL TAKE THIS DECISION"

"Since they could not find such a judge in Ankara, they had a judge in Istanbul take this decision. Since this situation is a state of complete lawlessness in terms of the legal system, we will also apply to the Constitutional Court with a request for an injunction regarding this situation. We will do all of these one by one," said the CHP Chairman, continuing his speech:

"What result will it produce? Politically, if the Justice and Development Party, and if the Nationalist Movement Party were to defend this decision together with them, it would produce a political result where politics would be harmed, and the opposition and the Republican People's Party would embrace each other more tightly. Whatever result trying to change election results through the judiciary has produced to date—for example, on the night the first election that Ekrem İmamoğlu won in Istanbul was cancelled, the margin was 13 thousand. In the elections held 60 days later, the margin rose to 806 thousand. The nation does not like such things. Therefore, it reinforces our position, which is extremely strong politically and is growing stronger.

But as for what will happen legally, I prefer to leave the details of that discussion to the lawyers. But if you ask what we will do, we, as the Republican People's Party, will take every step that needs to be taken legally. My lawyer friends are looking into it. For example, the court will of course be appealed. The court's decision will of course be appealed to the regional court. But on the other hand, this action taken by this court suspends election law in Turkey.

"In this respect, to the Supreme Election Council, and again the decision taken by this court in Turkey, a civil court of first instance, a civil court of first instance in Istanbul. What have all the previous civil courts of first instance always done? They said the case was outside their jurisdiction and sent it to Ankara. Because the headquarters of political parties are in Ankara. Provinces do not have legal personality. Lawsuits filed against political parties and their administrations in the provinces are heard in Ankara."

"WE EXPELLED GÜRSEL TEKİN FROM THE PARTY"

Responding to a question about what decisions they took regarding the situation at the Extraordinary MYK meeting, CHP Chairman Özgür Özel emphasized that the decision given by the court was null and void and stated that they would continue with the rallies.

Özel made a 'trial is free' statement regarding a possible 'absolute nullity' decision the court might give and used the expressions 'they will bear the consequences.'

Speaking about Gürsel Tekin, who was appointed as a trustee, CHP Leader Özgür Özel said that they expelled Tekin, who had previously said he resigned but turned out not to have submitted any petition, from the party.

On the other hand, Özel expressed that they would also expel those who would accept the duty from the party as follows:

"Özgür Çelik is our Istanbul Provincial Chairman. He is at the head of his duty, he is continuing his duty. Regardless of his name, we have expelled the person from the party from the trustee board appointed, whom we understand will accept the duty and whose statement is in that direction. We have referred him to the High Disciplinary Board with a precautionary measure, meaning his party membership ends the moment the decision is taken, and we have expelled him from the party.

This could be Gürsel Tekin, or it could be another name. We do not know the statements of the other four friends who said 'I will perform the duty' to this judicial plot of this palace order, so they are our party members who are under our close watch, and have served as district chairmen in the past. If they say 'We accept the duty,' they will also be expelled."

"INSTEAD OF SITTING AS AN OPPOSITION WITH DRAWN BOUNDARIES, I WILL FIGHT MY STRUGGLE"

Speaking about President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan calling him to engage in politics in Ankara, the CHP Chairman said the following:

"He says to me, 'Go to Ankara, sit at the head of the party.' What does this mean? If you tour Anatolia, I will remove you from the head of the party. He is threatening me. They are threatening to remove me from the head of the party. And I say to them, 'Instead of sitting at the head of the party as an opposition defined as you say, as an opposition with drawn boundaries, I will fight my struggle, come on, remove me.' If you remove me, we will see who the nation removes."

Speaking about President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan calling him to engage in politics in Ankara, the CHP Chairman said the following:

"He says to me, 'Go to Ankara, sit at the head of the party.' What does this mean? If you tour Anatolia, I will remove you from the head of the party. He is threatening me. They are threatening to remove me from the head of the party. And I say to them, 'Instead of sitting at the head of the party as an opposition defined as you say, as an opposition with drawn boundaries, I will fight my struggle, come on, remove me.' If you remove me, we will see who the nation removes."

To the question where his positive expressions towards MHP Leader Devlet Bahçeli were reminded, CHP Chairman Özgür Özel said the following:

"Now, I am not saying to Mr. Devlet, 'Leave the AK Party, let's be a coalition together.' I said to Mr. Devlet, 'If there is a need regarding democratization, take a step together...' I also said to the AK Party, let's democratize together... Since the AK Party has no concern for democratization and, let alone doing good things that can be done regarding democratization, it is ruining what exists, I said, 'If the MHP has such a thing, we can even be together with the MHP.' Mr. Devlet wanted to perceive this as if 'Sir, leave the AK Party, let's do politics together. Let's be together in politics.' Through that, he is renewing his marriage with the AK Party in his own way."

"OUR WITHDRAWAL FROM THE COMMISSION WOULD BENEFIT THE AKP"

Responding to the question of whether CHP members would withdraw from the National Solidarity, Brotherhood and Democracy Commission due to the operations, Özel said that their withdrawal from the commission would benefit the AKP the most.

"I did not enter this commission on the condition that operations should not be carried out against our friends, that they should be released, or something like that... So, an operation happened or 'Look, they haven't released them yet, now you should withdraw from here.' If this commission had been established on March 18th before the coup process, would we not have entered it? Therefore, one must separate the wheat from the chaff, apples from oranges," said Özel, and responded to the question as follows:

"The Parliament is not the property of the AKP or the MHP. When you enter the Parliament's commission, you are not entering some part of them. You are coming to a part of the nation and doing the duty it gave you. In line with the authority the nation gave you. But while entering, I said, we said this. 'We will not talk about the constitution here,' we said. First, there were a lot of discussions.

Then, it was even the headline of Cumhuriyet at that time. They put a box from every party. Every party committed on the first day that 'This parliament, this commission will not talk about the constitution, will not try to change the constitution.' They underlined it. We also expressed our satisfaction. Again regarding this parliament, only on the point of a 'Terror-free Turkey'... 'Terror-free Turkey yes, but a terror-free and democratic Turkey,' we said. We wanted the word 'democratization', 'democracy' to be put in the name of the commission and we ensured it. Now, while progressing from this perspective, there is someone who wants the Republican People's Party not to be in this commission, the one who wants it the most, and that is Recep Tayyip Erdoğan."

"THE GOVERNMENT'S ONLY GOAL IS TO PREVENT İMAMOĞLU'S CANDIDACY"

Stating that the government's main goal is to prevent Ekrem İmamoğlu's Presidential Candidacy, Özel uttered the following words:

"Because I resist this, he is trying to throw me out of the head of the party, trying to remove me. I say, 'Come on, you know, don't trample the law so much to do the conditions you desire. Let us provide the conditions for you. Let one of us say we will not be a candidate, let one of us leave the chairmanship until the election.' But I won't get off the bus until the election. I can't promise that either. I mean, I will leave the chairmanship, the title of chairmanship, but I will do the campaign, that is."

"WHAT THE CHIEF PUBLIC PROSECUTOR DID IS A CRIME"

Responding to Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor Akın Gürlek defining the investigation into the IMM at the Judicial Year Opening ceremony as the "biggest corruption file of the century," Özel said the following:

"For him to make this statement, according to the Ministry of Justice's circular number 152/1, he needs to get permission from the HSK for this statement. Did he get permission? There is no permission. Two, let's say he did. According to the HSK's circular number 33, it says that a press statement should not be of a nature that would create an opinion in the public that the person is guilty or cause judges or courts to act with prejudice in evaluating the events. If a chief public prosecutor is going to make a statement, 'He will get permission from us. The statement he makes cannot create an opinion that the persons are guilty or cause judges and courts to act with prejudice in evaluating the events.' In other words, the indictment has not been written yet, the trial has not started, the evidence has not been discussed, the witnesses have not been heard, the defense has not been made. On the last day, he is announcing in advance the decision that the court president and the panel will give with law and conscience."

Responding to the question asked about Gürlek's expressions, "We do not have anyone detained just with witness testimony, we do not detain without evidencing the statement. If there is such a person, tell us, let's release them the very next day," Özel said,

"Let me say this much; first, it was secret witnesses with the statements of three pieces of wood like Çınar, Meşe, Ladin, etc. Then that didn't work, by making people slanderers. But the Constitutional Court says, 'It cannot be alone with secret witness testimony. It cannot be with someone's confession testimony alone, you will support it with concrete evidence.' Where is the concrete evidence? Have you been able to prove a single penny to date? Therefore, well, tomorrow or the next day he will put those evidences, he will say 'This is evidence,' and we will discuss those evidences. Once upon a time, he issued a MASAK report. What happened now? Is there anyone saying MASAK report now? It all became a napkin and went away. What did they say about the last MASAK report repeating what happened four times four times? They said, 'We had artificial intelligence do it, that's why it came out wrong.' In the first MASAK report, not a single lira of irregularity was detected regarding our friends. Therefore, he is lying completely and has conducted this process very unfairly."

Reminding that the names arrested in the IMM investigations were transferred to prisons far from their families, Özel said the following:

"I am asking that Akın Gürlek from here. You exiled Fatih Keleş to Kocaeli. One day you took him with a car and brought him to Çağlayan Courthouse. You entered a room. One chief prosecutor, three prosecutors, Fatih Keleş. Is there a lawyer? No. What are you doing in that room? What is the name of what is done in that room? Without a lawyer, they say 'We did not call you for questioning.' He said 'I want my lawyer.' He says 'We did not call you for questioning, we called you for a chat.' Well, Mr. Akın, if a traffic accident happened on that road while you were bringing him from Kocaeli for a chat, if something happened to Fatih Keleş, would you say 'Well, he was coming for a chat, he passed away' to his family, his mother, his father, his wife, his child? Is this a thing that can happen? In which law is it written? Is this a thing that can happen? He says, 'There is no forcing to become a confessor.'

"WE ARE FACING THE GREATEST CHARACTER ASSASSINATION OF THE CENTURY"

"We are facing the greatest character assassination of this century. We are facing the greatest smear campaign of the century. It will not be forgotten for a hundred years, but the reckoning will not be left to the afterlife, it is under a great attack that will also be seen in this world," said Özel, stating that İmamoğlu was thrown into prison because he would make Atatürk's party the government, and said the following:

"Ekrem İmamoğlu is not just any politician who came out of Beylikdüzü. He is someone who took Istanbul from the hands of the AK Party thirty years later, who made the saying 'Whoever loses Istanbul loses Turkey' ring in Tayyip Erdoğan's mind, who won Istanbul three times in a row, whom no candidate shown by Tayyip Erdoğan could defeat, who has defeated Tayyip Erdoğan's candidates four times, he will make the Republican People's Party the government again in the 102nd year, or 103rd year, or 104th year of the Republic of Turkey and make Atatürk's party the government."

"For this reason, Ekrem İmamoğlu was taken inside, thrown in. Ekrem İmamoğlu's crime is the crime of defeating Erdoğan. Ekrem İmamoğlu's detention justification is that he will attempt this crime again. He says 'criminal organization' for Ekrem İmamoğlu, those he calls a criminal organization are his friends who did good municipal work while he was committing the crime of defeating Erdoğan, or the bureaucrats who worked with him. Anyone who doesn't know this is fooling themselves. The situation is this clear."

STRIKING STATEMENTS ON THE ALLIANCE OF MHP AND AKP....

"The People's Alliance was established on the streets on July 15th, right? The statement made by the MHP on the evening of July 15th is clear. 'No nationalist will take to the streets. The police and the soldier will never clash, the members of my party will not take sides.' It is still on their site. I am the one who gathered everyone in this party on July 15th, who defended the decision to open the parliament, against the coup... It was established on the streets on the evening of July 15th. You laid the foundations of the People's Alliance in the civil court of first instance. Meral Akşener was coming with 900 votes, she was becoming the government in the party, with a civil court of first instance decision, through the mediation of a young deputy who was a lawyer for the AK Party at that time, whom they later made deputy chairman, through the mediation of the Izmir deputy, step by step, piece by piece, he knows, he knows the history of these. Doesn't the legal community in Turkey know? With which civil court of first instance flip did they protect their power within the party and then? Did that provide the mediation? I am asking to understand. I am also thinking about the name, who it could be. Well, the cancellation of the charter changes made by Meral Akşener through the artifice of a civil court of first instance in Anatolia for the MHP congress, the cancellation of the MHP's upcoming congress, the elective congress, and keeping this administration at the head of the MHP, the departure of the IYI Party, Meral Akşener and her team from the party happened through the artifice of a civil court of first instance. AK Party members mediated this too, and then they added the MHP to their government as a spare. Is there anyone who doesn't know this? You mean it happened through the artifice of the AK Party. Of course. Is there anyone who doesn't know this? Is there anyone who doesn't know that the MHP did not pay the price for this?"

IF İMAMOĞLU CANNOT BE A CANDIDATE, WHO WILL BE THE CANDIDATE?

To the question "Will Mansur Yavaş be the candidate?" in the event that İmamoğlu's path to candidacy is completely closed, Özel reminded that İmamoğlu became a candidate by being elected and responded by saying, "Whoever is the most correct candidate, we will make them the candidate. Whoever is ahead in the polls will be the candidate."

Stating that Mansur Yavaş, whose candidacy is being discussed, is not a substitute for İmamoğlu but a guarantee, Özel also stated once again that he himself would not be a candidate:

"Let me say this much, we will nominate the most correct candidate. Of course, comments based on question and answer with some journalist friends, and then based on just the answer without a question, are not very correct, but let me say one thing very clearly. First, we have Ekrem İmamoğlu, or rather, as the chairman of the party, a chairman is the natural candidate of the party. If you are a candidate, you announce it, you become one. Both the political system in Turkey and the political tradition in Turkey are suitable for this. There have been many examples of this in the past.

In fact, in the parliamentary system, the chairman of the party becomes a parliamentary candidate, and whichever party wins the election, its chairman is given the task of forming the government. In this new Presidential Government System, there have been times when the Republican People's Party chairman nominated a candidate, and times when he did not.

Therefore, in a place where both possibilities exist, since I am at a point where I can be an undisputed candidate in the determination of the candidate or if he himself is a candidate, since a mortal cannot be objective in these matters, I put such a restriction on myself from the beginning and I am following this rule. I said, instead of imposing my own candidacy on this party, I will be the guarantee of determining the most correct candidate."

Mentioning that the CHP's election work will enter a new phase between September 4-9, Özgür Özel spoke as follows:

"The program will be concretized in the week of September 4-9, then it will move to the editing stage, I mean, on it. But when will we hold our official grand assembly, this ordinary grand assembly, if we normally hold that assembly for three days, we will hold it for four days.

One day before, of course, there are steps that need to be taken legally. In other words, it is read article by article, if there are motions, they are taken, they are voted on. We will handle that technical part that day and it will become official. But we will start talking about these in the areas that are concretized after September 4-9. In other words, we will not wait for it to be December for the assembly to be something. I had read as if an announcement would be made on September 8th. There is an organization representatives assembly on September 8th.

Its natural members are our previous chairmen, but I, all our provincial chairmen, some things proportional to our vote rates and populations from the provinces, in other words, within a small assembly work. There will be an important announcement on September 8th. September 9th is a more symbolic day, of course. It is the founding of our party, both our birthday when it was opened on September 9, '23 and after the coup, and the liberation of Izmir from enemy occupation.

On this meaningful day, we have planned a beautiful founding week where we will do it more symbolically, more officially, by gathering a party assembly as we traditionally do, you know. Where we will all go to Anıtkabir together, of course, it may receive some revisions under these conditions, but there will be a republic concert in the evening."

REACTION FROM ÖZEL TO THE AZİZ İHSAN AKTAŞ INTERVIEW

Speaking about the confessor Aziz İhsan Aktaş giving an interview to a television channel in front of the portrait of the Great Leader Gazi Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, Özel said, "I turn around and say Aziz İhsan Aktaş has received 380 tenders, 80 of these he received from CHP municipalities, more than 50 of which are tenders remaining from the previous period and continuing or tenders that were terminated but paid for. He also received 300 from municipalities and institutions managed by the AK Party," and expressed the following:

"There is no question for an AK Party member, they threw all the CHP members inside. Kütahya Municipality is the municipality that works the most with Aziz İhsan Aktaş, they separated his file and sent it to Kütahya, Alim Işık's file, which is the correct thing to do. Look, that is the correct thing to do. Today, the Adana file should be separated and sent, the Adıyaman file should be separated and sent. In other words, we hear very heavy words from the MHP, but I would not say bring Kütahya's Alim Işık and throw him in Silivri. If it is alleged that a crime was committed in Kütahya, in Kütahya, he should be tried there."

"If there is anyone who works more than Alim Işık, it was Aydın Özlem Çerçioğlu, they told her either you will join the AK Party or you will be thrown in jail, and she chose to join the AK Party. Let there be no misunderstanding there, I am not saying Özlem Çerçioğlu has corruption. She has worked a lot with Aziz İhsan Aktaş. If working with Aziz İhsan Aktaş is a crime, why are so many AK Party members outside? No, if it is not a crime, why are ours inside? We are in such a situation."

Speaking about Nuray Başaran, who interviewed Aktaş, Özel said the following:

"That person is a draft who previously carried the title of journalist, who was said '1300 mobile phones were bought by IMM Medya A.Ş. and distributed to Republican People's Party delegates,' it was not proven that a single mobile phone was bought from Medya A.Ş. and distributed. But they frothed up that lie and told it, now they have moved on from that lie. Now we are saying, 'The CHP is saying this, is it targeting me?' Well, you are the one who tells this lie. You are the one who tells this lie. Now why am I going to do it to that person's program or whatever? It is a waste of breath coming out of my mouth for my agenda."

News Source: 12punto