Özgür Özel reacts to Aziz İhsan Aktaş indictment: 'There is no longer any excuse, detentions must not continue'

In his speech at the opening of the Atatürk Art Center, Özel addressed the completion of indictments regarding detained mayors, stating, "There is no longer any excuse for this. All evidence has been collected. Trial without detention is the principle. No one has anywhere to flee. We expect trial without detention for all our mayors. Challenge accepted. The allegations will be presented there, defenses will be made, and evidence will be debated. This persecution, which has been going on for a year, must end now. These detentions must not be continued using Mussolini-style pre-execution methods," he said.

The indictment prepared against 200 people, including a large number of mayors, has been completed and submitted to the Istanbul High Criminal Court.

The Atatürk Art Center, whose construction was completed by the Çankaya Municipality, was opened to service with a ceremony. The opening was attended by CHP Chairman Özgür Özel, Ankara Metropolitan Mayor Mansur Yavaş, Çankaya Mayor Hüseyin Can Güner, and numerous guests.

Stating that the opening not only provides a cultural center but also demonstrates an example of solidarity and continuity in local government, CHP Chairman Özgür Özel said, "We are together for the opening ceremony of a very valuable service worthy of this district where the Republic flourishes. This is where the heart of Turkey beats; I always emphasize: Çankaya is a place that hosts the Grand National Assembly of Turkey, the First and Second Assemblies, our current Assembly, our Atatürk's Çankaya Mansion, the headquarters of our parties, ministries, and the eternal resting place of Gazi Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. That is why members of the Republican People's Party and the people of Ankara want to be sure that these places are in safe hands when they close their eyes at night."

"DETENTIONS MUST NOT CONTINUE"

Touching upon the judicial processes targeting CHP mayors, Özel noted the following regarding the completion of the indictments:

"As Republican People's Party municipalities began to do important work and satisfaction rates regarding this clearly increased, instructions were first given to 'shake them up.' They were asked to pay SGK debts and tax debts with interest all at once. The goal was to disrupt services and lower satisfaction. In many municipalities, they achieved their goal with this shake-up, but the citizens know why services are disrupted if they are... Our mayors focused on service by prioritizing financial discipline, creating resources, and avoiding waste.

On the other hand, an incredible discrediting and smear campaign was carried out against our mayors. On October 2 last year, the person appointed to the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office while holding a political position, contrary to the Constitution, started his duty on October 9 and initiated the process by appointing a trustee to the Esenyurt Municipality on October 30. Subsequently, 16 of our mayors were detained through operations carried out against the Beşiktaş Municipality. We have been waiting for the indictments for months; we said, 'let the indictment come.' Finally, the indictment appeared this evening at the end of the workday. As we have been saying for months, we are facing a document of misery that proves how real the issue is when we said, 'you cannot put together nonsensical slanders,' a bag filled with irrelevant, unrelated claims that lack cause-and-effect relationships and are devoid of evidence.

We were saying, 'Present this indictment not to be judged, but to judge.' We were able to see a great inconsistency and an indictment that is falling apart at the seams. Now, the trial phase is beginning. There is no longer any excuse for this. All evidence has been collected. Trial without detention is the principle. No one has anywhere to flee. We expect trial without detention for all our mayors. Challenge accepted. The allegations will be presented there, defenses will be made, and evidence will be debated. This persecution, which has been going on for a year, must end now. These detentions must not be continued using Mussolini-style pre-execution methods.

I wanted to express these during this opening; the topic is very fresh. Let us continue to open city restaurants, nurseries, and student dormitories. When these friends were not in office, there were no nurseries in Istanbul. Now it has reached 18. Our number of student dormitories has reached 75. In Ankara, Mansur Yavaş's creative housing models for higher education students should be taken as an example. The slanders stem from the fear of these successes. We stand behind our Mayor Ekrem, our Mayor Mansur, and all our friends to the end. We are proud of each and every one of them."

News Source: 12punto