A phone call from Devlet Bahçeli to Özgür Özel

Republican People's Party (CHP) Chairman Özgür Özel made statements regarding the current agenda.

Speaking to Gerçek Gündem, Özel reacted to the events that took place during the Can Atalay session in the Turkish Grand National Assembly (TBMM).

Regarding AKP İzmir MP Alpay Özalan, who attacked TİP Istanbul MP Ahmet Şık, Özel stated, "Every penny of the salary paid to Mr. Alpay is a waste for this country. Alpay is a democracy microbe. His job is to cause disease."

Özel continued as follows:

"It is not right for Mr. Alpay to be an MP. It is not right for him to be an Administrative Officer of the Assembly. Every penny of the salary paid to Mr. Alpay is a waste for this country. It is such a bad thing, but you don't ask a microbe, 'Why are you causing disease?' They tell me, 'He also received a penalty, he also received a penalty.' According to the Rules of Procedure, the penalty for assault and swearing/insult is this. You give a reprimand first, then an expulsion. This is not a matter of equating Alpay with Ahmet Şık.

The main issue is that you don't ask a microbe, 'Why are you causing disease?' But we should have exhausted all possibilities with a procedural debate in that session before giving Alpay this opportunity. We couldn't do anything that day. Blood was shed. They beat a woman in front of our eyes. In the middle of that tension, a general debate took place and ended. While we should have invited people to conscience, everyone walked in their own camp. Yet, we were proposing to open a general debate. Perhaps if a general debate had been opened through inter-group dialogue, there could have been 2 days of consultations between the parties. But at that moment, I think the words and tone Ahmet Şık used that day were also tactically wrong. Furthermore, they are problematic expressions according to the Rules of Procedure. Alpay is a democracy microbe. His job is to cause disease."

"THE FIRST GET-WELL-SOON CALL WAS FROM BAHÇELİ"

When asked whether he received a get-well-soon call from the government after breaking his foot, Özgür Özel replied, "The first call after I broke my foot came from Devlet Bahçeli. Many leaders and party representatives called. I attended the general assembly for the Can Atalay session. Everyone there came and conveyed their get-well-soon wishes. Additionally, the Speaker of the Assembly both called and came down from his seat to my side in the Assembly that day."

"ANYONE CAN MEET WITH THE PREVIOUS CHAIRMAN OF THE PARTY"

Özel evaluated the meeting between IMM Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu and the 7th Chairman of the CHP, Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, as follows:

"This is normal. There is also a need for normalization within the party. They are people who have worked together for years. The opposite would be wrong. A visit like this had been planned two or three weeks before Mr. Ekrem went. Of course, I was aware of the visit. When he was in Hacıbektaş, he said, 'I will visit Mr. Kemal on Tuesday, I will talk to him like this.' I said, 'That would be good.' These are very normal things. Mr. Mansur also informed me before he went and informed me after he returned. These are done out of courtesy to each other. Even if I didn't know, I wouldn't feel uncomfortable. What will happen? Anyone can meet with the previous chairman of the party. I see no harm in it, but thank goodness the friends inform me out of courtesy."

"SOME FRIENDS WE HAVE NEVER SEEN IN THE PARTY ARE SPREADING RUMORS"

Upon the question, "Claims have been made that signatures will be collected and a convention will be held. Since the CHP has come in as the first party, why do you think these claims are being made?" Özel responded as follows:

"Since these things are not happening, they are not things to be evaluated much, but a call for an extraordinary convention or an effort to turn the charter convention into an elective convention happens if the party is unsuccessful. When the party is at the highest level it has reached in 47 years, this has no political equivalent. There is no such effort anyway. But some friends in the party who supposedly want to make Mr. Kemal chairman again, who defend him, but whom we have never seen in the party before, are writing such news, spreading rumors, and tweeting. So they are busy with that. We are busy making the party the government. I haven't heard of a single delegate being asked for a signature. There is a group of self-proclaimed people. Some attack on social media, some try to spread fake news. I am not busy with them."

"YOU WILL NOT HEAR SUCH A DISPUTE AMONG OUR MAYORS AGAIN"

Evaluating Üsküdar Mayor Sinem Dedetaş's response of "I am quite ready" to Habertürk columnist Oray Eğin's question, "Are you ready to govern Istanbul?", Özel stated that he does not find the candidacy debate correct without an election agenda.

Saying, "It is both too early, too unnecessary, and too useless," Özel expressed, "Rather than an interview given specifically there, our mayor friend probably answered a friendly chat from a journalist-origin brother of ours living in Paris during the Paris Olympics. 'Would you be ready if there was such a duty?' She said, 'I am ready,' that's all. You will not hear such a debate among our mayors again."

Stating that he does not find the statement malicious, Özel said, "I do not find it correct to create such an agenda in vain regarding the names who will replace whoever the presidential candidate is. You will not hear such a thing again. The friends have been warned. Mr. Ekrem was not happy with this agenda either. I was not happy either. Our friends are not malicious. They are a bit new to politics."

WHEN WILL HE GO TO PALESTINE?

Stating that he will visit Palestine, Özel noted the following:

"I will go to Palestine as soon as my foot heals. Mahmoud Abbas invited me. After my contacts in Palestine, if I see a need, there will be visits to Syria, Russia, and China in the future. I will go to the United Nations meeting. A date is officially awaited for Syria. I may meet with my Foreign Minister before I go. After I go, if there is something the head of state or the president needs to know during the meetings there, I will go and talk."

News Source: 12punto