Breaking News... Emphasis on the ballot box from Özgür Özel: 'The people of Bursa will have their say at the first ballot box'

CHP Chairman Özgür Özel is speaking at his party's group meeting in the shadow of operations targeting municipalities that changed hands in local elections and the "putting in one's place" polemic in the İBB case. Özel is expected to both reiterate his call for elections and respond harshly to the process initiated against the Üsküdar Municipality this morning.

We are holding our party's group meeting. https://t.co/7sHaMbmuvp

— Özgür Özel (@eczozgurozel) April 7, 2026

The highlights from Özel's statements are as follows:

"We are in Parliament after two weeks. Last week, we were going to be in Kosovo to accompany our national team's World Cup journey, upon the invitations of both the Prime Minister of Kosovo, our political relative Albin Kurti, and our Turkish Football Federation President, to support our National Team. We woke up to the day with this intention. We did not have a group meeting.

But those who wanted to poison the date of March 31, the anniversary of the greatest local election victory in the history of the Republican People's Party, and indeed the history of democracy of the Republic of Turkey... We woke up to a new political coup by those who could not win Bursa at the ballot box established two years ago and now want to take it with the judge's gavel and the prosecutor's robe, this time a coup against the will of Bursa."

Unfortunately, those who had no issues during this period, who only campaigned for 5 years, and who could not find anything in the municipality during their previous district mayoral term, carried out a character assassination against Mustafa Bozbey and his family based solely on the statements of a lying witness and slanderer who had defrauded 500 people. After 4 days of torment, his family was released under judicial control, and Mustafa Bozbey was arrested.

"THEY WILL WANT TO CONTINUE EXPLOITING BURSA TO THE BONE, WASTING RESOURCES, AND SEEKING RENT"

And they are seizing this opportunity—the entire scheme is built on this—hoping that in the municipal council group meeting to be held tomorrow, they will take the authority that the people of Bursa did not give them by usurping the will of Bursa, and appoint a deputy mayor from among themselves. They want to interrupt the Republican People's Party's municipal governance in Bursa, and instead of the mayor chosen by one in every two people in Bursa—a place they called their stronghold where they fell below thirty percent after years of rule—they want to install a puppet, someone placed there through political and judicial means, to continue exploiting Bursa to the bone, wasting resources, and seeking rent.

I am saying nothing more; I said what I had to say from the top of the bus. From now on, the people of Bursa will have their say at the first ballot box they encounter. At the first ballot box!

"WE HAVE NO EXCUSES REGARDING OUR WORK"

We are in a period of intense work and intense resistance. We will not take a single step back in the face of these attacks. However, we have no lethargy regarding our work, nor do we have any excuses like 'there are so many attacks, we cannot work, we cannot do it'.

"THE SQUARES ARE BUZZING WITH EXCITEMENT"

Our mayors continue to work in their respective jurisdictions despite all the pressure, the forty percent cut in funding, and the repayment of debts—with interest—that the previous AKP administration left to the Social Security Institution (SGK) and the tax office. We were in Çanakkale, Kuşadası, Bursa, and Kütahya.

Four... That is, our provinces of Çanakkale, Bursa, and Kütahya, as well as our district of Kuşadası, were governed by Republican People's Party (CHP) mayors. I spoke to some while they were in custody, and to others while they were imprisoned. Two of them were still in office, those in Çanakkale and Kütahya. I saw what they accomplished, and we spoke about it at length. We asked the public, and whenever the names and services of these mayors were brought up, the crowds were energized.

I will touch upon this shortly, but we have inaugurated very important services in Izmir, Manisa, and Bursa. We have laid the foundations for new investments. Before moving on to this week's busy agenda, I would like to start my speech today by taking a look at the first phase of the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality trial, where, with the latest interim decision, a ruling for the release of 18 innocent people to be tried without arrest was finally made.

"THE TRIALS BEGAN AFTER A YEAR AND WE ARE ONLY AT THE 17TH HEARING"

Exactly 384 days have passed since the March 19 coup attempt. For the sake of ambition, we have been living through a process for 384 days where no one wins and 86 million people lose. For 384 days, the peace and prosperity of the nation have been sacrificed. We waited 8 months for the indictment, and it was issued at the end of 8 months. The trials began after a year, and we are still only at the 17th hearing.

"THEY COULD NOT PROVE 56 KURUS"

The first concrete reality that has emerged is this: The pool media and the mainstream media, manipulated by false information, have been talking about things since March 19 of last year until the trial began, and even until the indictment was issued. Now, whatever they talked about in the courtroom, whatever they were made to talk about, whatever character assassination or slander was committed, we see that 90% of these are not even in the indictment. When you look at it in terms of what they kept on the agenda, TRT started the first morning by saying "560 billion in corruption." We learned that from day one until today, if the İBB had not paid any salaries, had not provided any water, had not paved any asphalt, and had not helped any poor people, the total would only be 450 billion. You are going to pay salaries to 90,000 people. You are going to provide services in all 39 districts of the vast city of Istanbul. You are going to make 4-5 billion lira worth of infrastructure investments in each district, and it will be visible—for example, Üsküdar will no longer be flooded, cars will not float on viaducts, and streams will not overflow. And then, more than the sum of this money is corruption...

They could not prove 56 kurus, not even 56 kurus. None of it is in the indictment. There are no 1,200 cell phones, nor what came out of the bags... we said they were jammers, the AK Party media said it was "money." They wrote "jammer" in the indictment. It turned out there were jammers in those bags. As for Ekrem İmamoğlu's luxury car, he said, "I don't have such a car." It turned out to belong to an MHP deputy. It was revealed that they had bad intelligence, or rather, that they were deceiving people.

"THE FOOTAGE THEY CLAIMED EXISTED HAS VANISHED, THE AUDIO RECORDINGS THEY MENTIONED BECAME INAUDIBLE"

The indictment didn't even come close to the truth. They claimed there were euros and dollars hidden under the floorboards at the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality. Not a single cent was found; it wasn't even alleged. The footage they claimed existed disappeared, and the audio recordings they mentioned became inaudible. When these questions were asked, they said, 'Those who told us, we heard it that way too, we were misled, we acted based on the prosecutor's information.'

"IT HAS EMERGED THAT ERDOĞAN WAS MISLED"

This hesitation—the self-confidence we showed when we said 'we are waiting not to be judged, but to judge' regarding that indictment—was not in vain. Because Erdoğan, who believed the prosecutor, said, 'The indictment will be out in a month,' but it took 8 months. He said, 'After this, they won't be able to walk the streets or look each other in the eye,' but when the indictment finally came out 8 months later, we had been on the streets for 8 months. We have been on the streets for 4 more months since then. We have held 103 actions. We have looked the voters in the eye in all 39 districts of Istanbul. We have looked the nation in the eye at every action meeting and provincial rally we held across Turkey. Not just in CHP strongholds—that era is over—but we spoke while looking them in the eye in Yozgat, Konya, and Kayseri. Honestly, in the end, it turned out that our self-confidence was justified and that Erdoğan was—I won't say misled—but that he misled others. Another person he misled was Mr. Bahçeli. When Mr. Bahçeli saw such strong allegations, as we kept saying 'there is no such thing,' he trusted the prosecutor and he trusted Erdoğan. We said, 'We demand a live broadcast,' and he said, 'Let it be done.' They asked Erdoğan, and he also trusted the prosecutor and said, 'It is appropriate.' The trial began, and forget about a live broadcast; they are squeezing journalists into a corner like a matchbox. The families are in another place. God forbid that whatever is happening inside is heard! Do you know what is happening? There is a human dimension to this; innocent bureaucrats of the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality are hearing their children, who were entrusted to their mothers' wombs on the day they were detained and arrested, calling them 'daddy' in that courtroom.

Do you know what is happening? Women are coming from all over Turkey, having been labeled as a gang and an organization, and they are meeting each other there. They are embracing one another. It has emerged that what was described as Turkey's largest criminal organization is actually a group of professionally hired individuals who work based on merit and professionalism, and who, in many cases, have never even met face-to-face or do not know each other. There are things like, for example, you talk about merit—was it yesterday or the day before... We look at it, if only it were broadcast so these things could be seen! For instance, they ask Seyfullah Demirel, the Head of the Road Maintenance Department of the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality: 'When you were being hired, was there any discussion about Ekrem İmamoğlu's suggestions regarding how you would do your job or any instructions he might give you?' He says, 'Sir, Ekrem Bey had only one instruction when he was hiring me.' They ask, 'What was that?' He says, 'I was the mayor of Beylikdüzü, and we struggled in the snow and ice; I asked for salt from the IMM. They hadn't given it to us because we weren't from their party. Look, you are coming to the same position; you will give salt to everyone who asks, whether they are AK Party or CHP, without discrimination.' That was his only instruction. He says, 'I couldn't even fulfill that fully; I gave as much salt as they needed, not as much as they asked for, but I gave it to everyone.' He says, 'I did not let Ekrem President's word fall to the ground.'

One says Antarctica, the other says don't listen to these, Antarctica in my ear... You wouldn't believe it. I mean, these men were a gang for corruption? He says, 'I partially fulfilled Ekrem President's instruction; they asked for a lot, but I could only give what was needed, sir, resources were limited.' Look at the purity of one, and look at the betrayal the other is committing against the nation. They are going to create a criminal organization out of this.

Every single person, do you know what is happening? I said, 'You said it like this.' 'Where did you see it?' 'I didn't see it.' 'How did you know?' 'I heard it.' 'Who did you hear it from?' 'I forgot that part.' This is the kind of trial that is taking place throughout all these processes. All these processes are going on like this.

For example, Mr. Kapkı says, 'I fell for the prosecutor's promise of release.' Meaning he says: 'This statement is not a true statement. I couldn't tell the truth. He said he would release me if I said it like this; I fell for the promise of release. That is why I signed this slanderous statement. Now I am retracting it,' he says.

"IF THERE IS ANYONE WHO HAS THE SLIGHTEST DOUBT ABOUT THIS, THEY SHOULD GO TO COURT"

For instance, we were supposed to hear something in those trials. Things like, 'Ekrem İmamoğlu said give this tender to this person, give that tender to that person,' and so on. We don't hear those things; instead, we see the honorable struggle of women who are threatened by the prosecutor saying, 'Look, if you want to reunite with your child, you will sign this, otherwise you will end up on the other side of Anatolia,' and how they maintain that struggle there. We also see some informants who cannot look one in the eye, some who have recanted, and some who are waiting for their turn to recant... But we see that almost all of them are putting together the pieces of the puzzle regarding what kind of conspiracy this matter is.

That is why I say this much: If there is anyone who has the slightest doubt about this issue, they should go to the court or definitely watch as much as the journalists reporting on the court can provide. Especially political parties... Thank goodness, many opposition parties are coming and watching. All political parties should come. In fact, if there is any self-confidence in the AK Party... We went and listened for years when there were coup trials against the state in the past, and we were the first to write that it was a conspiracy. For example, the Republican People's Party Prison Commission placed the term 'Balyoz Conspiracy' into history, referring to the conspiracy against our national army. Erdoğan later said, 'They deceived me too,' and 'They conspired against the national army,' and arrived at that point.

A group of deputies in the AK Party and MHP... It is open to the deputies, they should go and watch. They should tell what they see and hear first to their own conscience, then to their spouse, friends, and party. But they cannot do it, they are not doing it. Why can't they? As the Republican People's Party, for example, when we went and followed the military espionage case, the Izmir military espionage case; Muharrem Işık, Veli Ağbaba, I, and Nurettin Demir came and told our party: There is a major conspiracy. Everyone whose ear we whispered into listened. They gave me 20 minutes to speak, I went up and explained it to the entire parliament. I said; the personal honor of the army's honorable officers is being stained with prostitution, and their professional honor with espionage. Two years after these words, these sentences were quoted and used in the trial where the judges, prosecutors, and that structure that set up this conspiracy against the national army were being tried.

The issue was that clear. If you are a representative of the nation, you will stand on the right side of history. We didn't go there to exonerate the guilty; we went to seek the truth. Now, AK Party and MHP deputies who have the courage to seek the truth are being sought here, friends. Someone is needed from the AK Party or MHP to go there, watch, and come back to tell this first to their conscience, then to their friends and voters. It is hard to find. Groups are formed accordingly, group disciplines are established accordingly, and so on... But there is a major rupture here now.

"THE NATION WILL RE-ESTABLISH THE ORDER, RE-ESTABLISH THE STATE"

If the gap between the truth and what is being discussed here widens this much, then there is no longer any meaning in calling oneself the government or a representative of the nation. Therefore, in the process ahead, this court must be analyzed correctly as something that has never been done before is being done. While Erdoğan, who was tried with the same accusations, was tried without arrest—without being detained for a day, without police going to his house for a day, without being arrested for a day—a choice, the prosecutor's choice—which is a wrong choice—is 'non-arrest is the principle, let's arrest them, friends.' They take them away in a rush. Then they write letters; take down their pictures, ban their voices!

Hey, he is the currently elected mayor of Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality. Whose picture are you taking down, whose voice are you banning? The nation says 'let it be him,' and they say 'you didn't vote for us, serves you right.' If you pit the nation against the state, this nation has a characteristic: You ask for taxes, they pay them one way or another. Whatever obligation you state, they fulfill. They give their lives for the flag, you call them to the military, they go, their child becomes a martyr and they say 'may the homeland live on.' But if you pit the nation against the state, and the state against the nation, and say 'it will not be as you say, it will be as I say'; one day, they will come face to face, and there the nation will re-establish the order, re-establish the state.

The nation has something to say to those who collapse the state, put the state at the service of a policy, make the state a party's, make the party the owner of the state, and make you and me extras. With God's permission, it will deliver the best of democracy slaps at the ballot box.

On one hand, I am calling out once again:

Your friends did not do this. There are those placed in well-type prisons. A person who is to stay there—and all of them are evaluated in terms of human rights—is being placed in the same spot as a convict who has received six aggravated life sentences, while our friend has not even had an indictment written yet. Such is the system.

F-type prison, it is unacceptable. They are putting elected mayors there. They never once came out and complained. Why? They said, 'This is a political struggle, we will give the toughest response.' But brother, is this acceptable? You are conducting a trial, there is no lunch. You are conducting a trial, the water is cut off, the water is cut off, the water is cut off.

What is the reason for the accumulation of so much cruelty, so much hatred, so much malice? What is the reason? Can the punishment for us not letting Kanal Istanbul be built in Istanbul, or for us having moved from Beylikdüzü, which we managed well, to the IMM—because 'You established a great regime of waste for years, and AK Party members have had enough'—and for us having defeated you by a wide margin in the cancelled elections, be a trial without any leniency?

Can the water be cut off? How can a trial be conducted in the Silivri courthouse of the great Republic of Turkey by leaving people without water? This court is held every day, not just one day. It is not a matter of 'grit your teeth and endure it.' This court happens every day, our friends go there four days a week.

"YOU WILL RUN THAT MINISTRY OF JUSTICE LIKE A DECENT PERSON"

Therefore, I am calling out from here to that small-minded person who is blinded by malice and who, with the instructions received, has marched not over the Republican People's Party, but over the will of the nation:

The duty you perform is not a duty to top off the character assassination you have committed in the past. You will run that Ministry of Justice like a decent person, you will act like a human being.

I am telling that Minister of Justice: The peace, safety, the respectful language used towards them, the water they drink, and the food they eat for everyone being tried in the court in Silivri are entrusted to you due to the duty you have assumed in the state by chance. The treatment they receive will determine the treatment you will receive the day you come to the commission of this parliament. Let's see!

Unfortunately, everyone whom the regime perceives as a threat is under arrest in Turkey. From the most well-known names to the nameless heroes. By 2026, they have turned Turkey into an open prison and a detention center for those who are a threat to the regime.

Ekrem İmamoğlu, our mayors, elected politicians, and valuable bureaucrats are also under arrest. Former HDP co-chairs Selahattin Demirtaş and Figen Yüksekdağ are under arrest. Can Atalay, a deputy sent by the will of the people of Hatay—who decided to join the Republic of Turkey by casting their votes, which was the first vote in Hatay—who believed in democracy, and who was elected by the votes of the bright people of Hatay regardless of their views, is under arrest.

Lawyers; from Selçuk Kozağaçlı to Mehmet Pehlivan, lawyers are under arrest. Trade unionist Mehmet Türkmen, who defends workers' rights, is under arrest. Journalists Merdan Yanardağ, Alican Uludağ, İsmail Arı, Pınar Gayıp, and 17 other journalists are under arrest in Turkey. Esra from İkizköy, who defends her village, nature, and olive trees... Esra Işık, who protects the trees inherited from her grandmother, the female headman of that İkizköy, is under arrest.

"THEY ARRESTED 301 STUDENTS, NOT ONE OF THEM HAD EVEN TAKEN A FLAGPOLE IN THEIR HAND TO SWAT A FLY ON A POLICEMAN'S HELMET"

Besides this, it has reached such a point that whoever engages in environmental struggle or the struggle for rights faces gas, batons, detention, and arrest. So that no one can do this again. After the March 19 crackdown, 301 students were arrested. Yesterday, they received an award at the Progressive Journalists Association at the Vatan Police Headquarters. There is a documentary about the torture at Vatan Police Headquarters. It shows how medical reports of battery were subsequently altered. There are cases, unseen even during military coup periods, where medical reports were changed in the files from 'beaten' to 'clean'. We watched, we were shocked, we were devastated. Just because of the police, barricades, fights, conflicts, and sides... They arrested 301 students, and not one of them had even taken a flagpole in their hand to swat a fly on a policeman's helmet. Children from families who have never passed by a police station in their lives, children who have never said a word against the police or security forces, were all taken just to set an example for others, to create anxiety, and to stop this intensity in the squares and the interest of the youth. There is evidence of the torture inflicted on those beautiful children inside, and there are investigations that are still not opened or are proceeding with great difficulty.

"WE SALUTE THE STRUGGLE OF THE PEOPLE OF ORDU ALL TOGETHER"

Now here, from Ordu; while 75 percent of Ordu and 85 percent of Giresun have been opened to mining, they intend to massacre the forests and streams of Ordu with 18 tenders this week. We salute the struggle of the people of Ordu who are resisting this, all together.

Also with us in the group is the Varto Ecology Platform. They are planning a major environmental massacre there against geothermal energy. The people of Aydın know this best.

The people of Aydın know about this geothermal issue; they came and built geothermal plants in the Aydın plain. They introduced the beautiful figs of Aydın to honey dew disease and all sorts of other ailments. A very heavy price was paid. In Manisa's Alaşehir, they ruined the vineyards; that blight is one problem, the diseases are another. But, for example, Sarıgöl put up a great fight and protected itself. Now, the people of Varto are fighting against the environmental destruction that geothermal energy will cause, and they have come to our group. We salute them and stand behind their struggle.

"WE ARE AS PROUD OF MUSTAFA BOZBEY'S STANCE AS WE ARE DISGUSTED BY THE ONE WHO STOLE THE WILL OF AYDIN"

Dear friends, last week we held openings in İzmir, Manisa, and Bursa. The original date for the openings in Bursa was April 15-16; we were going to go then. The Bursa Metropolitan Municipality had 29 important openings, and we were going to carry them out. Bozbey said, 'They have taken me in.' By the way, let us underline Bozbey's attitude once again; Bozbey and the Aydın Metropolitan Municipality were in very similar positions. They went to both Bozbey and the Aydın Metropolitan Municipality and said, 'Either you join us or you will be thrown in jail.' The Aydın Metropolitan Municipality, supposedly the 'Topuklu Efe' (Heeled Efe), ran away, stealing the labor and support that Aydın gave her, and with political pickpocketing and theft of the national will, she ran to where she deserved to be, she ran to Tayyip Erdoğan's side. Mustafa Bozbey, despite the pressures, threats, blackmail, and press reports that came every 15 days, said, 'I am a member of the Republican People's Party, I have no faults; if you find any, I will answer for them, but I will not bow to your blackmail or threats,' and for that reason, he was put in prison in Bursa just to seize Bursa.

We are as proud of Mustafa Bozbey's stance as we are disgusted by the one who stole the will of Aydın. We say, 'Good for him.' Bozbey said, 'They will throw me in jail.' He then said, 'Then they will sit on their hands for 3 months, and later they will open what I have done, claiming the AK Party did it.' That is why, for the first time in history, perhaps in the history of world politics, we had the people who elected him perform the opening while the mayor who did the work was in custody at night. We reflected it on the screen, they shouted 'I am opening it,' and we opened 29 important works so that Bursa could see what had been done despite such difficulties, and so that when the old system of exploitation returns to Bursa, others do not unfairly take credit for the work we have done.

"COOPERATIVISM IS NOT A CRIME, IT NEVER WAS"

In addition to this, we held 26 openings and laid the foundations for 24 projects in İzmir. There was an important issue in İzmir; as you know, three of our valuable friends, Tunç Soyer, Şenol Aslanoğlu, and Heval Savaş Kaya, are currently under arrest. But they are under arrest without a replacement. Why? In the operation they called the 'Great İzmir Operation' at first, they said, 'Sir, you attempted fraud by establishing a cooperative.' They detained more than 100 people. First, they arrested 104 people. The indictment was written quickly, it dropped to 50, then to 8, then to 3, and what emerged there was this: Our friend explained with great self-confidence; we need urban transformation in İzmir after the earthquake. As a formula, we did not use the contractor system, because the contractor makes a profit there—would a contractor do it for free? We established cooperatives, leading the way for their formation, using this method which we believe is the right model by prioritizing the cooperative system. The Republican People's Party also had political determination in this in the past, and it is correct. Because establishing a cooperative, having one established, and cooperativism is not a crime, it never was; on the contrary, it is a very correct method.

"WE STATED THAT IT IS OUR DUTY TO SOLVE THIS PROBLEM FOR THE IZMIR METROPOLITAN MUNICIPALITY AS WELL"

But during those processes, there was no pandemic left, no economic crisis left, and as you all know, construction costs in Turkey have increased tenfold. Many private contractors stopped, went bankrupt, or made new agreements. Apartments that had risen from 600 lira collected from cooperatives to 3 million, 4 million, or 5 million lira could not be finished and had stalled. Because of this, there was a reaction in İzmir. Since the day I became a member of parliament, 10,000 housing victims from Esenyurt have been in this parliament. You ask, why do you always come to us? The AK Party members were instructed not to listen to them. During the time of the Esenyurt mayor, the AK Party mayor, they were filming videos that ended up on social media, which is why AK Party members wouldn't listen to the housing victims. In İzmir, they suddenly decided to listen, they decided to organize a protest with them, and to rent trucks and buses for them. We went, saw them all, listened to them, and said that our friends had not committed a crime and that it was our duty to solve this problem for the İzmir Metropolitan Municipality.

"THEY ARE TAKING THE KEYS AND SMILING IN THE HALL WHERE THEY ONCE LED THE PROTESTS IN FRONT OF THE AKP PARTY AND TOLD THEM 'COME HERE'"

Thanks to Cemil Tugay and the bureaucracy, they worked... I went to İzmir this week. The situation in İzmir is this: mutual signatures have been signed with 6 out of 7 cooperatives, and only the 7th one was stuck on the AK Party-MHP rejection vote. That will be resolved in the next council meeting. Progress is being made in seven cooperatives, and in the cooperative they call the 4th stage, some of the apartments are finished, and 1,300 of them will be completely finished by the end of the year, or even by August. Key deliveries have begun for those that are finished, with 60 in one place and 50 in another. When I left İzmir, I said, 'We will solve this problem; we are not the AK Party, we do not leave those who have fallen where they fell. We do not say we are not at fault and that construction costs have risen; we will do what is necessary.' With meticulous work, they are now taking the keys and smiling in the hall in İzmir where they once led the protests in front of the AK Party and told them 'come here.' I congratulate the İzmir Metropolitan Municipality.

I receive information every 15 days; this entire housing grievance will be resolved by the end of next year. The signatures cast and the compromises reached are correct. Of course, when things are like this, the crime of fraud will find a defrauder and a defrauded party. Now that the defrauded have reached their homes and there is no one left to be called a defrauder, while our friends were about to be released, two of these three friends were given new detention orders from another file, and one was detained again while at home... We are carefully following all of those processes as well. However, we are facing a reality where we are in a process in İzmir where grievances have been stopped, improvement has begun, there are hopeful smiles, and faces are finally beaming.

"MAKING FACES SMILE IN İZMİR IS ÖZGÜR ÖZEL'S PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITY"

Besides this, there is rental social housing; the world hears this from social democrats, and in Turkey, they heard it from us. When they heard it from us, the AK Party said, 'We will do it too.' They said, '5% of the project or something,' and we said, 'It cannot be less than 25%.' We laid the foundation for the 660 independent and single-story rental social housing units of the Çeşme Municipality, which will be completed, together with Mr. Karayalçın. We saw that Karayalçın's young team, who created the Batıkent miracle, has now embraced the project in Çeşme with great pleasure as the Council of Gray-Haired Advisors. We were very happy. In addition, the foundation for 3,100 social housing units was laid for Menemen, and we followed these. So let us say this: we said it is the 'flagship' of both our party and the republic; despite all the attacks, despite all the shaking, despite all the ill will, the flagship in İzmir is putting up a great fight, and İzmir will be managed, and is being managed, in a way that befits İzmir. Making faces smile in İzmir is Özgür Özel's primary responsibility.

"THEY ARE AFTER THAT MONEY"

Of course, when things go like this, when İzmir enters the path of service, when the debate ends, and satisfaction rises, indigestion also rises. You know, our Deputy Group Chairmen put up an important fight here together with our valuable group, in November 2025... last November. What was it? Let's remember where these things came from.

There is only one goal in Istanbul; to prevent the municipality from functioning and to stop its revenues. Those who saw that the Basilica Cistern, which was in very poor condition, was restored excellently by the IMM and brought in significant revenue with an incredible influx of foreign and domestic tourists, and those who saw that they lost the Galata Tower in a legal process, decided to introduce a piece of legislation. They said, 'If a foundation that is no longer active had a single nail in the history of a structure, the ownership of that property passes to the General Directorate of Foundations.' And based on this, they took over the Basilica Cistern—I am using the AKP's own terminology; they had truly left it to its fate. It smelled, it was dirty, it was terrible. Now, films are being shot inside, commercials are being filmed, tourists are entering, loving it, and not wanting to leave. The AKP is not interested in that part. Regarding the part to be proud of, they say, 'They are printing money here,' 'they are printing money.' They claim money is being printed at the Galata Tower, at the Basilica... My dear friend, money is not being printed. Turkey's glory, honor, and reputation are being upheld, and foreign tourists are paying for this service, so what is it to you? They are after that money.

"THE AK PARTY IS CONDUCTING AN OPERATION WITH THE POLICE AND SEIZING THE VOCATIONAL FACTORY AT DAWN"

We have tried very hard, and now it is in the Constitutional Court process. Of course, taking advantage of this before the law could even be passed, they are trying to seize the Vocational Factory, the Sovereignty House, the Namazgah Bath, and the Mortuary in Izmir by transferring their title deeds to the General Directorate of Foundations. The situation of the Vocational Factory is even more specific; it does not even comply with this law. The foundation was not active when the building was constructed. So, they went to court, and the court immediately issued a stay of execution. Then, the other day, they lifted the stay of execution... So much pressure was put on the court, and so many things happened—let's leave those details to our government, and let those things be explained on that day. And then, the AK Party, in a rush, conducted an operation with the police and seized the Vocational Factory at dawn.

Friends, our esteemed guests, do you know what is in the Vocational Factory? This Vocational Factory was left to the Izmir Municipality by Atatürk himself, with his own signature, back in the day. It remained derelict for years. Mr. Aziz Kocaoğlu saw this and said, 'Let us take this and bring it back to society.' They said, 'There is a foundation annotation on its title deed.' He wrote to the General Directorate of Foundations and asked, 'What do you want for it to be completely ours?' At that time, the General Directorate of Foundations determined an amount, and that amount was paid. It was, in the money of that time, 1 billion and some million or so. The title deed was obtained. A magnificent restoration was carried out on it, and it was launched at that time. Tunç Soyer continued it exactly as it was or strengthened it, and Cemil Tugay is adding new sections. Since that day, for over 10 years, 5,800 courses have been opened at the 'Vocational Factory'—it is called the Vocational Factory—and 145,000 trainees have been trained in a profession, friends. This building is used for this purpose. When the police entered yesterday, there were trainees inside. For example, among the trainees inside, there are those who have just finished and new ones; a 'Digital Youth Center' was opened there. From February 2025 to today, in 14 months, 385 young people have been employed in various companies because they developed new digital skills there. They are attacking this place, they are taking this place.

"I ENTRUST YOU TO NOT FORGET THESE DAYS AND TO HOLD THEM ACCOUNTABLE AT THE BALLOT BOX"

Now, we had a local election in Izmir. During the local election, they went around saying, 'We will not interfere with lifestyles, we will not upset Izmir, give the AK Party a chance, we will manage Izmir better than the CHP, with the powers of the general headquarters, the general administration...' I went to Izmir, held rallies, and explained it to them. I said, 'Look, the people of Istanbul gave the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality to the AK Party. What happened in Istanbul?' For example, I am describing to you the most magnificent view in the world. Go to Büyükada in Istanbul. It is the most beautiful place in the world, with the most beautiful city in the world across from it. In Büyükada, there is the Büyükada pier; the ferry departs from below, and the upper part is a huge pier, the top of a huge pier. Isn't it the best view in the world? You look at Istanbul from the island. What would you do there? If you wanted to make money, you could rent it out to restaurants, and the best restaurants in the world would come, pay the highest rent, and come to that prestigious place, right? Think about how much money could be earned from the restaurants there, how many poor children in the islands could be raised, what scholarships could be given; it would be enough for all the poor people in Kartal, across from Istanbul. Or, or, or you think... Do you know what the AK Party did there? They gave it to TÜGVA for 25 years for free. The second floor of the Adalar pier. 25 years for free. What is TÜGVA doing there? I told the people of Izmir; if the AK Party comes—because they are all TÜGVA-ists, TÜRGEV-ists, they are all in some part of those foundations—especially now there is one who is supposedly dealing with Cemil Tugay. He is not worth mentioning by name. Unqualified, incompetent, unskilled, his only job is to fight; he is the one following this matter. I said, 'Give your vote to the AK Party, and they will give the Alsancak Pier to TÜRGEV. They will give the Karşıyaka Pier to TÜGVA for 25 years, they will give the elevator to the Archery Foundation. They will do these things,' we said. The people of Izmir would not give them a chance anyway; they were objecting to those days, saying 'We have no such intention...' What do you mean you have no intention? Would they hesitate to give the Alsancak Pier in Izmir if they gave the Adalar pier in Istanbul? Now, they changed the law, they are taking the Vocational Factory... They don't say, '145,000 of my fellow citizens learned a profession here.' To seize it, the governor and that man with the strange mentality, every day, 'Enter there, throw them out, throw the mayors out.' The people of Izmir are putting up a fight there. The issue itself is this: they might take the building tomorrow, we will resist, they won't be able to take it, the court will say this or that, but in the end, these things will change. However, there is an issue that needs to be seen. On one side, there are those who take that Vocational Factory and put it into the service of the nation; on the other side, there are those who want to stop this service of the nation, take it themselves, and run wild there. There is a bandit mentality. There is a mentality of seizure. There is a mentality of clashing with the republic, its values, and the nation itself. I entrust all the people of Izmir and everyone in Turkey to not forget these days and to hold them accountable at the ballot box against this bandit mentality, against this mentality of clashing.

News Source: 12punto