Breaking News: Özgür Özel's 'We will either find a way or we will make a way' statement! Is a new party being formed?

Republican People's Party (CHP) Chairman Özgür Özel made statements at his party's group meeting in the Grand National Assembly of Turkey.

At the beginning of his speech, Özel emphasized that despite the pressures and threats targeting the CHP and the country, they continue to be in Parliament and fight. Addressing the party members in the hall, Özel said, "Despite all the attacks targeting our party and the future of our country, we are here with you today in our nation's Parliament. We are not surrendering to oppression, tyranny, and darkness. The nation's will shall prevail!"

Key highlights from Özel's speech are as follows:

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

— Özgür Özel (@eczozgurozel) June 23, 2026

"Despite all the attacks targeting our party and the future of our country, we are here with you today in our nation's Parliament. We are not surrendering to oppression, tyranny, and darkness. The nation's will shall prevail! The struggle is between the nation that wants change and Erdoğan, between those who stand against change and the nation...

Last week, our 74 provincial chairs took our delegate signatures from 81 provinces to the CHP's headquarters under the null administration. They took the wet signatures representing the will of our 1004 delegates. They said 'let's drop this, let's drop that,' and 833 signatures that gained official status were submitted; we have been waiting for the convention since that day. They say there is an injunction, we cannot hold a convention. It is their duty to take the delegate signatures and notify the District Election Board, but creating a lot of difficulties regarding this shows their true intention.

"WE DELIVERED A HUGE FILE TO THEM"

We delivered a huge file to them along with the signatures. We also conveyed the opinions of leading legal experts, which show that the injunction decision does not prevent the convention.

"WE ARE FOLLOWING WITH ASTONISHMENT"

There is a will that resists even this; we are following it with astonishment. There is no explanation for a party that brought the ballot box to Turkey to ignore its chairman who received a mandate 4 times and try to manage the party through appointments. The delegates who voted for Mr. Kemal in the cancelled convention have now also signed for a 'convention to be held.' I had received 682 votes in the first round. 520 of the friends who voted for Mr. Kemal that day have signed for the convention.

At the closing of that convention, Mr. Kemal was standing and applauding as the delegates showed their will and enthusiasm along with the whole hall. Today, that convention, the 3 conventions held after it, the new convention... The provincial chairs who elected the delegates of this convention are in office, and now they are the target.

"THE INJUNCTION IS NOT AN OBSTACLE TO THE CONVENTION"

The injunction is not an obstacle to the convention; on the contrary, a convention should be held immediately. There is no explanation for trying to manage the party through appointments. I had received 682 votes in the first round. 520 of the friends who signed for Mr. Kemal that day have signed for the convention.

HISTORIC CALL TO KILIÇDAROĞLU

Men are appointing the chairmen elected by women. A Central Executive Board (MYK), all of whom are over 30, is appointing chairmen elected by those under 30. A party that brought the ballot box and democracy to this country must get rid of this shame immediately, absolutely immediately. I am making this historic call to Mr. Kemal on behalf of our party.

Hope is no longer in the halls; hope is on the streets. I saw that light in the streets of Ankara, Denizli, and Burdur, in the districts and villages. Appointees take their instructions from the place that appointed them, while the elected take their instructions from the nation. I came to this podium today with the authority I received from the nation's coffeehouses, villages, and squares. We came to have tea in Çardak. Women pushed the men aside. They said, 'We are going to the coffeehouse, we will drink tea with my Özgür.' Greetings to my mothers and sisters.

We are continuing on our path, growing street by street, square by square in the nation's streets. The trouble is great, but when we leave the buildings and facilities behind and embrace the nation on the street, we feel the tremendous support of the power we receive from there in our bones against this injustice, in the prayers of mothers, the tears of young people, and the determination to change this government.

"IS THIS DONE TO THIS PARTY WHILE PREPARING FOR AN ELECTION!"

I will go back and emerge as the Chairman of the ruling party! Is this done to this party while preparing for an election! Neither the party nor the nation deserves this! We all have a duty to explain to the nation how we will govern this country together, determinedly and without stopping. If we are not here, look, we are in the middle of the year. We arrived here after high-tension podium debates last week. If we are not here, who will talk about five-month inflation coming out at 5.6?

Who will ask Tayyip Erdoğan, 'You asked for votes from the nation by saying "If inflation is above single digits, 4 adjustments can be made per year" 1 month before the last election'? Who will voice the demands for interim raises? While tax exemptions and purchase guarantees fall to the share of the rich, misery falls to the share of the worker today.

"THERE CAN BE NO SUCH ORDER"

No one has peace in the AKP's dark order. Retirement has become the name of a struggle for survival, not peace. Even 5 retirement pensions are not enough to exceed the poverty line. 210 thousand lira in taxes is deducted from someone earning a 70 thousand lira salary. There is such a dark order. There can be no such order.

They are trying to make this order continue; this order cannot go on like this, and they are also conducting operations against the CHP, which says we will turn it upside down. This issue is not between me and Mr. Kemal; this issue is between the aunt in the greenhouse and Tayyip Erdoğan. They were saying the null administration would be put on track after the holiday, what happened? We are continuing our struggle all together. Our issue is not with those who are not elected, but with those who authorize them and try to cut off this struggle improperly.

ANNOUNCED THE NEW 'SITE': AKPDEN.NET

Let me tell the AKP this much. I will announce the cost of the AKP to this nation every week. The name of our new site is akpden.net. They have never known us. They think they can stop me, they can intimidate me. As long as this nation is behind us, as long as this spirit of struggle exists, we will not stop.

"THERE IS NO RAID ON A SINGLE AKP MUNICIPALITY, NO LONG TRIAL..."

Currently, 24 of our mayors are imprisoned. This process started with the appointment of someone who made unlawful decisions against everyone Erdoğan wanted to eliminate in Istanbul, and whose decisions were unanimously overturned by the Constitutional Court, as Chief Public Prosecutor. It started the day he went. First, they were in a hurry to smear CHP municipalities and then, in a way, the presidential candidate İmamoğlu. There is no raid on a single AKP municipality, no long trial. 24 of our mayors from the CHP are still in prison. Normally, one goes, requests, and it is examined by auditors. If a mistake is seen, it is asked about. If it is something that cannot be corrected, a criminal complaint is filed.

"THEY CALL EVERYONE THEY ENCOUNTER A FETÖ MEMBER"

Let those who claim otherwise come forward and we will explain. Creating evidence for the person targeted is on the agenda. That is why our mayors, whose number has reached 24 today, are imprisoned. They imposed a foreign travel ban on the man who exports because he criticizes the government, the TÜSİAD president and executive. Wherever there was an artist who was not an AKP supporter, they rounded them up and labeled them as drug users. We are in such a state that they put journalists and artists in prison and then release them. They appointed trustees to chicken farmers. They appointed a trustee to the man at whose house Tayyip Bey stayed while founding the party.

Well, of course, there is the favor of the mattress and the coffee; he didn't stay as long as ours. They leave 20 thousand students without a school and then say 'pardon' after the reaction of the parents and give the school back. We are on a new plane where those who realize they will lose power turn the law into a stick and threaten those who object. Those who do not declare their own assets, those who do not accept the political ethics law, those who even state a price for a place to be opened, those who see the shoeboxes and say 'did you zero it' when the recordings come out, they said FETÖ made illegal recordings. They call everyone they encounter a FETÖ member.

I want to say clearly to all our citizens. We are in the midst of great difficulties. Some of our friends have been in prison for 16 months. They are suffering. All the employees have their hearts in their mouths. Mothers and fathers look at their phones saying, "Did something happen to my child?"

"WE WILL EITHER FIND A WAY, OR WE WILL MAKE A WAY!"

The party has been effectively shut down by a palace coup. It is not those elected by the nation, but those appointed by an AKP judge who are in charge. We will take this party back one way or another, and we will make this party the government together. We will either find a way, or we will make a way! We will eventually attain power."

News Source: 12punto