Breaking News... Özgür Özel sets a date for the party congress and calls on Kılıçdaroğlu

Republican People's Party (CHP) elected Chairman Özgür Özel made statements regarding the current agenda at his party's Parliamentary Group Meeting.

We are holding our party's group meeting. https://t.co/cTAuK0bQfd

— Özgür Özel (@eczozgurozel) June 9, 2026

Highlights from Özel's speech are as follows:

"I do not see this speech as a victory, but the fact that the elected chairman is able to speak from this podium is due to the love for democracy, the country, and the party in the hearts of the thousands in front of the Dikmen Gate and the millions across Turkey. I congratulate you. We are people of the idea of democracy; we believe in the ballot box. We respect those who choose and those who are chosen.

That is why the stance here today is very meaningful. It is not a victory, but a piece of a whole that is as valuable as the others. It is not surrendering. It is resisting. It is the victory of the unity of those who think about the future of the entire country."

Speaking about the anniversary of the death of Manisa Metropolitan Mayor Ferdi Zeyrek, Özel said, "Manisa could not contain the funeral ceremony. We bid farewell to our brother with a ceremony that could only be destined for Ferdi. It was up to all of us to be there. We were going to be there. We said, 'Everyone will be there.' Something that shouldn't have happened happened a while after this. I couldn't believe my eyes. Today was seen as an opportunity to hold a group meeting here instead of us being there, and a statement was made," he said.

"I WAS NEEDED HERE"

Özel continued his speech as follows:

"Whoever comes with them, whoever came to the party's door, they were the ones who would come. The elected chairman and executives of the last 4 congresses will not be there. We saw who would come and how they planned it. The nation makes a decision, and that decision is realized here. I consulted everyone, and finally, I made the decision with Ferdi's voice. I always need to go to Manisa, and something comes up here too. He would say, 'You are needed there.' I was needed here today, so I stayed here.

If you don't solve this conspiracy, you call it 'CHP's internal affair.' Who interferes with the CHP's congress? All processes have been completed under the supervision of the Supreme Election Council (YSK). Turn around and disregard the last 4 congresses. According to the YSK, it is not non-existent. It is not non-existent anywhere, but they had a court appointed by the AK Party's judicial branches take a decision that should not be taken, and they turned the system into one where no elected official's seat can be finalized in Turkey anymore.

'We came with the ballot box, we cannot leave with the ballot box.' This is the whole issue; the system sits on this. Who does this job? This child does this job. Whoever took all the decisions in the past, they had the judicial branches established by someone who acts on instructions."

"IF YOU CANNOT PROVE IT, YOU ARE VILE"

Özel touched upon the statements of the imprisoned Antalya Metropolitan Mayor Muhittin Böcek.

Özel said the following:

"Where are we for today? I have told Murat Kurum this many times from here. Kurum knows every single title deed. He cannot say a single word. Then he came out and said, 'Sir, Muhittin Böcek will speak soon.' I said if you cannot prove this, you are vile. They could not prove it. Do you know what they finally made a man who lay in intensive care for 110 days say, even though he declared many times, 'If I gave a penny for my candidacy, I am dishonorable'?

He finally went and made a statement saying he gave it to Ferdi Zeyrek when no one was watching. They calculated that since he is dead anyway, he cannot deny it. I am talking about people who can become this evil. I am talking about people who slander my deceased brother and cast aspersions on the honor of another deceased brother of ours. By bringing the party to this state, they tried to solve this business with all kinds of cooperation from inside and outside in a solution package that de-institutionalizes the party and leaves it without candidates."

"THE ISSUE IS MAKING ERDOĞAN UNRIVALED"

Reacting to channels known for their proximity to the government, Özel expressed the following regarding the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (İBB) investigation:

"A television channel belonging to someone who swore an oath by placing their hand on the American flag. All kinds of lies about Ekrem İmamoğlu, but the popular cell phones, the money, none of it came out; while TGRT and A Haber were telling these lies and saying it would be in the indictment, those who now say I lied, those who ran to support Ekrem's house, those who posed while voting in the primary, started calling Ekrem 'thief.' The issue is nothing other than making Erdoğan unrivaled. The people imprisoned there are putting their bodies on the line for the government to be changed through the ballot box.

I said it at the door, and I am telling you too. You are the link that does not break against Turkey's founding settings today. That is why I do not forgive anyone who is complicit in what was done to us on Ferdi's death anniversary, those who caused that dark day at the headquarters, and those who dare to do what is being done under this Parliament today, even a little bit."

"DO YOU KNOW WHO IS IN THAT BUILDING?"

Özgür Özel made criticisms regarding the people in the CHP Headquarters building after Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu:

"Out of respect for the party's past, I don't open my mouth, I stay silent. But as I see what is being done to this party, I don't know what to say. Do you know who is in that building? Let no one take it personally if I haven't named them.

Even our deputies who were not members of the party that day, even our voters who were not related to the CHP, everyone has a completely different place in my eyes. Murat Emir, who stood by Kemal Bey, protecting him and risking death while he was being subjected to an organized lynching in Çubuk, is not there.

Seyit Torun, who was assassinated with him inside the hedgehog when Kemal Bey was attacked, is not there. Because when shots were fired at Kemal Bey there, they grabbed Seyit Torun, who covered Kemal Bey, by both arms and threw him out of the building.

Our mayors are not in that hall, but those who commit character assassination by saying 'The next operation is this CHP municipality' are walking around in that building. Aykut Erdoğdu is not in that building, but the lawyer who is in the İBB stock market, the lawyer I had caught while fleeing to Greece, is sharing in that building that 'The purification has begun.'"

"I WOULD NOT ATTRIBUTE IT TO ANYONE WHO HAS SERVED IN THE CHP"

Özel also made harsh statements regarding the 'FETÖ' rhetoric. Özel said, "Do everything, but I would not attribute the terminology of this shallow understanding, which declares everyone it sees as a traitor with this language left over from FETÖ, and which views every resistance as an 'uprising' and every rally as 'stirring up Turkey' because it sees democracy as a threat, to anyone who has served in the CHP."

Özel stated, "If we ever surrender to slanders like the parallel structure, FETÖ, or calling our honest friends thieves against the CHP, we will not be the CHP. Of course, we will trust the law, but for that, we will first dismantle this gang in the judiciary."

CONGRESS AGENDA

Özel reminded of the opposition parties' calls regarding the congress agenda.

Stating that they are at a "historical threshold," Özel spoke as follows:

"This threshold has become irreversible. I hope that after the nullity decision and the attack on the party, common sense will prevail and this critical threshold will not be crossed in an irreversible way. We have 2 million members; you cannot find 2 thousand people who do not want a congress to manage it. Let's have a holiday celebration with those thousand, let's bring them and make a group; you cannot hold a congress, a holiday celebration, or a group meeting with those thousand who have been paraded around. Therefore, everyone needs to see what kind of threshold we are at. All opposition parties are saying that a congress should be held immediately. They are saying this because if this system, which they are also accustomed to, disappears, democracy will disappear."

"JULY 26 MUST NOT BE MISSED"

Özel also drew attention to the date of July 26 for the congress:

"I have never stayed away from dialogue for this. Sir, 'there is a precaution, the congress cannot be held.' All lawyers in Turkey agree on the same text. Public and election lawyers say, 'The problem is not holding the congress, but not holding it.' There is no other duty; this is the duty.

We heard the statements of 'We will hold a congress.' Since you are convinced of this, you must hold that congress. 'Sir, let's say a few months later, let's spread it over a year. Let's hold that election whenever the AK Party corners us.' The work to be done here is that the congress must be held before July 26. Participation in the election is in danger. It will not only shatter the dreams of tens of millions of people in this country whose only hope is the upcoming election. It will subject them to a nightmare. You will alienate them from the ballot box, you will make them lose in an irreversible way."

"WE WILL SUFFER BUT WE WILL NOT GIVE UP"

Finally, stating that he would go to Manisa for Ferdi Zeyrek's commemoration, Özgür Özel said:

"Let everyone know that no one can put a barrier to the nation's march. Whoever stands in front of it will remain under the feet of this nation. No matter what is done, this nation does not want anyone in front of it. It loves its state, it pays its taxes, but if you put the state against the nation, the nation first defeats that state and then rebuilds its democratic state.

Therefore, let no one try to prevent the decision made by the nation. Let no one be a pawn in the war someone is waging with the nation. We will work, we have suffered and we will suffer, but we will never give up on our march. They could not separate me from Ferdi, from Manisa, because you were behind me like a mountain, I love you all. We will succeed together, I believe in you, I trust you. Let's walk, friends."

News Source: 12punto