CHP Chairman Özgür Özel speaks: "We are 7 points ahead in KONDA's Istanbul poll"

CHP Leader Özgür Özel is answering questions from journalists Merdan Yanardağ, Murat Taylan, and Bilge Yurtdagülen on a live broadcast on Tele1 television. Stating that TRT has not aired their advertisements for 20 days, even for payment, Özel said the following:

“This election can be compared to several others; some call it a third round. Perhaps it should be approached from this angle: Turkey is being governed by a mindset that has instrumentalized a bloody attempt—the July 15 coup attempt—to squeeze a constitutional amendment, a referendum, and a general election into the state of emergency (OHAL) declared in its aftermath. You cannot change a constitution under state of emergency conditions, but because our constitution was written by soldiers in 1980, there is no such thing. Because a social contract is prepared and voted on by being discussed in the freest manner possible. You cannot discuss a constitution by suspending constitutional rights. Kenan Evren did this, but the legitimacy of that constitution is debatable. If the July 15 coup attempt had succeeded, they would have made a constitutional amendment anyway. They would have made a similar constitution; it would not have been more democratic.”

THE DEBT OF THE CONGRESS IS SUPPORT FOR CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT

In his speech, Özel also criticized MHP Leader Devlet Bahçeli.

“The administration in the MHP was going to change, but that congress was canceled by the judiciary. As a debt of gratitude for that, Bahçeli allowed the constitutional amendment to pass. A social contract was made by violating the social contract. Later, with a snap election, the one-man regime gained legitimacy. There was a great sense of defeat, but the voters established a balance at the local level at the ballot box. The CHP suddenly became a party governing 11 metropolitan cities. This brought a balance to politics. And we went to the general election like this. We lost an election we should have won. We knew what Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's goal was. But his goal was much further ahead; the 2019 local election prevented this. The voters were hopeless again, but the CHP went to an elective congress and we started a new process. Now we are going to elections again. Now the voters are asking, ‘Will a balance be established again?’ They saw that we would establish it and took a thousand precautions. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan clung to his alliance. Despite our efforts, the components of the Nation Alliance withdrew from the alliance. That day, the HDP—today's DEM—also abandoned its strategy of making the government lose. They fielded their own candidates.”

ADVERTISEMENTS NOT AIRING DESPITE PAYMENT

“We all pay taxes, and TRT operates with this. The public broadcaster TRT has not been airing our advertisement for 20 days. An advertisement featuring a Barış Manço song, Mayor Ekrem closing a shopkeeper's shutter, and Mayor Mansur being applauded for paying off credit debts… They say ‘legal review,’ yet they aired the AK Party's film in one day. The public broadcaster is not airing advertisements even for payment. We are in a terrible process.”

ISTANBUL ELECTIONS IN THE ATMOSPHERE OF A GENERAL ELECTION

When asked, “Are the Istanbul elections taking place in the atmosphere of a general election?”, Özel replied:

“Istanbul has such an aspect. It is a metropolis; everything is here. Erdoğan used to say, ‘Whoever loses Istanbul loses Turkey,’ which he almost did. The main topic of my rallies is retirees, laborers… If this government says on April 1, ‘I didn't receive any punishment,’ there is nothing to be done. If something is to be done, it will be done the day before. That is why I am telling our laborers, workers, retirees, and all our citizens that March 31 is important. They will make you drink the bitter pill, not their cronies or the ‘Gang of Five.’”

‘ERDOĞAN MAY MAKE A MOVE THE MOMENT HE SEES HE IS LOSING’

“The current trend seems to be in our favor. Erdoğan may make a move the moment he sees he is losing. If he says, ‘I will raise wages,’ we will say, ‘Do it’; if he says, ‘Open the Parliament,’ we will say, ‘Open it.’ Ultimately, any money that goes into the retiree's pocket pleases us. But frankly, I do not see such a possibility right now.”

ERDOĞAN’S ‘THIS IS MY LAST ELECTION’ STATEMENT

"Our position is clear. To win an election, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan reads a letter from Abdullah Öcalan one day, sends a camera to Osman Öcalan another day, and goes to the MHP or HÜDA PAR on other days. He does everything. Then he calls me ‘Zübük.’ My friends said, ‘Let’s send him a TDK dictionary,’ and I said, ‘Let’s send him a mirror so he can see who the Zübük is.’ What he says today shows his desperation. He is dying to fight with me. Identity politics and the topics he feels most comfortable with. I am willing to take on that fight, but I am fighting over retiree salaries and farmers. When it happens like this, his nerves get frayed. He said, ‘This is my last election’; that is a separate matter. He wants to talk about that. I want to talk about poverty and price hikes. He said ‘This is my last election’ in 2018, 2019, and 2023 as well. He might have said this statement with the thought, ‘I know you are poor, but this is my last election.’”

Özgür Özel also said the following regarding Erdoğan’s ‘DEM Party’ accusations against the CHP:

"He does not want to lose his useful propaganda from 2023. They used montage videos recklessly until the May 14 election. This lie worked on a portion of the voters. Voters exposed to the pro-government media believed it. The CHP suffered from this, and he wants to continue it. We will not allow this. He is imposing price hike after price hike in the economy. He says DEM, DEM, DEM so that these are not discussed. I want to talk about the price hikes, he wants to put a price hike on DEM. We will not fall for this game either. Our congress is over; the DEM Co-Chairs called separately, and one co-chair said, ‘We would like to meet in person.’ Then we saw that their congress had taken place before ours, so I went to visit them and made a press statement. The CHP is the only party that can exchange holiday greetings with every party. The AKP and MHP do not exchange holiday greetings with the DEM Party. So what happens in Parliament? They embrace. They are being hypocritical outside. Let someone say, ‘We don’t exchange greetings inside’; they shake hands, embrace, and kiss. And these are just what I see; I don’t know what happens behind the scenes. So, is the CHP being ‘DEM-ified,’ or are they?"

‘THERE ARE CONTACTS BUT THEY DON’T EXCEED 1%’

"We do not have an agreement reached with either the IYI Party or other parties. We tried with the IYI Party, but it didn’t work. We had contacts with the Future Party, DEVA Party, and Felicity Party. We told Temel Karamollaoğlu, ‘Let’s give authority to local organizations.’ There are small contacts in certain places, but they don’t exceed 1% of what should be.”

‘THEY WILL FORM A BALIKESIR ALLIANCE’

"I explained Ahmet Akın’s situation to Ms. Akşener during her sister’s funeral. I called once, but we couldn’t make any progress. But in the last election, we wanted the IYI Party very much, and we gave them Balıkesir. They nominated İsmail Ok, and the municipality passed to the AK Party. Ahmet Akın was 20 points ahead. İsmail Ok later joined the AK Party. Ms. Meral was angry because it was talked about so much. Ms. Meral had told Ahmet Akın, ‘Not to them, but I owe you one.’ We left it to the conscience of everyone who knows this business. They will handle this matter in Balıkesir now; we left it to them. They will form a Balıkesir Alliance at the ballot box.”

‘THERE IS NO RISK IN THE THREE METROPOLITAN CITIES’

In Hatay, we are neck and neck now. As Lütfü Savaş said, he continues by increasing his own trend. There is no risk in Istanbul, Ankara, and Izmir. Without meaning to be disrespectful to the voters, as polling companies say, the metropolitan mayoral race in Ankara is over. Mansur Yavaş is coming with a record number of votes. They say he will push for 60%. The race in Ankara is for the municipal council. There is an incredible acceleration in Ankara. We are doing quite well. We are 7 points ahead in KONDA’s Istanbul poll. We have lit a great flame of change in Izmir. We have young candidates. There are IYI Party and DEM Party candidates in Izmir; of course, there might be a loss of votes. I have a record in my heart for the districts. I wish it were 30/30, 30/28. We are widening the gap in the metropolitan city. The streets of Izmir say, ‘Our objection has been heard.’ We will make a revolution in Izmir both in the election and in management this term.

‘THE REQUEST FOR SUPPORT FOR EKREM IMAMOĞLU CAME FROM TUNÇ SOYER’

The CHP is not a Gendarmerie Commando Brigade; as long as they do not harm the party, everyone can say what they want. The other day, Mayor Ekrem called me and said that Mayor Tunç (Soyer) had called and wanted to work together. So I said, ‘He is working in Izmir, would there be any harm?’ I said, ‘There would be no harm, hopefully he will work in Izmir too.’ His grievance is justified. Soyer came after the previous mayor, Aziz Kocaoğlu. And he worked with all his might for Soyer. I showed him the poll regarding why he was not nominated. I offered him an international position. He said he could not accept it, and now he is in Istanbul. The doors are open in Istanbul, he can come. He should also do his part in Izmir; otherwise, it would not be right.”

‘I DID NOT REWARD ANYONE JUST BECAUSE THEY SAID ‘CHANGE’’

Özel also said the following regarding the allegations that ‘Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu supporters are being purged’:

"It does not reflect the truth. This is not a question to be asked to me, and I did not reward anyone just because they said ‘change.’ There is no Alevi-Sunni discrimination in our party. I did not receive the applause and support I received from Alevi citizens from Sunni citizens. I am not occupied with these things.”

THE BURCU KÖKSAL ISSUE

"When the chairman says a certain word, that matter ends there. Burcu Köksal is already winning the municipality in Afyon; the main anxiety is because of that. My making a correction, and Ms. Burcu also made a correction. This is also a process. She did not correct me. Perception replaced fact. I find these expressions politically problematic. She said to me, ‘co-chair,’ they are saying, ‘You will manage this municipality with the DEM Party.’ I said, ‘I said the doors of the municipality are open to everyone except the DEM Party.’ Burcu is someone with nationalist sensitivities. It is something she did to get rid of the claim that ‘You will manage with the DEM Party.’ We managed the process calmly and correctly. We talked to Mayor Ekrem several times. The IMM is also a municipality of the Kurds. The support of the Kurds is critical in many provinces. Today, Ahmet Türk also said, ‘The attitude of Mayor Ekrem and the chairman solved the problem.’ I am pleased to have heard this from an opinion leader like Ahmet Türk. Going into an election, losing a deputy or a municipality, or stumbling is not pleasant. My job is that too.”

‘IMAMOĞLU’S STATEMENT CONTAINS A HARSH JUDGMENT’

(Ekrem İmamoğlu’s statement, ‘Either she will find another party or another job’) We discussed and decided on the commitment letter before Burcu Köksal. There were clauses stating that mayors would declare their assets, that discrimination against women would end, and that they would treat all citizens equally. Burcu Köksal also signed this commitment letter. Mayor Ekrem’s statement contains a harsh judgment sentence. Burcu Köksal’s first statement is unacceptable. We talked to all parties and resolved the issue. Burcu Köksal saying after this statement that she would not discriminate against anyone and that the municipality’s door would be open to everyone is in the nature of an apology. The AK Party members drove her crazy, but we have left this issue behind. It would have been better if it hadn’t happened. Ekrem İmamoğlu did not call to say ‘Let Burcu Köksal apologize.’ We requested this correction tweet from Ms. Burcu. The matter ended there, it went away, the problem was solved.”

‘KURUM’S PERFORMANCE IS PLEASING FOR US’

"Murat Kurum’s performance is pleasing for us. I hope he continues like this.

We postponed the CHP Constitution Rally due to terrorist incidents. We will do it at the first opportunity, but squeezing it into the local election agenda is not the right thing to do. We will do it in the coming period. After April 1, we will take to the streets for the violation of all rights and for democracy. Throw the ball forward on March 31; the best defense is offense.

All our preparations are ready, we have our digital system. Whatever anyone hears on election night, they will hear it from Özgür Özel.”

News Source: 12punto