CHP Chairman Özgür Özel: 'The Constitution is a macro debate and unfortunately creates a fog effect on the agenda'

CHP Chairman Özgür Özel attended a dinner held at the ATO Congresium as part of the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey's (TOBB) 80th General Assembly.

Speaking there, Özel stated that the opposition party leaders attending the dinner had left the floor to him for the sake of procedure and time economy.

Reminding that politicians speak at the TOBB General Assembly, Özel said, "However, under the conditions of Turkey before March 31, the chairmen of all political parties were unfortunately not invited to the General Assembly at the same time. How we reached this point is not the business of today. But the message of March 31 is normalization."

Pointing out that the requirement of normalization is shaking hands, Özel noted the following:

"Turkey must leave behind a process where the chairman of the first party of the last elections and the chairman of the second party, or the chairman of the first party of the last general elections and the chairman of the main opposition do not shake hands or talk. We should be able to attend meetings together in these halls, and ideas, even if different, should be able to be expressed at these podiums within the bounds of courtesy and politics. Therefore, accepting this podium at this hour of the evening as the last meeting held with the habits before the normalization message, I herald to you here that next year we will be where we should be at the normal time.

As the chairman of the party whose mayors have taken responsibility in local governments in places where 65 percent of Turkey, 80 percent of the economy, and 87 percent of the collected taxes are located, it is our duty to negotiate, to voice problems with the responsibility of the main opposition, and to struggle, both regarding local governments and the ruling party currently governing the country, in accordance with whatever the expectations of you, us, and the nation are."

''INFLATION ACCOUNTING SHOULD BE REMOVED FROM PRACTICE''

Özgür Özel said that the minimum wage in Turkey is too low for those who receive it and too high for those who pay it, and that the exchange rate is too low for the exporter and too high for the citizen.

Stating that a player's mastery in chess is evident not at the end of the game but at the beginning, and that the right opening must be made in the game, Özgür Özel continued as follows:

"Turkey cannot compete today with the world's poor and cheap labor countries with a low minimum wage. This is a pity for this country. Therefore, if we had made the opening and the moves correctly, we could have had a minimum wage that is satisfactory for the receiver and cost-effective for the giver with high value-added production and exports right now. The situation is no different in terms of the exchange rate in exports. In an inflationary economy, one of the biggest justified efforts of the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey in the recent period has been the objection to inflation accounting. Because inflation accounting would create a major problem when it enters the process of taxing the new value brought by inflation as profit, beyond the correction of financial statements."

Stating that he objects to this at every podium he takes and every microphone he finds, Özel said, "Today's postponement is correct as a bandage. But inflation accounting must be removed from practice for all periods in a way that will not produce advance tax."

''THE CONSTITUTION IS A MACRO DEBATE AND...''

CHP Chairman Özel stated that Turkey is being tried to be kept intensely within the Constitution debates today, saying, "The Constitution is a macro debate and unfortunately creates a fog effect on the agenda. We are completely against the Constitution debates creating an agenda fog effect that covers up and makes invisible the employment problems, the problems of the producer, access to credit, livelihood, and the problems of retirees."

Pointing out that a new Constitution could be made if "conditions are met and matured," Özel said that the first condition for this is to comply with the current Constitution.

Emphasizing that another gain of complying with the current Constitution is the return to the rule of law, Özel noted the following:

"Today, one of the two highest tensions in Turkey is the Sinan Ateş case, and the other is the Ayhan Bora Kaplan investigation. If you return to the rule of law, we would not be looking for an answer to the question 'What is happening? How should it be read?' among everyone in this hall today. If there is a rule of law, there are jurists. They do what is necessary on our behalf, on behalf of all of us. In the presence of the very valuable presidents of the high judiciary, I remind all jurists that we long for shaking hands and embracing together in a Turkey where a strong constitutional consciousness, trust in law, and trust in jurists are provided for the return to the rule of law."

News Source: AA