Hüseyin Baş: 'Freedom for Apo, judicial control for me! Where is the justice in this?'

The 9th Ordinary Istanbul Provincial Congress of the Independent Turkey Party (BTP) was held at the Dr. Mimar Kadir Topbaş Performance and Art Center in Yenikapı.

During the congress, a folklore performance showcasing traditional dances from all regions of Turkey was presented.

Artists Ozan Orhon and Ahmet Selçuk İlkan also gave concerts at the congress.

BTP Chairman Hüseyin Baş took the stage and performed a duet with İlkan.

The entire hall joined in on Hüseyin Baş's duet.

A video featuring statements by the late BTP leader Prof. Dr. Haydar Baş was also screened at the congress. Emotional moments were experienced in the hall during the screening.

BTP Chairman Hüseyin Baş delivered the closing speech of the congress, where Fuat Şengül was re-elected as provincial chairman.

“They blew on us thinking we would go out, but we caught fire”

Starting his speech by saying, “They blew on us thinking we would go out, but we caught fire,” Hüseyin Baş then recited the stanza from the National Anthem: “I have lived free since the beginning, and I shall live free. Which madman will put chains on me? I am amazed. I am like a roaring flood; I crush my banks and overflow. I tear through mountains and do not fit into vast spaces.”

Evaluating current issues in his speech, the BTP leader said the following;

“The term ‘Kurdish issue’ was first used by the terrorist leader, and today politicians are following his rhetoric”

“Everyone has the phrase ‘Kurdish issue’ on their lips. We tend to forget the past a bit too quickly. Do you know who was the first person to introduce the ‘Kurdish issue’ rhetoric in this geography? The person who first brought this up was the terrorist leader Apo, and today, politicians have latched onto Apo's rhetoric, trying to convince an entire nation of Apo's narrative, and under this rhetoric, they are trying to destroy the brotherhood of this nation. Well, would Independent Turkey supporters fall for this game, young people? They would not, it is impossible!”

“We call Apo a ‘baby killer’ because he slaughtered Kurdish children”

 We call Apo a ‘baby killer.’ Whose babies did Apo slaughter? Apo entered Kurdish villages and slaughtered the babies of our Kurdish brothers, and if there is a ‘Kurdish issue’ in quotation marks in Turkey today, Apo created that issue. The person responsible for that issue was Apo himself, but today, both the opposition and the government have made this so-called Kurdish issue their own and are following in its footsteps.

“In exchange for what will Apo call for laying down arms? What bargains are being made behind closed doors?”

So what will happen? In exchange for what will Apo call for laying down arms? So far, the only thing he wants, which is being talked about a lot in the media in return for Apo calling to lay down arms, is to get married! Surely, there wouldn't be this much fuss just for marriage. It is clear that the issue here is not marriage. So in exchange for what? Will a person who has been imprisoned for 25 years, without getting anything, just have a dream, wake up in the morning and say, ‘Wait, let me tell this organization to lay down their arms’? We know that things don't work that way. We want whatever bargains are being made behind closed doors to come to light. Let the whole nation know; what are you talking about, what are you agreeing on, what are you taking, what are you giving, let the whole nation know. If you are doing this because America wants it, let this nation know that too.

“You will release Apo and apply judicial measures to me; where is the right, where is the justice in this?”

In these days when the release of Apo is being considered and discussed, this brother of yours goes to the police station every Monday, including tomorrow (today), to sign in, and judicial measures are applied to him. You will release Apo and apply judicial measures to me; where is the right, where is the justice in this? There is justice according to the perpetrator, justice according to the perpetrator. First, they say who shall we punish; Ahmet, Mehmet, Ali, Hasan, Hüseyin, whoever it is, we want to punish them. First, the perpetrator is held responsible for something, and then it is thought that the law will follow. We have seen some politicians say this too; they say, ‘Go in somewhere and do what is necessary, the law will follow.’ The Minister of Interior said this in this country, the Minister of Interior said, ‘You go and intervene, the law will follow.’ Well, what if that intervention is unlawful, what if the law is spinning its wheels behind and cannot come, what if they don't have the right to do such a thing? It doesn't matter, it's an ‘I did it, so it is’ order. When you do whatever you want, people are condemned to misery.

“A call to the main opposition; do not make this nation a party to your internal reckonings”

While such a picture is evident in Turkey, there is actually a lot to say to the opposition, especially the main opposition. While you should be embracing everyone, while you should be defending everyone's rights, law, and justice, you cannot show a structure of unity within yourselves. Honestly, I think if we touched it, it would fall apart, I don't want to touch it, I want it to stay standing. Therefore, I am making this call to the main opposition and the opposition; embrace the entire society, do not make this nation a party to your internal party reckonings, because the entire nation expects you to take ownership, please carry the responsibility of the votes you received well, we request.”

“Atatürk took the mines back from foreigners and was the ‘wrong man’, these people sold them and are the ‘right men’, no way!”

The Independent Turkey Party will nationalize all mines. This is our biggest difference from all other political parties. Whose mine is it? The mine belongs to the nation, the mine belongs to the state! Well, where do you get the inspiration for this? Yes, this is in the National Economy Model, but where is this inspiration from? Look, Atatürk started to nationalize the mines by enacting laws; let me give an example, the French-capitalized Ereğli company's facilities were purchased. Who bought them? Atatürk bought them. What did Atatürk do with the shares he bought? He established Eti Bank, he transferred them to Eti Bank. Furthermore, the shares of Ergani copper held by Deutsche Bank were purchased. He buys the shares of copper, he buys the shares of coal, he buys the shares of iron. In 1937, he extracts oil from Batman's Raman Mountain. Who does these things? Mustafa Kemal Atatürk does them. Atatürk nationalizes the operation of all the state's mines, that man becomes the wrong man in their eyes, these people sell all the state's mines and operations and become the right men! No way, can such a thing happen, can such a thing be?”

“Where did your Atatürkism go?”

Well, when we say this, those who pretend to be Atatürkists object to us by saying, ‘You cannot keep up with the times, this is against liberalism.’ Well, where did your Atatürkism go? We are Atatürkists in reformism, we are Atatürkists in secularism, we are Atatürkists in democracy, we are Atatürkists in the Republic, but we are not Atatürkists in statism. No way! I am the most statist, and I am the Atatürkist in statism.

“22-year privatization revenue is 62 billion dollars, Elon Musk bought Twitter for 57 billion dollars”

In 22 years, 300 million square meters of land, state land, were sold through privatization in Turkey. There was an earthquake in 11 provinces, the government, which still hasn't managed to give its citizens a 100-square-meter apartment, sold 300 million square meters of land to foreigners and cronies. They use the Official Gazette like a classifieds page and sell land. The total money obtained from all privatizations made in 22 years is 62 billion dollars. If you distributed 62 billion dollars to 85 million citizens over 20 years, it would be 3 dollars per person. The AK Party government has, so to speak, sold off all our factories, our 100 years of labor, for 3 dollars a month. Elon Musk bought Twitter for 57 billion dollars, we sold huge factories and we don't even have a Twitter in our hands.

“We will reopen every factory they closed, we will buy back every factory they sold”

As the Independent Turkey Party, we will reopen every factory they closed, we will buy back every factory they sold, we will nationalize every mine they privatized, we will block the import of every agricultural product they import, we will block the import of every meat they import. We will be one with our nation, we will strive to fill the pockets of the nation, we will trust our youth, we will trust our women, we will trust our nation. May our Independent Turkey march be blessed.” 

News Source: 12punto